Paddleboarding For Fitness

Paddleboarding has significantly increased in popularity over the last decade, and with good reason. More people are opting away from the gym and instead enrolling in classes, or seeking activities in the outdoors. Busy workdays make our time more precious, and in a bid to maximize our free time exercising outside with friends has become the new all-in-one social workout craze.

Paddleboarding can be an excellent way to bridge the gap between staying fit and active whilst also getting your daily dose of nature and social connection. The health benefits of paddleboarding go beyond raising the heart rate, and studies have shown that time spent in nature can lower blood pressure and reduce stress!

Paddleboarding is a great form of exercise! It is a full-body workout that targets muscles in your arms, core, and legs, all at the same time. Your whole body has to work together to stabilize, balance and paddle forwards on the board.

Once you have a good technique dialed in, you can start to work on your cardio. Paddleboard sessions can be structured to include HIIT (high-intensity interval training), pyramids, sprints, or endurance-style workouts. As a result of including these styles into your sessions, you'll see your speed and endurance increase as your cardio increases.

Paddleboarding burns the calories! A casual session of paddleboard can see around 400 calories being burnt an hour. Up the pace of your sessions and you'll be burning more. Fitness watches with a built-in heart rate monitor are great for keeping track of the work you are doing in your sessions.

Paddleboarding is classed as a low-impact exercise. That means the load on your muscles and joints is relatively low, which means the likelihood of becoming injured is also low. It's no surprise that paddleboarding is a favorite among athletes recovering from injury!

Getting out in nature is a great way to spend your time, lower your blood pressure, reduce stress, and boost your vitamin D levels naturally! We can't express enough how important being outside, in nature is. It's the whole reason Pau Hana Surf Supply was born, because we wanted to spend more time outside, on the water, feeling alive. If you do one thing for yourself this week, take your board and go for a paddle, I guarantee that even if you feel like staying in and watching Netflix instead, your body will thank you after!