How to Burn Calories while Kayaking
Kayaking is an intensive sport that excites you and can work as a great way to work out. It is always recommended to include different workouts to maximize burning fat and have fun. So how many calories can you burn kayaking, and is it a recommended way to exercise?
The answer is yes. Research shows that you can burn around 1200 calories in a 3-hour session. Kayaking is a great alternative way of exercising compared to low-intensity workouts such as jogging, brisk walking, and other compound exercises.
It is essential to have a keen look at what kayaking entails and why it is considered a great way to burn calories.
As a professional kayaker (if I do say so myself, haha), I always get a burning sensation all over my body and often feel pretty accomplished after every session. This is what I think about the sport.
1. Kayaking regards compound exercising
Compound exercises are often viewed as workout routines targeting different muscle groups simultaneously.
Kayaking involves a lot of rowing, which means you can target muscles in your arms, chest, back, and abdomen. These parts often have a lot of fat to burn, making kayaking a recommended solution.
Surprisingly, legs also get quite toned with time, which I tend to think a lot about because I once thought kayaking does not target them.
I realized that while engaging in rip tides, you often use your legs and glutes to keep the kayak stable (I see you smiling). So yeah, it’s super cool!
2. It enhances your aerobic fitness
At this point, I think it is safe to say that kayaking involves a full body workout and a lot of stretching.
You will often use your neck to look around where you are headed and your arms to steer your kayak. Your back also gets a good stretch, especially when dealing with strong currents.
Additionally, your chest stretches a lot as you row your canoe. Stretching is excellent for weight loss because it helps you build muscles. More muscles mean your body will require more calories to burn, even when not working out. This makes kayaking a perfect routine to add to your workout.
3. Kayaking increases your muscle strength
As noted in the previous section, kayaking helps build muscles all over your body, considering that it engages you physically through stretching and applying pressure.
It is common knowledge that the existing fibers in your body must wear and tear to build muscles.
I know the science behind developing muscles sounds strange. Still, it makes sense once you realize that your body automatically repairs your torn muscles with more muscular fibers to make you stronger. Kayaking thus suffices as a great way to burn calories and build muscles. Awesome, right?
4. It enhances your endurance
Who wouldn’t want to run faster, be more agile, and handle physical challenges relatively easily?
Since it is already proven that kayaking increases your muscle strength, this sport trains your body to work continuously for extended periods without tiring. Does it get any better than this? Yes. It does.
Flatwater sessions are the best to increase your endurance. I suggest setting a 2-month challenge, where the first four weeks center on paddling moderately for half an hour. The second month should involve five sets of 5-minute bursts, followed by a 2-minute recovery after each set.
5. Kayaking enhances your cardiovascular fitness
It is undeniable that kayaking can get quite tasking, depending on your workout routine. This is great for your cardiovascular and respiratory systems for various reasons, such as burning the cholesterol in your bloodstream and exercising your heart.
Most anaerobic exercises help your chest develop, meaning your lungs have more room to expand. This development helps you breathe better and hold your breath for longer periods without much strain.
6. This sport activates Vitamin D in your body
Of course, kayaking is an outdoor experience unless you are rich enough to build your indoor river or lake. As a result, you get to expose your skin to the sun, which is perfect for your body. Vitamin D synthesis mostly happens outdoors, so get your kayak and enjoy!
Vitamin D is required to strengthen bones in your body and significantly boost your immune system. Naturally, several foods contain Vitamin D, but not in the exact amounts when compared to the sun. So kayaking offers more than eating a banana (but do both, you won’t regret it).
7. It enhances mental sharpness
I often think this is the best part about kayaking. This exercise is so enjoyable that I often forget its numerous health benefits.
I barely realize I am burning calories because I get so immersed during the process. The views are breathtaking, and the sounds of the waves are pretty therapeutic.
When your mind gets stimulated by an activity, it develops like any other organ in your body. Every time you go kayaking, you will always think about how to steer and power your kayak, where you want to go, and how to get there. So yeah, it can stimulate your mind and make it sharper!
It’s pretty awesome to think of all these benefits caused by one activity alone. Just to recap, kayaking regards compound exercising, enhances your aerobic fitness, increases your muscle strength and endurance, improves your cardiovascular fitness, activates Vitamin D in your body, and enhances mental sharpness (that was a mouthful!).
All these benefits help explain how one can burn up to 1200 calories in 3 hours, which is quite impressive. So what are you waiting for? Get yourself a kayak and burn some calories now!
