Learning to paddleboard

A new water sport is growing in popularity in the Upper Peninsula.

The sport called paddleboarding, a mix between kayaking, surfing, and walking.

Lakeshore Fitness in Marquette is offering introduction to paddleboarding classes for people who want to try the sport out.

“It’s like an over-sized surfboard with a paddle,” Paddleboarding instructor Bridget Murphy said.  “You’re standing up and you’re paddling through the water and it’s just a really enjoyable workout and experience.”

“At first, it was a little different, but it’s like paddling a canoe for the most part but you have to maintain  your balance standing,” Shayna Orlich said, who tried paddleboarding for the first time at the demo class.  “I felt like eventually I got it, you kind of have to use more of your core it seems.”

“I fell in love (with paddleboarding) immediately.  I want to go down and get a paddleboard tomorrow.”

Once people learn the basics of paddleboarding, Lakeshore Fitness is planning on having PaddleFit classes in July.  PaddleFit combines a normal workout using the paddleboard.

“(PaddleFit) is a little different, it is on the stand-up paddleboard, but it’s really combining kind of the water element of your workout and the cardio and the constant core workout that you’re getting from that, with some land strength training,” Murphy said.

“The goal is that by the end of the workout, you’ve had a great time because it’s outdoors on the water, but you’ve also combined cardio with your strength training and it gives your core a really good workout.  It’s kind of a whole body fitness approach.”

Paddleboarders wear lifejackets in deeper water, and are attached to the board by a rope as safety precautions.  It is safest to paddleboard in calm waters to diminish the chance of tipping into the water.

Demonstration paddleboard classes are free, but PaddleFit classes and other advanced classes will cost between $30-$45 each session.

For more information, including a schedule of classes, visit www.lakeshore-skincare.com/fitness.php or call (906) 273-0512.