SUP Fitness: Burn as many calories as you can with Stand Up Paddling

It’s not a secret anymore. Stand Up Paddle Boarding is an effective whole body workout that burns calories, breaks down fat and builds muscles. And the best thing about it is that it’s also fun, so the question is how many calories are actually burned during stand-up paddling.

We already know that by simply standing, a person burns almost 200 calories per hour. The leg and back musculature fires in this position to keep the stand and balance.

Stand Up Paddling requires a lot more energy because the balancing act on the water is much more strenuous. Even light currents and small waves demand a lot from the legs. Similar to other sports, Stand Up paddlers kneel easily for a safe stand.

The constant shifting of the body’s centre of gravity on the board and the tightening and relaxing of the leg muscles demands a lot from the body. So we can assume that even standing on the SUP Board burns more calories than standing on land.

If we add the power-sapping paddle, we are already in the range of 300 to 400 calories per hour.

Of course, this estimate depends strongly on the intensity of the load. A relaxed lap at slow speed will rather burn in the range of 300 to 400 calories per hour, while an intense SUP race will cause values beyond 1000 calories per hour.

SUP Surfing or Whitewater SUP also require significantly more strength and therefore burn more calories.

But there is an app for that
A more accurate estimation of the number of calories in your last SUP session can give you appropriate apps. In our article about SUP Apps we highlighted the Tracking Apps Watersports Tracker Whitewater (iOS), Pudlr (with costs, but great with Apple Watch) and Runtastics (Anroid + iOS).

The iOS App Pudlr records route and calories burned.

In the apps you will be asked about the type of your next activity. Once Stand Up Paddling is selected, the apps will record speed, location and (if you wear an Apple Watch, for example) pulse.

The recommended apps are really easy to use. This is no witchcraft. There is live data during the tour as well as an evaluation with analysis at the end. It also contains an estimate of the calories consumed during stand-up paddling.

At the end of the day SUP is simply a great outdoor activity. Once you’ve tried it, it’s usually so much fun that you hardly notice the calories. Getting started is also quite easy. All you need is a SUP board, a paddle and a holding line (so the board can’t swim away).

Especially for beginners, I have already presented many boards on this blog. Here you can find reviews of SUP boards for beginners as well as SUP paddles and SUP holding lines.

Check out inflatable paddle boards at Supboard-99.co.uk!