Getting a good workout on your SUP: must-do's

Christmas is approaching fast and lots of people not only tend to ruin their usual diets, but they easily gain a few extra pounds. Next to the binging during thanksgiving day till the NYE: winter means craving for sausages, potatoes and butter. Your mouth loves loves LOVES, it but the rest somewhat less… Excessive eating is the main cause of the additional weight gain, but it is mostly the lack of exercise.

A lot of people tend to throw away their paddle body, crawling back to the gym in January for a few weeks with crushed expectations. It’s SO tempting to pull your Snuggie out, kick your feet up and take residence on the couch. But it is even more rewarding, after a hot shower and a good work-out. Bear in mind, suiting/dressing up is more fun if you actually fit in your post-dinner outfit.

So, people: grow those winter muscles this winter. Makes sure you can put on your red cotton-knit socks with a happy and healthy face.

How? Make the holidays a family affair, or plan some outdoor activities by yourself. Next to a snowball fight in the backyard, you can explore the gorgeous winter nature on a SUP-board.

Stand Up Paddling is a modern form of strength training in order to maintain or start shapening your fitness body, to build some muscle and shape your body in its best form. If you go for a long outdoor-paddle tour, always remember to combine this strength training with some cardio, for that hardcore paddle body.

Our last annoying tip (sorry, it’s our SUP-lovin’ mouth that speaks), to enjoy yourself. Make realistic diet plans and really enjoy what your eat.

It’s the most beautiful time of the year, right?

Try to integrate the following things into your work out.

1. Find time to stretch.
Get your stretch on while on the board. Lunge the right leg forward and left leg back, take two arms high to the sky, and then stretch the heart and the chest toward the sky. Bend the front knee over the toe and feel the total body stretch. Release this, just like you would on the mat under the barre.
Squeeze the obliques as you take your paddle stroke, remembering to take the paddle to the nose of the board and then all the way back.

2. Plank.
When in doubt, plank it out. Put two forearms and two legs down on the board and find your forearm plank position. Hold the plank for 30 to 60 seconds and repeat. Planks are the best full-body exercise, and we use them all the time at the barre.

3. Give your obliques some extra love while you're doing basic paddling.
Squeeze the obliques as you take your paddle stroke, remembering to take the paddle to the nose of the board and then all the way back to your hips. Think about wringing out the waistline as you would ring water out of towel.

4. Get a thigh workout in by bending your knees.
Work those thighs as you paddle through the water by bending and stretching the legs to create a burn in your quads, inner thighs, and outer thighs—just like you would at the barrel!

Say ho ho ho! Merry christmas!