Why Stand up Paddling is the ultimate sport

Stand Up Paddling is a sport which uses literally all muscle groups in your body.

This of course means that you can also burn more calories and that it is a great sport to start with if you want to lose weight or stay in shape.

With adventurous paddle boarding you’re really on your way to a destination. You make an adventurous tour over a longer distance, through a unique area.

This means that you put a bit more speed in paddle boarding, a bit more challenge and therefore a bit more strain on your muscles.

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1. Recreative Stand Up Paddling

With recreational paddleboarding you’re actually just paddleboarding at your leisure.

You move quietly over the water and especially enjoy the surroundings, for example.

You are not specifically involved in intensive sports, but just enjoy yourself on your paddleboard.

When you’re stand up paddling this way, you’ll burn approximately 225 calories per hour.

This can be compared to an hour-long walk. Recreative inflatable paddle boards are mainly the Aqua Marina paddleboards, Bluefin Paddle Boards and the MOAI paddle boards.

Aqua-Marina-Vapor-SUP-Board-Optional-Seat

2. Adventurous paddleboarding

With adventurous stand up paddling you’re really on your way to a destination. You make an adventurous tour over a longer distance, through a unique area.

This makes sure that you put some more speed in paddleboarding, some more challenge and therefore some more strain on your muscles.

With this form of stand up paddling you burn 400 to 500 calories per hour. This can be compared to an hour of light jogging.

However, it is not comparable to the effect on the muscles.

When running, the muscles will acidify considerably faster and will later cause more muscle pain than in the case of paddleboarding.

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3. Competitive surfing

Of course you can also go and race on your paddleboard. Take on your friends or sign up for a real paddle board race against experienced opponents.

In this case, of course, you will do your utmost to win the race, which means that you will try to reach top speeds while also focusing on maintaining your balance.

In this case you can burn 850 to 1000 calories per hour. That is of course quite a lot!

By engaging in this form of stand up paddling you ensure an excellent condition, a great strength in your body and optimally functioning and strong muscles.

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4. Surf paddleboarding

Surfing on your paddleboard is not easy, but if you have mastered stand up paddling, then it is definitely a nice next step.

You can burn quite a few calories, especially because you always switch between high intensive and low intensive sporting.

This is of course because you have to deal with waves while surfing.

With many waves you burn more calories than with less and less high waves. It is therefore also partly dependent on the weather conditions.

On average you can burn about 500 to 600 calories per hour with paddleboard surfing.

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Aqua Marina Wave Opblaasbaar Surfboard Action

Burning calories with paddleboarding as a sport

Burning 225 calories per hour is already quite a lot of course. You could say that with paddleboarding you always burn a lot of calories.

Especially if you paddle faster and faster, the number of calories you burn increases considerably.

Another good option to train and enjoy relaxation is paddle board yoga. You do relaxing exercises without putting too much strain on the muscles.

However, even with paddle board yoga you can burn quite a few calories. 

Combine surf with kayak and you get Stand up Paddle. Stand Up Paddleboarding is the fastest growing water sport worldwide with more than 200% growth since last year.

The reason people have started the sport so massively is that it’s a complete full-body workout.

Stand Up Paddle Boarding makes your core a lot stronger (your back and belly), is a very good cardio workout, gives you a good balance and provides more flexibility of the body.

All this without too much impact on your body or injury sensitivity.

Above all, it is just wonderful to be on the water and enjoy the outdoors and nature. It almost doesn’t feel like a workout.

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Paddleboarding is for all ages and any type of user

Another reason why it is done so massively, is because Stand Up Paddling is for all ages. Whether your are a child or a bit older, the sport is suitable for everyone.

It can also be used at any fitness and yoga level, beginner or advanced.

There are paddle boards available for any type of purpose: from sport till fitness/yoga and from relaxation until competition.

Stand Up Paddling can be done on flat water (in a lake or large pool for example), but also in the sea with (high) waves.

To be able to paddleboard unlike surfing, you do not need waves. This makes it easy to practice even if you don’t live on the coast.

However, if you do go into the sea, take extra precautions. It is for example always wise to wear a life jacket and a SUP Leash.

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Review written by: Tom

Hi! My name is Tom. During the year I try to be on a paddle board as much as possible. By reading this blog you'll stay updated on everything I test on the water :)