SUP

SUP's 4 awesome health and well-being benefits

by Callum Hemsley

Lead a more active lifestyle and enjoy it while you do so!

The last couple of years there has been an increasing trend among us to want to lead healthier and more active lives. I think this is a good thing because why would you not want to try and be a little more active here and there? The benefits of doing so are practically endless. The problem is that when we think ‘active’, we think of the word ‘exercise’. The word ‘exercise’ to us means going to a busy, sweaty gym late at night after a long hard day's work.

That’s not the case.

I’m here to tell you that there are ways to lead a more active lifestyle where you don’t have to go the gym. Instead, you can exercise to your heart’s content by taking up Stand Up Paddleboarding (SUP). Now, if you do like going to the gym or playing other sports such as Football or Tennis, I’m not saying stop them. However, SUP is still definitely worth picking up as it has positives which will benefit your performance in other sports to!

So, without further ado here are our 4 awesome health benefits of SUP:

Improves Balance: As the name suggests you’ll be standing up which means that you will be needing to keep your balance on the board (if you don’t want to get wet that is). The fact that you are on water results in you needing to focus on being balanced more than merely walking, and balance improvement can be taken on into anything else in your life, from day-to-day activities to other sports. Balance is something which we all need, so why not improve it by hitting the water on a SUP board?

SUP Balance
Photo by Rutger Geleijnse on Unsplash

Low Impact: Stand Up Paddleboarding is an incredibly low impact sport. Due to the sport being water based, you run a significantly lower risk of damaging tendons and ligaments in comparison to more explosive forms of exercise such as running. To prove how low impact SUP really is, often athletes who are recovering from injuries take up SUP to slowly rehabilitate to full strength again. The fact that you can exercise and also have a low risk of injury is fantastic isn’t it?

SUP Health
Photo by Michael Henry on Unsplash

Cardio Driven Sport: As with most exercise you are going to get your heart rate going a little. Whilst SUP'ing you are constantly moving, twisting side to side to paddle and maintaining balance, resulting in a full body workout. If you'd prefer to exercise a little harder this is still possible whilst SUP’ing. Why not challenge your fellow SUP’er to a race? The beauty of Stand Up Paddleboarding is you can determine how much effort you want to put in, ranging from a leisurely SUP to an intense game of SUP Polo.

Leisure SUP
Photo by Olivier Fahrni on Unsplash

It’s fun!: I know it may sound incredibly cliche, but it's true. The fact that SUP’ing is incredibly fun is a health benefit. You’ll find that once you are out on the water you're in a different world which is both fun and relaxing. You can go out and explore the River Thames, or see a National Park from an estuary. These rare moments of tranquility and enjoyment will do wonders for your mental health and positive state of mind. You’ll be instantly de-stressed!

SUP
Explore the River Thames

So there you have it. These are our 4 Awesome health benefits of SUP’ing. The beauty of SUP is that it's incredibly easy to get into and everyone can experience joy and exercise as soon as you get onto a board. The only thing left is to find where you want to go for a SUP session.

If you're looking for something a little more high-impact our friends over at Outventurist has written a similar post on Kayaking, check it out!

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