The Health and Fitness Benefits of Paddleboarding and SUP Yoga

-

Paddle Boarding Fitness

SUP (Stand Up Paddleboarding) has become increasingly popular over the past few years. If you travel regularly you will have noticed the amount of paddleboarding lessons advertised at local beaches or the many paddleboards heading towards the sunset of an evening. Enjoying paddleboarding means getting outside and connecting with friends (new and old), engaging in the pleasures of the ocean, absorbing your daily dose of vitamin D and increasing your core strength and fitness levels.

There are so many health benefits associated with paddleboarding, including increased cardiovascular fitness leading to a healthier heart, decreasing your risk of type II diabetes and obesity, improving your core strength and balance and connecting with nature leading to a calmer and more relaxed mind and body.
 

The Overall Benefits of Paddleboarding

SUP is a wonderful way to exercise outdoors, in the fresh air and with amazing health benefits. Perhaps more enjoyable than a lot of 'keep fit' workouts, with some hidden and healthy extras that you may have not even considered.

Low Intensity Workout

SUP is actually low intensity exercise that enhances joint stability. Low impact means there is no strain placed on muscle or joints during workouts decreasing the possibility of injury. In fact paddleboarding is classed as therapy or rehab for injured athletes, specifically runners or sprinters suffering with knee and hip pain or shin splinters. SUP activates small muscles in your feet and lower legs promoting strength and healing.

Balance and Core Strength

SUP is a complete core strength workout. Practically every muscle in the body is activated at some point. A major part of SUP involves balancing skills. Your leg muscles will play a major role in keeping you upright whilst your back and core muscles maintain balance. In addition to this, your arms and shoulder muscles are activated to paddle whilst your abdominal muscles provide the power to move you through the water.

Cardio Health

SUP is actually a cardio workout as well as a strength building activity. Your entire body is at work during paddling, increasing your heart rate and is quite overlooked as a health benefit associated with SUP. As you increase your cardio fitness, you can increase the intensity and speed of your paddling skills. This will lower your chances of suffering from heart disease and strokes. Being active and participating in daily cardio exercise adds more to your life than just a healthy heart

Fat Burning and Weight Loss

SUP may look like a leisurely sport but this is far from the truth. This activity engages nearly all of your muscles, promotes balancing skills and increases your heart rate. You can burn approximately 300 - 400 calories an hour just by leisurely paddling through calm waters.

Stamina Building

SUP is such a gentle and relaxing activity, you can sometimes be unaware of the amount of time you are spending paddling through the water or how much exercise you have actually achieved. This promotes muscle stamina and endurance, meaning the ability to sustain prolonged effort and/or activity. There is so much to see and enjoy whilst SUPing, making this a fun adventure rather than a daily workout routine.

SUP and Mental Health Benefits

Paddleboarding offers numerous benefits for both body and mind. SUPing nurtures mental well-being by reducing stress to boosting self-confidence and by encouraging mindfulness and meditation. SUP can boost your mood and tackle the signs of depression and anxiety. Exercising on water and being close to nature can help in the dealing of stress, trauma, PTSD and anger.

SUP is a low impact, repetitive paddling motion and deep breathing activity which ultimately calms the mind, decreases cortisol levels (stress hormone), relaxes the body and brings you into a Zen moment. Add this to the connection with nature and you have an amazing feel good factor and stress free environment.
  • Exercising in the 'Blue Gym' improves physical and mental well-being
  • Workouts in the fresh air boost your mood, reduce stress and the feelings of anxiety
  • Paddling is a 'moving' meditation nurturing calmness and peace for the mind
  • Paddling in nature increases the absorption of Vitamin D. Lack of Vitamin D plays a large role in conditions such as depression, fatigue, mood changes, bone pain and muscle weakness.
  • SUP can increase your social skills and awareness as you join in with groups of people sharing the same enjoyment and interests as you.
  • As SUP is low impact, leisurely and relaxing, your body will release endorphins (known as the happy hormones) as well as other mood-enhancing hormones such as dopamine and serotonin.
  • SUP will bring a wide variety into your life. There are so many places you can paddle to and many SUP social groups you can join. Variety is the spice of life and pathway to true happiness.

