I wouldn’t say I’m the most athletic. Ok, that’s is being generous. I’m not nearly as active as I should be. I’ve always been something of a girly girl, never played sports as a kid. But that doesn’t necessarily mean I’m not good at them when I give it a go (I’m not sure why this is, or where this minor ability comes from). But I like trying new activities even if it means making a fool of myself, especially if it’s something water-related. I mean, that’s part of the reason I love living where I do. Around every corner in Kingston you’ll find beautiful water. Kingston is surrounded by the St. Lawrence and Cataraqui rivers, and Lake Ontario. But I haven’t taken advantage of that proximity nearly enough in the time that I’ve lived here.
So when Myra MacDonald, expert instructor extraordinaire, and owner of SUP Kingston got in touch with me and offered an introductory stand-up paddle boarding (SUP) lesson for both the hubby and myself, we jumped at the chance. Although it looked challenging from a distance, with Myra’s help we caught on pretty quickly.
Now that I’ve found myself a new sport that perfectly combines fitness and serene water views, I wanted to share three reasons that you’ve got to give this a shot if you haven’t already. I also took the opportunity to try my hand at making a video of the experience, but getting footage while out on the water was a little harder than I thought. However, I’ve put together a little 4-minute vid (included at the bottom of this post) if you’d like to see the hubby and I in action and being total goofballs (literally laughing so hard I’m crying).
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1) A Surprisingly Good Workout
We headed out to Treasure Island Marina bright and early on the weekend to get on the water before it got too rough. Little did we know that it would end up being a particularly windy day nonetheless. The bright side is that we got an extra good workout. Sidenote: it also gave us the chance to become one with Lake Ontario on at least one occasion. (by that I mean we fell in, well hubby did anyway, and there’s poof that of it in the video footage!)
Now, SUP is a water sport, so you would think that this would make for good exercise, but I say this was surprising because it really didn’t feel like hitting the gym at the time. We were having a lot of fun, it was such an enjoyable experience, and we were so focused on our movements that we truly didn’t realize we were also getting a full body workout. As Myra taught us during our lesson, one essential component of an efficient paddle stroke is to engage your hips and large muscle groups from the catch through to the exit, which means you are working many small muscle groups too! Even though it wasn’t even 8 am when we were out on the water, our body temperatures were up, and the water felt really refreshing.
The next day I felt it. My legs burned, my arms were tired, and my core was a little sore. But I wanted to do it all over again. I’m rarely encouraged to exercise unless it’s something I have a blast doing. SUP certainly met that criteria. Before you know it, I may just be one of those people you see doing yoga poses out on the water (ok, maybe not quite, but it’s truly amazing that some people can do that).
I mean, look at those arm muscles. I'm not sure where those came from.
2) It’s Not as Hard as it Looks
Myra, who like myself is a former school teacher, was an absolutely phenomenal instructor. She is passionate about SUP and knows everything there is to know about it. Myra kept us on land for the first portion of our lesson, to go over safety precautions, familiarize us with the equipment, and teach us proper form (you can watch our moves in the video below). This really eased my anxiety as by the time we picked up our boards and headed in, I knew how to stand, paddle, and navigate. We used premium Jimmy Lewis boards for our lesson, and Myra chose specific varieties based on our body types and the weather conditions on this particular day. Without her, I probably would have ended up using the thing like a floatie the entire time, but instead, I went out feeling confident and ready to give it my all.
We entered the water with our knees on the boards first to get a feel for the motion and direct ourselves just past the marina and into a quiet bay, where we first stood up and got a feel for the motion of the board. I thought for sure I was going to flop in on either side of the board at this point, but under Myra’s direction, I knew where to plant my feet, position myself, and manage the paddle at the same time. It wasn’t nearly as hard to stand up as I anticipated as the equipment is also fashioned in such a way that it assists you in maintaining your balance. I’m sure my super stylish water shoes we’re also helpful.
We spent some time in the bay near the marina learning to change direction and get our stride. Myra talked us through where to place the paddles in the water and how to use them so that the board would turn us this way and that, which was probably the hardest thing to master. I mean at worst, you’d fall face first into some lilypads, but thankfully neither one of us got up close and personal with any frogs.
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[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css_animation=”fadeIn” css=”.vc_custom_1537754212407{margin-top: 40px !important;}”]I’ve already mentioned how great SUP felt physically, it was a fantastic workout. However, the mental health implications cannot be ignored here. We got up bright and early on the weekend (which is abnormal for us) and spent the first two hours of our day outdoors. Breathing the fresh air, moving our bodies, all while surrounded by stunning views put both and hubby and I in a great mood for the entire weekend. We felt energized, motivated, and we were more productive during the rest of the day as a result. [/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css_animation=”fadeIn” css=”.vc_custom_1536438289719{margin-top: 60px !important;}”]It was barely 9:30 am when we dried off after our session and we had already done so much for our well-being. It felt good to get out there and try something new, something that awaits us practically outside of our doorstep. It was a stark contrast to our typical weekend mornings, where we often lay around waking up slowly, eat a big breakfast, read, and eventually get to doing chores or running errands. It really made us realize just how impactful getting out on the water at sunrise can be for mental health, and for productivity levels. [/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css_animation=”fadeIn” css=”.vc_custom_1536438295779{margin-top: 60px !important;}”]I would try SUP again tomorrow, and go more often to hopefully get pretty good at it. It was a blast, and really peaked my interest in water sports. Got any recommendations for other water-related activities? Leave me a comment below and be sure to share your favourite outdoor activities. I may have just sparked the athlete within me trying this out a few weeks ago. In the very least, it was a great reminder to take advantage of the beautiful surroundings, try new things, and always make time to get out there to explore. [/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css_animation=”fadeIn” css=”.vc_custom_1536438302798{margin-top: 60px !important;}”]Thank you to Myra of SUP Kingston for offering to take us our on our inagural paddleboarding adventure. Contact SUP Kingston if you live in the area and are up for your own fun-filled water adventure (you should be)! [/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css_animation=”fadeIn”]My second attempt at making a video is below. Filming out on the water is harder than I thought, but it was fun to put this together nonetheless. Full disclosure: I wanted to hit up some garage sales after our morning adventure (second-hand finds, my favourite) and was explaining to my husband how genius a garage sale app would be as I began recording. Anyway, his impersonations of my brilliant idea had me laughing so hard I had to source the nearest tissue.Hope you enjoy our antics too! You’ll also meet Myra, see our prep lesson, and find out who landed in the lake. Enjoy!
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