'Sup? Paddleboarding and overcoming physical challenges

 

If you are one of those people can always turn your hand to new sports and physical activities, scroll past this article. It's not for you. This weekend I went stand-up paddleboarding on the river Cam for the first time. I pushed that board along quite respectably and I didn't fall in. If you only recently met me you'd say, "Well of course!" But I haven't always been like this. I'm not a natural at physical activity, I'm a bit of a coward, and I'm not a fan of cold water! Perhaps unexpectedly, my lack of innate skill is the main reason that I got into teaching fitness. My experience became a passionate belief that we all have the ability to improve the components of fitness that make it easy for us to try out new things and seem like a natural. I'm in the business of changing lives through better movement. What abilities have I gained from Pilates and STRONG Nation that made paddleboarding easy? Confidence. We do things that scare us. Maybe not every day, but enough to normalise it. Balance. A specific skill that we train in all dimensions. Core control. Not only core strength, but also the instinct to react to changes. Because rivers have unpredictable moments! Flexibility. To get from kneeling to standing. Strength. I was very glad of my ability to squat! Stamina. Being able to sustain it without getting tired just made it more fun! Movement strategies. The more ways that you know how to move your body, the more options are available to you to get under trees, and navigate among the other craft on the river. Coordination. The whole body working together to balance while pushing the board along. Neuroplasticity. Through continuously learning new movements and new sequences, our brains become adept at learning new skills. Lots of my clients are a little uncertain when they first arrive in class, fearing that they aren't going to be good enough. Yet those same people - the people who tell me that they have no coordination or are really unfit - are the ones who, with perseverance, will see the biggest changes. Not just to their stated goals such as strength, flexibility or pain levels, but also to skills that transform their whole attitude and even life. I won't pretend that my ankles weren't shaking when I first stood up - I'm still a coward! - but the fact that I even tried is testament to a transformation in my body and mind. And the same can be true for you too. Jane Mansley