5 Water Sports For Toning The Body
There is no better feeling than being out on the water (apart from very cold day!). The nature of water means a lot of resistance, hence the body uses a lot of energy moving through it, this resistance means you use a plethora of different muscles, all of which makes most water sports a great work out.
Here are our pick of the top 5 water sports for toning that body.
Surfing
You will rarely see an out of shape surfer and most who do the sport are chiselled. Well that’s because it’s one of the most physically challenging sports out there.
Surfing is another full body workout from start to finish. You carry the board to start with, then you have to paddle the board out to the surf which is a nonstop cardio workout. Then there is pushing yourself up on the board which requires good explosive strength and when you do get up on it, the actual surfing is great for building core and leg strength.
That completed, you swim the board out for more as it’s so addictive!
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Paddle boarding
Standup Paddle boarding or SUP is one of the fastest growing sports in the world and the most versatile of all board sports. SUP’s can be used in flat water, rivers and rapids, touring, racing and surfing. And more recently there is SUP fishing and even SUP yoga!
As a sport and exercise it has some great benefits and is known to be one of the best complete body workouts.
Having to stand up right on the board in water requires you to engage all the muscles in your legs, butt, and core for balance and stability, while you work your arms, back, and core to paddle through the water.
On top of the all over muscle toning, the combination of balance, strength, and endurance, paddle boarding is great for training your balance and focus.
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Swimming
Swimming is a great sport, accessible to old, young, disabled or injured.
It’s low impact and high results sport where you literally use nearly every muscle on your body. Like all the sports on this list, exercising in water makes your body work much harder so 30 minutes in a pool is worth 45 minutes of the same activity on land.
Mastering the different strokes will help you get different types of aerobic exercise, so whether doing the breaststroke or hammering out the butterfly you will get a great full body work which is the key ingredient to staying in shape.
Kayaking / Canoeing
Kayaking is great fun whether out at sea, lakes or rivers and for a sport that you do sitting on your ass it’s also a great workout!
We’re not going to rate it as highly as the above but only because it’s more of an upper body workout, but it’s still a great way to get toned. To start with you use your legs, glutes for turning, balancing. But the real burner here is in the upper body workout, all that paddling is a killer on the arms, shoulders, pecks, abdomen back, core and even hands. It’s also known as one of the best overall exercises for the arms, you won’t see a regular kayaker with small upper or forearms!
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Kite Surfing / Windsurfing
These sports are is the least accessible on the list because of all the gear and training it requires, but it’s well worth discussing because of the massive toning benefits.
Sports that require the most fitness
You are massively engage your legs and lower body to balance on the small board, the your upper body hanging on for dear life while that kite/surf pulls you across the water. It’s another true allover body work out that offers a lot of the same fun, freedom and adrenaline as surfing.
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