While kayaking may be a fun and enjoyable recreational activity, it also has immense health benefits. Regardless, even though you might not be enjoying your kayaking trip, the simple act of sitting and paddling through helps you stay healthy.
Can you lose weight kayaking? Yes, you can lose weight kayaking. Kayaking involves working different body parts and muscles. Just like jogging and swimming, kayaking can help you burn calories and lose weight. A single kayaking trip can help you lose roughly 400 calories, depending on several factors. Therefore, while kayaking is considered a recreational sport, it is also an effective weight-loss workout.
Does Kayaking Burn Belly Fat?
Below is a kayaking guide detailing the possibility of losing weight while kayaking and the average number of calories burned kayaking. Read further to understand how kayaking can help you lose weight.
Is Kayaking Good Exercise?
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Kayaking is potentially an effective and good exercise that targets a wide range of muscle groups. It is an exercise that gets your heart pumping. In addition, kayaking is repetitive, requires hard work, and uses your entire body.
Fortunately, kayaking can work both as cardio and strength workouts. As such, you can achieve more for your body from simply paddling. This paddling movement raises your heartbeat, allowing you to enjoy this sport as an effective cardio exercise that you can adapt to your needs.
On the other hand, the paddling movements necessary for moving and navigating the kayak helps to build your body strength and muscles, as well as your core. A stronger core makes it easier to support your back, spine, and neck. As such, you can enjoy kayaking as a good strength and cardio exercise.
How Many Calories Can you Lose Kayaking?
The number of calories you burn depends on several factors, such as your weight, size, and your exercise intensity. Generally, the more you weigh, the more calories you will burn kayaking. The average calories burned kayaking for a 200-pound human is approximately 450 per hour.
In addition, the intensity of your kayaking also determines how fast and how many calories you burn. Generally, paddling through a series of strong rapids is more intense and challenging than a lazy, casual paddling down a calm river. The more intense the kayaking is, the more calories you burn.
According to the American Council on Exercise, an average weight (approximately 125-pound) paddler burns roughly 150 calories in half an hour and about 283 hourly while kayaking. However, a slightly heavier paddler (approximately 150 pounds) burns more calories at an average rate of 340 calories hourly.
Is Kayaking an Ideal Way to Lose Weight?
As previously mentioned, kayaking involves cardio and strength workouts, both vital in weight loss. Cardio helps you to burn calories, lose weight, and gain strength in a single workout.
One of the advantages of kayaking is how fun it is, making it feel less of a workout. It is a fun way to exercise and strengthen your muscles while burning fat. Ensure you get into a regular kayaking routine, and soon, you will notice an increase in muscle mass and faster weight loss.
Which Muscles Does Kayaking Exercise?
Key muscles that kayaking works include:
· Arms (grip, forearms, biceps, and triceps)
· Chest
· Abs
· Shoulders
· Back.
The movements you require for kayaking are ideal for your shoulders and back. Moving the paddle up and frontwards transfers the weight from your lats to your shoulders. This then targets your rear, lateral, and anterior deltoids in one movement.
In addition, with every single row, you are working your pectoral muscles hard, pulling your arm simultaneously while keeping your shoulders stable and steady. The movement also allows for the building of strength in your arms.
If you are also looking to craft a stunning 6-pack, the rotational rowing movement works out your abdomen and obliques. If you are a beginner at kayaking, you will often experience a sore core for a good few days. The more you kayak, the more strength and stability you will build in different areas of your body.
Can Kayaking Build Muscles?
Kayaking involves repetitive motions almost similar to the typical weightlifting reps and sets. The more repetitive motions you do, the more muscles you build on the targeted body parts, including shoulder, back, and arms.
Since this activity targets the major muscle groups in the body, you will begin to build more strength and muscles over time. The more muscles grow, the more weight you lose, earning you a double benefit. Kayaking is an effective upper body workout that helps you burn calories.
Does Kayaking Burn Belly Fat?
