I probably shouldn't write this because it will probably upset some people, but it is an idea I've been mulling for awhile:
It is a much better ab workout and of course legs too. Believe me, I never thought I'd say this, but overall SUP's are a better workout if you are just out to tone muscles.
At the risk of being snarky, this is because SUPs are designed by fitness enthusiasts not boat designers. Boat designers do everything they can to make a boat efficient and as easy to use as possible. This is typically considered a feature. A SUP is a disaster by most design standards. In order to be stable enough to stand on they are flat and wide. This is creates a high wetted surface area, but SUP salesmen call this a "planing hull" even though no human can possibly make them plane on flat water.
The paddle mechanics are outrageously bad. The distance between the lower hand and the blade is typically greater than the distance between the upper and lower hand. This creates a huge mechanical disadvantage which can only barely be managed if you use your whole body to move the paddle. This is indeed a good work out, but if the boat is easier to paddle sitting down, that probably indicates sitting down is the better way to paddle it. Sit down with a double bladed paddle and you can probably make the thing zip along.
Any kind of headwind pretty quickly brings an SUP to a standstill because the paddle area is not enough to overcome the sail area of the standing paddler.
An SUP is purposefully created to be inefficient and awkward because the goal of the original design was a good workout. As the sport matures it is possible that SUPs will improve in design, but it will likely involve making them more like canoes and kayaks. A high-kneel racing canoe is just an SUP that someone designed right.
Hopping around with both feet in a potato sack is a better workout than running, but there is a reason people don't do potato sack marathons.
Messages In This Thread
- Off Topic: I had been standing all day . . . . *NM* *PIC*
Dave Gentry -- 9/9/2013, 9:38 am- Re: Off Topic: I had been standing all day . . . .
Rob Macks/Laughing Loon CC&K -- 9/9/2013, 10:01 am- Re: Off Topic: I had been standing all day . . . . *PIC*
Kurt Maurer -- 9/9/2013, 7:10 pm- Re: Off Topic: I had been standing all day . . . .
Dan Caouette (CSCWC) -- 9/10/2013, 12:00 pm- Re: Off Topic: I had been standing all day . . . .
Greg_H -- 9/10/2013, 12:12 pm- Re: Off Topic: I had been standing all day . . . .
Kurt Maurer -- 9/10/2013, 12:32 pm- Re: Off Topic: I had been standing all day . . . .
JohnAbercrombie -- 9/10/2013, 12:56 pm- Re: Off Topic: I had been standing all day . . . .
Ken Blanton -- 9/10/2013, 6:42 pm- Re: Off Topic: I had been standing all day . . . .
Marc Upchurch -- 9/10/2013, 11:06 pm- Re: Off Topic: I had been standing all day . . . .
Ken Blanton -- 9/11/2013, 3:13 pm- Re: Off Topic: I had been standing all day . . . .
Etienne Muller -- 9/11/2013, 5:03 pm- Re: Off Topic: I had been standing all day . . . .
ancient kayaker -- 9/11/2013, 7:05 pm- Re: Off Topic: I had been standing all day . . . .
Bill Hamm -- 9/15/2013, 2:13 am
- Re: Off Topic: I had been standing all day . . . .
- Re: Off Topic: I had been standing all day . . . .
Noel Bennett -- 9/13/2013, 11:32 pm- Re: Off Topic: I had been standing all day . . . .
Malcolm Schweizer -- 9/14/2013, 9:57 am- COLREGS not colleges- autocorrect! *NM*
Malcolm Schweizer -- 9/14/2013, 9:58 am- Re: Off Topic: I had been standing all day . . . .
Bill Hamm -- 9/15/2013, 2:18 am- Re: Off Topic: I had been standing all day . . . .
Malcolm Schweizer -- 9/15/2013, 10:27 am- Re: Off Topic: I had been standing all day . . . .
Bill Hamm -- 9/16/2013, 1:36 am
- Re: Off Topic: I had been standing all day . . . .
- Re: Off Topic: I had been standing all day . . . .
JohnAbercrombie -- 9/15/2013, 12:04 pm- Re: Off Topic: I had been standing all day . . . . *PIC*
Malcolm Schweizer -- 9/15/2013, 1:23 pm
- Re: Off Topic: I had been standing all day . . . .
Noel Bennett -- 9/17/2013, 11:39 pm - Re: Off Topic: I had been standing all day . . . .
- COLREGS not colleges- autocorrect! *NM*
- Re: Off Topic: I had been standing all day . . . .
- Re: Off Topic: I had been standing all day . . . .
- Re: Off Topic: I had been standing all day . . . .
- Re: Off Topic: I had been standing all day . . . .
- Re: Off Topic: I had been standing all day . . . .
