Last updated on January 13th, 2021
Wouldn’t it be awesome if you find a fun way to pump the heart which supports your mental well-being at the same time? Well, I know what you’re thinking now as you have landed on this page.
Yes, cruising on a kayak gives you the luxury to kill two birds with one stone.
Now, if you wondered, kayaking is an aerobic exercise that combines low- impact strength training with the relaxing effect of serenity in exploring nature and hidden beauties. More importantly, sports enthusiasts and medical professionals all agree that kayaking on regular basis benefits in a number of ways. In particular, this acts on different muscle groups, burns fat, increases confidence and an ideal way to maximize peace of mind.
This isn’t the end though.
Let me dig a little further on the health benefits of kayaking and find
out why you should consider this wonderful opportunity.
So, without wasting time, let’s get down to the business.
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Health Benefits of Kayaking
Kayaking is a good workout if you want to get ahead of the curve and restore your mental health.
Hence, we can break down the health benefits of kayaking in two sections here.
- Physical Health Benefits
- Mental Health Benefits
Physical Health Benefits Of Kayaking
Help Losing Weight
It is obvious that you can’t burn as many calories as you might expect from a high impact exercise such as sprinting. Having said that, working the kayak against the current requires effort which by turn will require energy. This coupled with the fact that you will actually be paddling for several hours as you go kayaking, means you might end up burning a substantial amount of calories doing just that.
Builds Your Upper Body
To get the boat moving you requires to drift the paddle back and forth maybe a couple of hundreds of time. You literally use your arms, the upper back, and your shoulders continuously during the paddling hours. And, thus kayaking provides the ground to tone your upper body and make them stronger.
Strengthen Your Core Muscle
The core is one of our body’s most crucial muscle groups, holding us to an upright position. Well, if you have ever seen someone paddling in a kayak you know how they turn their upper body from one side to the other. In other words, kayaking in effect is a sort of min-crunch which attacks the abdomen and lower back muscles. While it isn’t as challenging doing a full crunch, repeating the motion throughout the session equals to a routine abs workout.
Improves Cardiovascular Health
As an aerobic exercise kayaking is always good to get your heart rate up. The quick and repeated action of active paddling makes it stronger and enhance your cardiovascular health.
Source Of Vitamin D
Vitamin D is an important nutrient in developing our bones and to host other body processes. Even if you can’t commit ample time to soak up in the sun, the good news is, paddling a kayak as little as 20 minutes is just right to stimulate vitamin D production inside your body. However, you should always protect your skin using a sunscreen designed for water sports to withstand harmful sun rays.
Mental Health Benefits Of Kayaking
Reduces Stress
Imagine you are in the middle of the calmness of mother nature, with a kayak exploring picturesque sights. Think about this for a moment. Even a child can feel the true relaxation that kayaking can offer to the paddlers.
Studies have also shown that outdoor recreation such as kayaking works as mental therapy and helps us de-stress our brain.
So if you have been stressed throughout the week take the chance and get your mind off things before you go back to the hustle and bustle of the city.
Brain Releases Happy Hormones
Over time, multiple research has revealed that aerobic exercises trigger the brain to release a hormone called endorphins which improves a person’s mood.
Accordingly, exploring alongside beautiful scenery and wildlife with a kayak can actually work as a tonic. Quite simply it will eliminate your depression, negative thoughts, and help you sustain a happier lifestyle.
Solves Sleep Problem
If you have long sleepiness night perhaps all you need is an active kayaking session. Being on the water with a kayak not only reduces the stress level but also tires you out paddling against raging rapids which will make you fall asleep early at night.
Improve Social Relationship
We all love social interactions with our dear ones because it is refreshing and help us to reinforce our mental health. But our busy life takes us away from being around with our friends and that kind of hurts. kayaking presents the opportunity to give it a go. Because it is safer and a fun way to share moments with those buddies which will tremendously improve social bonding.
FAQs:
Is kayaking a good workout?
Kayaking is definitely a good exercise provided that you don’t break the session and put in the effort. Like any form of exercise, the quality of the work depends on the level of intensity and kayaking is no different.
How many calories are burned per hour kayaking?
In reference to the American Council on Exercise, a peddler with 125 pounds will burn up to 283 calories going for an hour of active kayaking, while it is 340 decrease in number for a regular person of 150-pound weight.
How many hours of kayaking to burn a pound of fat?
It takes 3500 calories to shape a pound of fat. Considering this it would take you about 10 hours to burn a pound of fat.
How does kayaking compare to other activities?
Kayaking is more or less in the same vicinity as most other forms of exercise in terms of the burning calories. In comparison, an hour of the intense paddle is two-third of an hour of running (at 5mph) that takes up about 635 pounds while being equal the cycling (at 5.5mph) which consumes almost 317 pounds of calories for the same amount time.
Final Verdict
By now you should get one thing very clear. Whether you are thinking of physical benefits or you wanting to heal your mental health kayaking in every way is a rewarding recreation.
What’s more? It doesn’t cost much to rent a kayak.
So what’s stopping you?
Grab your cell phone and get all those friends together to have a nice day out on the lake.
Happy paddling!
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