Yes, kayaking helps you to burn belly fat. It also helps you to build more firm muscles. Kayaking paddling involves rotational movements that are extremely taxing on your ab muscles and core.
A single paddle stroke contracts your oblique and abdominal muscles, thus building your core strength even more. Combining these movements sculpts your core and gives your oblique and abs a proper workout.
Is Kayaking A Full-Body Workout?
The movement involved in kayaking works your back, shoulders, arms, and chest. However, the paddling motion also works your core and leg muscles. The correct kayaking technique needs you to use the muscles in your legs, arms, back, shoulders, and torso.
Most people believe that kayaking is only an effective upper body exercise since it involves a kayaker sitting down and using their arms. However, kayaking is an effective full-body workout that engages all the major muscles in your body.
Consistent and regular kayaking trips will have you noticing a positive change in your body. You will lose weight in all places and simultaneously gain muscles in all targeted areas.
Does Kayaking Burn More Calories than Jogging or Walking?
According to this research, individuals who discover their interests and tweak their exercises/workouts to reflect their interests often remain committed to their fitness goals. Most importantly, they are constantly motivated to chase their physical and health pursuits.
Therefore, whether you like kayaking, jogging, canoeing, or walking, you can use these exercises to help burn calories. The rate at which each activity burns calories depends on several factors, such as the intensity of the activity.
If you love kayaking and do it whole-heartedly, chances are you will burn more calories than an individual who chooses jogging or walking without any commitment. However, jogging or walking on an intense terrain can also burn more calories than lazy and casual kayaking on a sunny weekend afternoon in calm waters.
Do You Need to Be Fit to Kayak?
Kayaking is relatively similar to other activities such as hiking. However, not everyone has the same experience level. You may also need to be relatively fit, especially if you are kayaking on rapids and less calm waters.
It is a simple exercise that requires a small degree of fitness. Fortunately, there is a minimal learning curve for you to achieve expertise and comfortably paddle even in strong currents. Most importantly, all kayakers are required to have some basic swimming skills and put on buoyancy aids.
What Are the Benefits of Kayaking?
Kayaking has plenty of health benefits aside from it being a fun and recreational activity. Benefits of kayaking include:
1. Minimal risk of tear and wear on your tissues and joints because paddling is a low-impact exercise
2. Increased leg and torso exercise. The strength to power and navigate a kayak stems from applying pressure using your legs and rotating your torso
3. More muscle strength, mainly in the shoulders, arms, back, and chest as a result of paddling the kayak
4. Improved cardiovascular fitness
5. Burning calories and losing weight.
Moreover, kayaking can be meditative and peaceful or tiring, depending on how you do it as well as external factors such as the strength of water currents. Research shows that exercising helps to release endorphins, which are the feel-good hormones responsible for your positive mood changes.
In addition to these health benefits, you get to enjoy the beautiful outdoors. You will probably be lucky to catch a glimpse of a dolphin or a rare aquatic animal.
Does Kayaking Have Any Disadvantages?
Much like any sport, kayaking can expose you to some risks, especially if you are not doing things right. Kayaking can exposes you to shoulder injuries such as shoulder dislocation and torn rotator cuffs. The majority of shoulder injuries are caused by placing weight on your shoulders.
Other dangers may include:
· Drowning, particularly if you are paddling alone and unprepared
· Hypothermia
· Getting lost, mostly in deep-sea waters
· Excess fatigue by overdoing it.
By taking all the necessary precautions, you can help avoid these dangers associated with kayaking.
Bottom Line
Kayaking is a fun and exciting activity you can try with your friends or family. It is especially a good workout exercise if you are not a gym fan or alternative workouts. Paddling your kayak engages your body muscles, helping you build strength and muscles in relevant places.
In addition, paddling through rapids is an intense form of cardio that helps you burn calories. The more calories you burn, the more weight you lose. Therefore, kayaking is a good form of exercise that can help you lose weight and build strength and muscles.