There are a lot of ways to stay in shape, but it’s pretty hard to find something that is challenging, works about 85 percent of the muscles in your body and provides you with a beautiful view! Paddleboarding is an ancient form of surfing, but the pastime is gaining major popularity all over the country. Rather than having to wait on a day with killer surf, paddleboarders embrace the calm and serenity that the water has to offer!

Paddleboarding involves a board a bit thicker and more buoyant than a surfboard so that it can hold you up while you’re standing in flat water. It is high-intensity exercise, but with very low impact and can be done in a pond, lake or ocean. It’s not just versatile in regard to where it can be practiced; it’s also very easy to train tons of different ways using the board, a paddle and some water.

Some people take their boards out on the water to just do some laps at their own pace and get a feel for the sport. Others crave an additional challenge. Pushing balancing skills to the extremes, yoga classes are taught on the water’s calm surface. All of the traditional poses and balancing postures are still done with the relaxation time at the end, making it really tough to fake good balance.

For the more adventurous soul, interval training is also an option. Scott Bumbalough, who is the founder of Maui B’s Stand Up Paddleb Boarding based in Florida, teaches some seriously intense classes on Lake Ivanhoe in Orlando.

"For fitness classes we take a one-hour lap around the lake," he said. "Buoys are placed at intervals and at each buoy we do an exercise such as squats, push-ups, squat thrusts on the board."

I’m not sure I could stand on the board let alone squat on one! For this reason, the sport is probably only going to be a good fit for people who enjoy the beauty of the outdoors and don’t mind getting a little wet. There’s definitely a chance you’ll fall in once or twice before you completely grasp the concept! The rewards are definitely worth it though. Healthcare consultant Nani Sadowski credits her physical changes to paddle boarding and taking yoga classes on the water. She said she’s only fallen once, but the transformation she’s seen in her body makes that fall worth it. She’s 38 years old and she’s got a solid six-pack!

Try something new this summer season and enjoy the results! Beach season is just around the corner and there’s no reason you can’t bask in the victory of a body transformation of your own!

Sources: Chicago Tribune

Photo Source: Wikipedia