This summer, if there is one thing that you must try to add to your holiday hit list, it’s of the fitness kind that has celebrities jumping on the bandwagon and buffing their bods on boards.
Here are some of the reasons why SUP is so much fun!
+ It gives you a birds-eye perspective of the water below you. Perfect if your around shallow, rocky areas with the reef to spot marine life or just so you can see what is ahead. It is a very cool feeling to be standing on water!
+ It is a great introduction to water sports for beginners. Surfing can take a while to pick up but it is very uncommon to have anyone that doesn’t take to SUP’ing straight away. There may be a few wobbles to start with but as your body adapts you’ll become more confident to try moving around the board
+ It can be done anywhere there is water. Creeks damns, lakes, rivers..you don’t need waves to paddle and the good part of it is that even in winter you can incorporate it into your training without the worry of getting wet as you do with traditional surfing
+ It is an all-over body workout. You don’t get too many sports that can claim this. From your abs to your arms to legs and butt, there is no muscle that is forgotten once you get the hang of it. Even if you’re not actually moving around on the board it is amazing at how quickly your legs with tire and tone up. Stability muscles that you probably haven’t used in years will be woken up!
+ It’s great for cross-training. As it’s low impact it has great benefits when it’s added into your normal routine or for those returning from injury.
It’s recommended that you get some lessons, to begin with when you first hire a board. This will make the experience so much more enjoyable. With things like stroke technique, turning skills, how to hold the paddle (it’s so not cool holding your paddle around the wrong way..oops!), you’ll be best finding a local shop that can steer you in the right direction. I host regular Standup paddle clinics also.
As the sport of SUP grows it is easy to see why it is becoming so popular, don’t put it off, get out there and give it a crack, I promise you’ll be surprised at how easy it is and find the glide addictive!
