Health Benefits

Sports enthusiasts and medical professionals will all agree that there are plenty of health benefits of canoeing, kayaking and stand-up paddle boarding. Like most sports, paddling a kayak, canoe or stand-up paddle boarding can help to improve your physical, mental, and emotional well-being. If you’re wondering what exactly the health benefits are, here are a few of them.

Aside from fun, these are probably some of the more important reasons why you could get started and make it a key part of your regular routine.

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Improves Cardiovascular Health

Paddling a kayak, canoe or stand-up paddle boarding is one form of aerobic exercise, and such exercises could be good for the heart. The brisk and intense movements required to paddle can help elevate your heart rate, and this, in turn, could make it stronger and healthier.

Full Body Workout

Executing a good stroke and effective control of the boat, requires the involvement of various muscles in your upper body, core and lower body such as your arms, back, shoulders, abdominals and legs. All in all, this provides you with a low-impact exercise that can help build and tone your body.

Mental Well-being

If you have been feeling down lately or need a boost of happiness, why not grab a kayak, canoe or stand-up paddle board, and do some paddling? Research has shown that exercise, especially aerobic exercise, helps to trigger the brain into releasing “happy” hormones which can help improve a person’s mood.

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Reduce Stress

Paddling can also be a therapeutic exercise and is great for relieving stress. For some people, this comes by way of paddling furiously against the water flow. For others, this may be as simple as sitting in a kayak and floating lazily on the water.

Weight Loss

Obviously, to get the kayak to move in the direction you want it to, you’ll need to paddle. And working that kayak paddle, especially against the current, requires effort and movement, and this, in turn, will require energy. In short, if you want to burn those excess calories, then kayaking could help you do just that as you could burn up to 400 calories per hour when paddling at approximately 5mph.

Better Social Relationships

Social interactions and relationships are beneficial to your mental and emotional well-being. When your mind and soul are at peace your body is sure to benefit as well. Going on a trip with others is a great way to strengthen existing relationships and build new ones, and this can have a tremendous effect on your mental and emotional health.