Bill Hamm -- 9/11/2013, 1:34 am - Re: Off Topic: I had been standing all day . . . .
- Re: Off Topic: I had been standing all day . . . .
Malcolm Schweizer -- 9/10/2013, 9:00 pm- Re: Off Topic: I had been standing all day . . . .
Kurt Maurer -- 9/10/2013, 9:39 pm- Re: Off Topic: I had been standing all day . . . .
Malcolm Schweizer -- 9/11/2013, 4:08 pm- Re: Off Topic: I had been standing all day . . . . *PIC*
Kurt Maurer -- 9/11/2013, 7:15 pm- Re: Off Topic: I had been standing all day . . . . *PIC*
Malcolm Schweizer -- 9/11/2013, 7:55 pm- Re: Off Topic: I had been standing all day . . . . *PIC*
Etienne Muller -- 9/12/2013, 4:06 am- Re: Off Topic: I had been standing all day . . . .
Kurt Maurer -- 9/12/2013, 8:17 pm- Re: Off Topic: I had been standing all day . . . .
ancient kayaker -- 9/12/2013, 10:44 pm- Re: Off Topic: I had been standing all day . . . .
John Messinger -- 9/13/2013, 7:19 am
- Re: Off Topic: I had been standing all day . . . .
Malcolm Schweizer -- 9/13/2013, 9:33 am- Re: Off Topic: I had been standing all day . . . .
Etienne Muller -- 9/13/2013, 9:44 am- Re: Off Topic: I had been standing all day . . . .
Kurt Maurer -- 9/13/2013, 9:57 am- Re: Off Topic: I had been standing all day . . . . *PIC*
Malcolm Schweizer -- 9/13/2013, 10:48 am- Re: Off Topic: I had been standing all day . . . .
Robert Horstmann -- 9/15/2013, 10:50 am- Re: Off Topic: I had been standing all day . . . .
Etienne Muller -- 9/15/2013, 3:32 pm- Re: Off Topic: I had been standing all day . . . .
Bill Hamm -- 9/16/2013, 1:45 am- Re: Off Topic: I had been standing all day . . . .
ancient kayaker -- 9/16/2013, 7:40 am
- Re: Off Topic: I had been standing all day . . . .
- Re: Off Topic: I had been standing all day . . . .
- Re: Off Topic: I had been standing all day . . . .
- Re: Off Topic: I had been standing all day . . . . *PIC*
- Re: Off Topic: I had been standing all day . . . .
- Re: Off Topic: I had been standing all day . . . .
- Re: Off Topic: I had been standing all day . . . .
- Re: Off Topic: I had been standing all day . . . . *PIC*
- Re: Off Topic: I had been standing all day . . . . *PIC*
- Re: Off Topic: I had been standing all day . . . . *PIC*
- Re: Off Topic: I had been standing all day . . . .
Greg_H -- 9/11/2013, 1:14 pm- Re: Off Topic: I had been standing all day . . . . *PIC*
Nick Schade - Guillemot Kayaks -- 9/11/2013, 9:54 pm- Re: Off Topic: I had been standing all day . . . .
Marc Upchurch -- 9/11/2013, 10:41 pm- Re: Off Topic: I had been standing all day . . . .
scottbaxter -- 9/11/2013, 11:04 pm- Re: Off Topic: I had been standing all day . . . .
Nick Riccardi -- 9/12/2013, 8:15 am- Re: Off Topic: I had been standing all day . . . .
Sean Dawe -- 9/13/2013, 11:06 am- Re: Off Topic: I had been standing all day . . . .
Sean Dawe -- 9/13/2013, 11:06 am- Re: Off Topic: I had been standing all day . . . .
Etienne Muller -- 9/13/2013, 12:18 pm
- Re: Off Topic: I had been standing all day . . . .
- Re: Off Topic: I had been standing all day . . . .
- Re: Off Topic: I had been standing all day . . . .
Malcolm Schweizer -- 9/12/2013, 2:20 am- Re: Off Topic: I had been standing all day . . . .
Robert Horstmann -- 9/12/2013, 9:59 am- Re: Off Topic: I had been standing all day . . . .
Kurt Maurer -- 9/12/2013, 8:09 pm- Re: Off Topic: I had been standing all day . . . .
Bill Hamm -- 9/15/2013, 2:28 am - Re: Off Topic: I had been standing all day . . . .
- Re: Off Topic: I had been standing all day . . . .
Thor -- 9/11/2013, 11:29 pm - Re: Off Topic: I had been standing all day . . . .
- Re: Off Topic: I had been standing all day . . . .
- Re: Off Topic: I had been standing all day . . . . *PIC*
- Re: Off Topic: I had been standing all day . . . .