How Kayaking Can Improve Your Health Both Mentally And Physically

The pandemic has brought about many changes in our daily lives, and one of them is that most people are working remotely to avoid catching and spreading the virus. Being cooped up inside has had adverse effects on both your mental and physical health. What better way to take care of your health than to go out kayaking?

Kayaking is an excellent exercise that will improve your mental and physical health while giving you an intimate view that immerses you in nature. Great for streams, rapids, rivers, and lakes, kayaks are versatile watercraft that are also easy to carry and transport.

A kayaking journey can be what you need to break from the monotony of staying all year indoors. So get yourself a kayak from https://www.meltontackle.com/kayaks/fishing-kayaks  and strap it to your car, where a world of adventure awaits you.

Mental health benefits of kayaking

1.   Reduces stress

Spending some time outside and breathing in the fresh air can help reduce stress. Watching your kayak move through the water with your effort, spending some hours under the sky, on the water, and enjoying an exquisite view is a relaxing and enjoyable experience.

While stress is a significant factor in maintaining mental wellness, it is also linked to different illnesses and may increase any existing medical conditions you may have. Hence a couple of times a month for a few hours, getting this kind of exercise will make anyone feel much better.

2.   Provides sufficient time for bonding and socializing

Kayaking is easy even for first-timers making it an easy activity to indulge in. You can ask your friends or family members to join you so that you can share a more enjoyable and memorable time. No matter how busy you are working during the weekdays, it’s best to set some time to bond and socialize with friends and family.

If you have no one to go kayaking with, you can join a kayakers organization in your area. Joining these clubs is an excellent opportunity to socialize and meet new people who enjoy activities you are passionate about.

3.   Provide a chance for self-improvement

Kayaking can be an excellent chance for self-improvement. You can keep track of your performance every time you are out kayaking. Every time you are out kayaking, ensure to record the distance covered, your speed, and the time you used to cover a certain distance.

Keep track of your performance and set small goals to beat the previous one for your improvement. When you hit all the goals set, it will be rewarding and will offer a feeling of satisfaction.

4.   Improves your quality of sleep

When you engage in physical activity during the day and feel exhausted, it will help you fall asleep faster than when you did nothing the entire day.

Moreover, expending all your energy enables you to stay in a deep sleep and for longer, therefore, improving your sleep quality through the night.

Physical health benefits of kayaking

5.   It helps you achieve your ideal body weight.

Kayaking is one of the many ways you can indulge in physical exercise, which can help you burn off some excess weight. It’s estimated that you burn 500 calories every hour of kayaking if you are paddling at an average of 5mph. It may seem less than other exercises such as running, but with kayaking, it’s an activity that you can do in many hours, and it’s more fun compared to exercising, which is usually 30 minutes to an hour.

Most people that go out kayaking do so for many hours, sometimes even the entire day. This means you burn over 2000 calories every time you go kayaking. If losing weight is one of your goals this year, you can set aside some of your weekends per month for kayaking, and engaging in it consistently helps you achieve your ideal weight.

6.   It strengthens your core muscles.

Your lower back, obliques, and abdomen are usually engaged during kayaking. In every stroke during paddling, as you reach forward, you are contracting your abs, and when you pull, you are contracting your muscles on the lower back. When you also make any twisting movements, you are engaging your obliques.

Remember, the most effective way of maintaining the balance of your kayak while sitting on it is to sit upright. This helps strengthen your core muscles as they are engaged through the entire boat ride.

7.   It helps you develop toned legs.

Although the benefits of kayaking will be more noticeable on your shoulders, arms, and upper back, it also has excellent effects on your legs. Your lege muscles are still used even when you are sitting on the kayak boat. The movements involved with kayaking is impactful on the lower limbs as it is on the upper ones.

When kayaking, your legs apply the necessary pressure to aid in keeping you balanced on the kayak. Also, when you are trying to turn or maneuver the boat, you unknowingly tighten and loosen your leg muscles simultaneously, many times.

8.   It increases your upper body muscle strength.

Since you will primarily use your arms throughout the kayaking adventure, the upper body part will be more toned. The exertion while kayaking extends to most of your upper body muscles, such as the ones on your shoulders, back, and chest. Paddling for long hours also aids in exercising these muscles.

If you travel a mile on your kayak, you’d need to put out around 500 strokes depending on different factors. Imagine going for over two miles you’d have done over a thousand repetitions; this kind of exercise and exertion will improve your upper body strength.

Conclusion

Aside from being an enjoyable water sport that will enable you to get out of your house more, it will improve your mental and physical wellbeing. You not only get to exercise your body, brain, and heart but also get to explore the beauty of nature and even get to discover new places. Kayaking offers more than enough benefits to convince you to go on your first kayaking adventure.