Lake District Paddle Boarding
The Guide’s very own action girls Ali Hipkin and Kerry take to Derwentwater, near Keswick, with John Wilson from Lake District Paddle Boarding, to experience the latest fitness craze.
Paddle boarding is the new sporting craze that’s making waves in the exercise world, so when we heard that there was a paddle boarding centre in Cumbria we jumped at the chance to have a go at the sport that Cameron Diaz credits for her enviable abs.
John Wilson set up Lake District Paddle Boarding, the only such centre in Cumbria, in April last year. Having recent moved from Lazonby, to the edge of Derwentwater he’s in the ideal location to make the most of his hobby.
Previously a passionate kayaker John discovered paddle boarding a year ago and became “totally addicted” to it. In fact John is so addicted to the sport that he paddles to the local shops on a Sunday to pick up his paper, so how could we resist the chance to try it for ourselves.
Once we were kitted out in our wetsuits and had carried our 10ft 6ins boards down to the lake, John gave us a quick tutorial on how to get from a kneeling position to standing – similar to the way surfers do it and – how best to enter the water.
It was undoubtedly a shaky start but with John paddling alongside offering advice and words of encouragement it wasn’t long before we were standing steadily and paddling in deep water.
It was a surreal experience: standing in the middle of Derwentwater in mid December and not feeling cold. We paddled along the smooth water, soaking up the views and, excuse the cliché, actually feeling totally at one with nature. I didn’t feel like I was excising at all.
I was feeling very calm, watching the life under the water, until John suggested we head to an island to have a bit of a break. As we got further out a slight breeze, one which you wouldn’t really feel if you were walking down the street, picked up and made the previously still lake choppy. That meant I has to concentrate more on my balance than I had been.
As I’m slightly uncoordinated I expected to find it difficult to steer my board in the right direction… and I was right. While Kerry paddled away in front and in a seemingly straight line I was taking a longer, more circular, route. I later realised there was a problem with my paddling strategy – going in a straight line required alternating the paddle between left and right side of the board!
This being said I managed to get where I was going, eventually, with a little help from John – and it’s amazing how much difference moving a hand or straightening an arm can make to the amount of power.
The biggest triumph of all was that neither of us fell in but as John said: “The difference between a novice and an expert paddle boarder is 15 minutes.” Once you learn the balance points and get the technique there is no stopping you.
From very young children there is no age limit to paddle boarding, John said: “If you can stand you can do it,” and he’s not joking, having taken a 70-year-old out on the water, earlier this year.
Despite gaining our “expert” status we started falling in when we got cocky: standing on one leg, trying 360 jumps and power spins.
While I was out on the water I didn’t feel like I was exercising at all but when we got back to shore and stopped I could tell I’d been working my muscles, they felt heavy and tired and as I write this my shoulders are a little stiff and my stomach muscles hurt when I laugh, but it’s not enough to stop me lusting after another day on the lake.
As well as burning 500-700 calories an hour, depending on weather conditions and the intensity of your strokes, paddle boarding also works core muscles, back and shoulders muscles, biceps and triceps and chest muscles.
Even in the middle of December the lake wasn’t as cold as you’d expect and we found ourselves taking up the challenges that John gave us, knowing we would ultimately land in the lake – although, admittedly we did have, the heaters on full blast to warm us up in the car on the way back home.
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