The Health Benefits Of Kayaking

There are very few activities that are just as good for your mind and body as they are fun to do. Kayaking is most definitely one of them. Rather than a 12 week challenge or punishing workout routine, kayaking can easily become a very healthy, very fun part of the rest of your life. It can be a relaxing, fun social activity or a challenging, solo adventure. You can do it for an hour here and there or go on a weekend trip. It offers so many choices and so many benefits. Here are a just a few:

1. Kayaking to lose weight:

Let's do some easy math. It takes about a tenth of a horsepower to move a kayak through water at 5 mph. If you are the one providing that power, you will burn around 400 calories an hour. After 4 hours of paddling, you will have burnt 1600 calories! That's a ton of calories, and it's way more fun than a treadmill (and less cult-like than crossfit)!

2. Kayaking to reduce stress:

Be honest, is a day out on the water ever a bad day? Nope. There is something deeply soothing and calming about the water (provided you're not caught in a storm). The smooth motion of paddling your way through the water just adds to the effect. Do this a couple of times a week and you will quickly notice your overall stress levels going down and your quality of life going up.

3. Kayaking to tone up your body:

Performing a good stroke of the paddle utilizes almost every muscle in your upper body and some in your lower body too. Paddling doesn't overstress your muscles like weight lifting, so it's not going to cause them to get bulky, but it will tone them all by bringing them each into use. High repitition, low power, low impact workouts like paddling are perfectly suited to this. Regardless of what other workout routines you may have, kayaking will improve your results, make you look great, and make you feel great.