Top Water Sports as Fun Exercises

When it comes to self growth, it’s important to look after your physical health as well as your mental health. However, not everyone wants to go running or play a team sport. If that’s the case, what can you do? Well, water sports can offer an alternative. They’re often low impact and exhilarating and the therapeutic effects of water can have enormous health benefits.

In this post, we’ll take a look at some of the best water sports to do as fun exercises. Hopefully, you’ll find one you want to try and you might just find a new hobby!

Swimming

Let’s begin with the easiest and most accessible water sport there is - swimming. While all of the other sports on this list require equipment and some form of training, that’s not the case here. You just need to find a swimsuit, somewhere to jump in and you’re ready to go.

Whether you’re swimming at your local pool or on a paradise beach in the Caribbean, this exhilarating activity will provide you with a low-impact full body workout. In fact, many athletes who are coming back from serious injuries are encouraged to swim to build up their strength and cardio. The only thing you’ll have to contend with is water resistance!

Swimming is also pretty handy to know for any of the water sports we’ll continue to explore!

Stand up paddle boarding

The craze that has been sweeping the world in recent years looks chilled out and fun from far away - but did you know it’s an awesome workout too? It’s no surprise that stand up paddle boarding is the fastest growing watersport in the world!

Stand up paddle boarding is great exercise for your body’s core muscles and it improves your balance and flexibility. Not only that, you can burn from 300 - 450 calories per hour, which is roughly twice than what you’d burn walking at an average speed. Perfect for cardiovascular endurance!

As well as the clear benefits mentioned above, being able to do this sport on the still and clear waters of a mountain lake or on a paradise beach mean that it’s a great way to see a new part of the world.

SUP Yoga

Not only is this a fun exercise, but combining stand up paddle boarding and yoga is the perfect way to find inner peace. This works on your core and flexibility even more than regular paddle boarding, thanks to the fact it’s working long dormant muscles that are underused in everyday life.

SUP Yoga is a great way to disconnect from the stresses and the hustle and bustle of your daily life. It’s best to master the basics of paddle boarding before you attempt to do yoga on one though. Falling into the water can shock you out of the present moment!

Look out for specific inflatable yoga SUPs. Other sports you can combine with paddle boarding include surfing and fishing if yoga doesn’t pique your interest.

Kayaking

Not that different to stand up paddle boarding, kayaking is another great workout for your body’s core. Except this time, you’re sitting down. Even kayaking in calm rivers and streams is a challenge to your arms, legs, and core muscles - as well as great cardio! Kayaking is a popular way for those who don’t want to go to the gym to have a workout. And like paddle boarding, you can do it pretty much anywhere you want to.

Sea kayaking adds in another dimension of excitement too - as well as battling the waves and currents, look out for marine life such as whales, dolphins, and sea lions as you paddle… depending on where you are of course!

Surfing

Stand up paddle boarding may be the fastest growing board sport in the world, but the most popular is indisputably surfing. And while you might think of surfing as more of a lifestyle than a sport, you don’t have to have the perfect body, tan, and blonde hair to give it a go.

What it’ll build is upper body strength, as well as stamina, agility, and concentration. It’s also good for your core, but it’s not too hard on your joints since it’s quite a low resistance sport. If it doesn’t already sound wonderful, it helps your heart too, which will be pumping hard throughout the whole workout.

After a few weeks or months of surfing, you will see a change in terms of building muscles and losing weight.

Water Polo

You might be reading this list and thinking that everything on it is geared to solo sportspeople. While that doesn’t have to be the case (you can always join clubs for stand up paddle boarding, surfing, and swimming), there’s nothing quite like a team sport with a ball.

Water polo is something that you’ll be able to play casually with friends, or if you’re a decent player, you might want to join a league. That way, you’ll get the social benefits that come from teamwork and communication too!

If all that’s not enough, just imagine how great the feeling will be when you score the winning goal for your team!