17 Miraculous Kayaking Benefits For Mental & Physical Health [2023 Guide]

Kayaking is a great outdoor fun activity. Everyone likes to do outdoor fun but what if you will get enhance your health with the fun? Are you thinking about how it happened? So here we will guide you on how to have fun with your favorite sport that enhances your heart health and help to keep maintain your body structure. 

Choosing the sport that keeps your mental and physical health. If you want to explore the world from all the new angles you should grab the kayak and go paddling. This is a watersport with many health benefits for kayaking. But we are going to discuss the top 15 miraculous kayaking benefits for mental and physical health. It is not only the exercise of the heart it also involves the upper body, arms, shoulders, joints, and body muscles. Kayaking has tremendous health and physical benefits, It improves your mental and physical health.

What Is Kayaking And Why Should We Learn?

Kayaking is the watersport. A kayak is a small lightweight boat propelled by a double-blade paddle. You can do kayaking in the River, Lakes, Whitewater, and Ocean. The kayak is designed with different capabilities according to the condition of the water. You may choose a kayak concerning the water condition, So that can make your trip more comfortable and maneuverable.

Some kayaks make to reduce back pain, if you have a problem with chronic back pain then you do not need to skip amazing water activities here is a solution to chronic pain. The kayak is designed to reduce such back pain as Sea eagle fish sob 126, Wildrenness system Recon 120, and old town topwater 106 these are the top kayak that is specially designed to reduce back pain.

If you are a beginner and this is your first experience with the kayak then you should choose flatwater paddling because this is your first-time flatwater kayaking will be more suitable it does not have heavy waves you will paddle easily. Before getting into the kayak you should know some basic knowledge about how to prepare for kayaking. What equipment will be needed while paddling? As kayaking looks simple but kayaking is not as it seems you need a lot of practice before getting into the kayak. There are many types of kayaks.

1. Sit-on-top kayak
2. Sit-in kayak
3. Recreational kayak
4. Flatwater kayak
5. fishing kayak
6. Inflatable kayak
7. Tandem kayak
8. Touring kayak
9. Whitewater kayak

Equipment That Needs For Kayaking or Canoeing

Before getting into the kayak you should keep some essentials for safety purposes. 

1. Kayak or canoe
2. Appropriate paddles
3. Repair kit with extra patches and waterproof glue
4. helmet
5. Waterproof bag
6. Sprayskirt
7. Whistle
8. Personal Floating Device life (jacket)
9. Rope
10. Map of the location where you paddle

Top 17-Kayaking Benefits for Mental & Physical Health

This is not enough to say that kayaking is considered outdoor fun activity it also includes many health and physical benefits. Kayaking improves cardiovascular health and this is not the end it is also a great workout of low-impact strength. Doing kayaking will help you to get a healthy lifestyle with all fitness body exercises. 

Achieve Ideal Body Weight

Kayaking is considered the best all-body workout. People spend so many hours doing many different individual exercises of the different body parts, and they spend a lot of time on the treadmill and going to the gymnasium, but nowadays people prefer kayaking rather than spending time in the gym.

If you are paddling with an average speed of 5 mph then you can burn 500 calories in 1 hour, So if you spent a few hours a day kayaking will lead you to get the ideal body weight and burn your extra fat in very less time. You can lose body weight by kayaking because kayaking is a full-body exercise, so you can easily lose unwanted body weight through kayaking.

Improve Muscles Strength

Kayaking includes full-body exercises. Doing exercise can improve muscle strength. When you are on the water kayaking your lower body, abdominal, and back core muscles can strengthen your muscles. The oblique, abdomen is also engaged when you are paddling. Kayaking improves toning and strengthens the body’s muscles.

Improve Cardiac Health

Besides all the other physical and mental benefits, Kayaking is also a great cardiac exercise. Kayaking is also considered a cardiac sport that can help the heart to pump blood more effectively and blood circulation will improve while paddling. A healthy heart can make the RBC (Red Blood Cells) more effective and reduce heart disease and reduce the risk of a heart attack. 

Develop Toned Legs

All of these benefits of kayaking also help to build the leg muscles. When you are paddling you will use your legs to maintain the balance of your body weight they affect your legs too and that makes your legs toned and improves the strength of the leg’s muscles too. We are not comparing paddling with full-leg tone exercises like running, jumping, skipping, cycling, and jogging but yes paddling also involves your lower body muscles, You may be noticed that after paddling your legs hurts. Does this ever happen to you? Definitely yes, this is because paddling uses your leg muscles.

Increase Upper Body Strength

Kayaking involves the upper body muscles. Kayaking includes full-body exercises like your upper body parts shoulders, arms, chest, back muscles, and legs are used while you are doing the paddling. In this way, your upper-body muscles improve their strength. 

Increase Stamina

Kayaking also helps to build stamina. Paddling in harsh water, balancing your kayak from the stroke and long day paddling will boost your stamina.

Great For Abs

Kayaking is also a great exercise for the ABS muscles. Continuous paddling improves your making abs muscles. All the upper body involve to move the paddle on the water and the legs, and waist muscles are used when you are paddling this full-body workout tends to build your abs muscles and give strength to them.

