Stand Up Paddleboarding is one of the fastest-growing sports in the world, and with so many people practicing it everywhere, you find many users wondering if this fun activity can help to burn off the calories. The answer is YES!

 

Stand Up Paddleboarding is a fun and relaxing activity that anyone can do. It can be a fantastic workout for people of all shapes, sizes, and ages! It’s a low impact exercise that creates a tremendous balance between strength, endurance, and resistance.

 

Measurement of Calories Burned: Since there are many different ways to measure the number of calories we can burn, we created a formula based on the subjects’ weight, age, and heart rate (we tested three individuals of different sizes, between 160-200 lbs.) during 1 hour of stand up paddleboarding. Please take into consideration that men typically burn more calories than women and that the measure of calories will depend directly on the effort & aggressiveness used during the workout. 

 

Paddle Board Surfing: Surfers say this is the best cross-training you can do to improve your surfing skills. The rougher the waves, the harder a Paddle Surfer will work, and the more calories they will burn. On a typical surfing day, after an hour of Paddle Surfing at a fast pace, and catching waves every couple of minutes, we found out that you can burn between 623-735 calories.

 

SUP Racing: Racing SUP is a high-intensity paddleboarding experience. There’s no time to catch your breath or slow down, so your heart rate is at full capacity. Depending on stroke intensity, form, wind speed, and water conditions, the number of calories you burn will vary. Our subjects raced a 5-mile circuit and burned between 713-1,125 calories.

 

SUP Touring: Touring is an activity done for a long distance at a moderate pace without stopping on your Stand Up Paddleboard. After an hour of touring, our subjects ran at an average speed of 3 mph and burned an average of 615-708 calories.

 

Yoga SUP: If you haven’t tried it yet, give it a chance. SUP Yoga offers an intense workout for the mind, body, and spirit. It requires an increased intensity that is far more challenging than practicing yoga on land. Through this exercise, you can burn between 416-540 calories in an hour.

 

Recreational Paddling: The most popular type of Stand Up Paddle Boarding is recreational use. It is normally performed as a leisurely paddle with calm water, light winds at a slow pace. Even with such relaxed conditions, you can burn between 305-430 calories in an hour of leisure on your paddleboard. 

 

Comparing Stand Up Paddleboarding to Other Sports:

 

Surfing: 412 Calories per hour.

Biking: 483 calories per hour.

Running: 650 calories per hour.

Swimming: 840 calories per hour.

 

Stand-up paddleboarding is a full-body workout that offers so much more than just the physical rewards. You will feel your spirit calm and your perspective in life balanced after each workout, no matter how short it is. Remember that at the end of the day, getting out on your paddleboard can be compared as a walk in the park or if you push it harder, compared to an intense workout at the gym.