SUP and Yoga

SUP and Yoga are perfect partners. SUP yoga improves balancing skills, flexibility and core strength where it matters for paddling and stand up paddle boards. 

SUP yoga is quite challenging. Instead of balancing on a yoga mat, you will be balancing and performing strength and balance poses on an unstable paddle board. This will test your skills as you have to work twice as hard to increase your core strength and stabiliser muscles, taking your core strength and stability to new heights.

The challenge is not just in the pose itself but the transition from one pose to the next. The unstable stand up board forces you to engage your core muscles at all times even between poses.

Yoga outside, especially on the beach or on the sea itself, connects you to nature. Rather than practice yoga in a studio or gym ..... further your practice in beautiful surroundings, challenging your balancing skills, releasing your happy hormones and enjoying a moving meditation to the sounds of the ocean

Click Here for a Short SUP Yoga Flow

©HealthyForeverFitnessMotivation

I hope you enjoyed this article.

 
Never miss out on future posts by Following me 

You will receive an email just once a month when I publish my new articles. This will bring you up to date on all things "healthy" that you need to achieve optimal health. This is my hobby and I love to share with you all the things I learn through my ongoing studies and the things I experience to make life a calm, healthy and peaceful adventure

If you are a little unsure about following me then please see a little bit more about me or check out my Tumblr Blog 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Benefits of Exercising with Resistance Bands

-
Image
Exercising with Resistance Bands Resistance bands are very versatile and an easy to use ' go to ' piece of fitness equipment.  They come in all shapes, colours, and sizes. They are very portable and provide a wide variety of strength exercises, targeting all your muscle groups. The other benefits of these bands are that you can take them anywhere, whether you want to take them with you on holiday, to work or even to the park if you prefer to do your workouts in the fresh air.  Resistance bands are very simple to use. They are not as confusing as some of the equipment in today's "hi tech" gyms that can feel very intimidating to those who are novice exercisers. It's hard to believe that these bands have any power when you place them next to a dumbbell or kettlebell, but the power they have will surprise you. Resistance bands are similar to free weights (dumbbells, kettlebells) in that they provide external resistance so you have to engage your muscles to oppo...
Read more

Is Circuit Training the Best Class for all-round Fitness?

-
Image
  What is a Circuit Class? As a Class instructor and personal trainer I am often asked “What is the best class for fitness and weight loss?” My answer will always be circuits. The reason for this is a good circuit class will incorporate strength training, cardio fitness and core strength. The class “ punches a packet” when it comes to a full body workout and cardio health. The big bonus comes with the diversity and variety of this class. I do hear many of my clients say that strength training is boring or they hate cardio and core workouts. But by putting all these 3 elements into one circuit class it adds a bit more gusto to your workout and adds a little more interest. A circuit class makes for a quick and efficient workout with major results. How does a Circuit Class Work? A general circuit class will give you a full body workout, plus cardio, plus core strengthening exercises. Some circuit classes can be set to a specific discipline such as football or boxing to help improve pe...
Read more

9 Impressive Mature Women Astounding the Fitness World with their Age-Defying Bodies

-
Image
Women and Ageing I am so pleased to see older women accomplishing celebrated feats within the fitness industry. This is not because I am myself in the category of the 'older woman' , but because I am an advocate of exercise for health and the prevention of age related diseases.  Ageing is not easy. I am grateful for each year I am here, but as I get older, I do realise that I need to add more strength training to help me maintain a good level of mobility and independence.  The amazing thing about strength training is that you can start at any age.  With consistency you will reap better health, an increase in bone strength, a decrease in body fat and improvements in your balance and coordination. Again, a great help to us as we age by reducing our chances of a fall and fractures.  We are all living longer and the over 50's age group, born in the mid 1960's and onward, are part of a growth area of the population. By 2030, it is estimated the number of people over the ...
Read more