Improves Core Strength

Your core simply grows stronger and toned during kayaking as it lies in between the upper and lower body. In order to maintain your stability and focus when out on the water, your core muscle is essential. Your obliques, lower back, and abs are all toned out by kayaking. You utilize your core muscles just to stay upright in the boat, so every kayaking excursion you take offers your core a little workout.

Mental Health

As we previously discuss all the physical health benefits of kayaking but there are also so many mental benefits present. Kayaking may help to increase mental health. You can feel more relaxed when paddling. Kayaking is a good meditation exercise for all people it relaxes your mind. When you are going kayaking you become close to nature in that way you can feel so fresh and the peace around you feels so better you will forget all your worries and tensions. Kayaking is good for mental health as well.

Reduce Stress

Kayaking will help you reduce stress. When you are paddling you are close to Nature which will reduce all the stress. During kayaking, you should feel the beauty of nature and its beautiful creations, shore of the water, water waves, sound of birds in the sky make you feel so relaxed and help to reduce stress. Exercise is the best way to reduce stress, watching calm water, under the sky on the boat, is the best way to make your mind so relaxed.

Improves Memory

As kayaking build your different muscle kayaking also enhance your memory and cognitive abilities. Kayaking strengthens the hippocampus, a region of the brain that is mostly in charge of language memory and learning. While doing kayaking regularly these brain muscles will also grow stronger and help the blood flow to the brain that makes new active cells.

Low-Impact Easy On The Joint

Not everyone can do high-impact exercise sometimes due to their health conditions or maybe in the season of life you are not enough to do high-impact exercises also age factor matters. In this way on the other hand there are a lot of low-impact exercises for all age groups of people. Paddling includes low-impact exercise and can improve strength muscles, lower and upper body, best for cardiac exercise and also for the joints. 

Vitamin-D

Kayaking is the best source to get natural Vitamin D . this is not enough to get vitamin D from food only, deficiency of vitamin D is a global problem. The sun contains natural vitamin D, You can get it within 15 to 20 mins naturally. Kayaking has many benefits with the help of kayaking daily or in a week can protect you from a deficiency of vitamin D.

Built Self-Esteem

Kayaking is the best source to build your self-esteem. While you are paddling on the water facing heavy strokes, large waves, and sometimes flipping over the boat make you braver and you can learn how to maintain your patience in that situation, You will be able to deal with tricky conditions with confidence. 

Bounding And Socializing

Kayaking improves your bounding with your friend and family. People are busy with their jobs and studies they don’t have time to spend with their loved ones so kayaking provides you with special time to spend with your friend and family and share all memorable moments. You can also join the kayakers club to make new friends and spent precious time with them.

Self Improvement

Kayaking provides you to enhance your goals and achievements. You can record your previous kayaking timing, speed, and how much distance you covered, you can set goals, and a great chance to beat your previous record and improve yourself.

Good Sleep

If you feel exhausted and have a problem with sleep you did not get a proper sleepover and facing tons of turns at night then kayaking will help you to get a night of proper sleep. Kayaking will help to increase the quality of sleep at night. 

4 Best Exercise For Paddling

Warm up your body before exercising. This will help prevent injuries and make exercise easier on your joints. You should do some exercises such as planks, rotating medicine balls, rotating uppercut, open book exercises, and more before beginning any workout routine.

Stretching helps loosen tight muscles and increase flexibility. It also improves circulation and increases muscle strength. I have a complete article on how to train for kayaking for beginners.

Exercise# 1: Planks 

Facedown with your forearm and toes, your elbow should be under the same position of the 

Shoulders, Your face facing the floor and keep your head relax, keep your body, and torso straight and rigid, hold your body for 20-sec and after that put one leg in the upward direction and back down do it with both legs.

Exercise# 2: Rotating Medicine Ball V-Sit

Lay down on the floor and place a brick or place medicine ball in front of you, move your upper body at a 45-degree angle so that your body makes a v-shape from the floor, then grab the medicine bottle towards your left hip and put it down on the floor, do it one by one with both hands.

Exercise# 3: Rotating Uppercut

This exercise is like the movement that will be used in boxing, you should stand straight grab dumbles in your hand and move one by one hand as move in the boxing. 

Exercise# 4: Open Book Exercise

This exercise built core muscles. You have to lay down on the floor bend your knees to a 90-degree angle, make sure your shoulder should be straight and higher in front of you, Rotate slowly your arms back, and look behind you, rotate your hand as far as you can make a relaxing stretch, And rotate back to your original position. Do this exercise 10 times per side. the posture of this exercise is like you are open book and changing its pages.  

FAQs

Wrapping Up

Both the kayaking canoe is beneficial for physical and mental health. You just need to take some classes for proper paddling, you should know the safety purpose before getting into the kayak or canoe. As we discuss the physical and mental health benefits of kayaking that will be helpful for you and if you think there are more health kayaking benefits then share with us in the comment section. 

Have fun kayaking.