‘I wobble precariously‘: At 57, Louise Minchin swears by this scary but simple exercise to boost strength and balance

Paddleboarding. Depending on the confidence you have in yourself, it looks a) wonderfully serene, or b) the perfect recipe for excruciating embarrassment. Louise Minchin, broadcaster and endurance enthusiast, has seen it from both angles. ‘I wobble precariously’ she writes in her book Fearless: Adventures With Extraordinary Women. But also: ‘it feels life-affirming, calming and tranquil to be floating peacefully downstream.’

The wobble, it seems, is worth it. Paddleboarding combines several types of exercise that become particularly valuable for women as we get older. ‘Paddleboarding is a deceptively effective full-body workout,’ explains Good Housekeeping’s fitness expert Kim Hawley. ‘Standing on an unstable surface challenges your entire body: core, glutes, thighs, feet and ankles and brain, as you are constantly making micro-adjustments to maintain balance.This matters more in midlife as proprioception and strength will help improve stability and mobility and thus reduce the risk of falls.’

So, what do we need to know?

1. It gives your core a surprisingly good workout

Forget endless crunches. Simply trying your darndest not to fall off the board and into the blue keeps your trunk muscles working in response to the movement beneath your feet.

‘A lot more is happening than people think,’ says leading women's fitness coach Kate Rowe-Ham. ‘Balancing on a paddleboard constantly engages your core because your body is making tiny adjustments to keep you upright.’

Here’s the science bit. In a small, six-week study of previously untrained adults, participants paddleboarded three times a week for an hour at a time. Researchers recorded improvements of roughly 20-28% across several measures of core strength.

2. It works muscles we can easily neglect

Your abs aren’t doing all the work, though. ‘It also works the feet and ankles, plus the lower legs, because they’re helping you stay stable on an unsteady surface,’ says Kate. ‘And, while I wouldn’t oversell it as a glute workout, your hips and glutes are definitely part of that stabilising chain, too.’

Maintaining lower-body strength gets increasingly important with age. Your pins underpin many of the things we want to continue doing without thinking about them: getting out of a chair, climbing stairs, walking confidently and staying independent.

3. The balance challenge is particularly valuable after 50

‘Balance, reaction speed and muscle stability tend to decline with age, and that matters even more after menopause, when fall and fracture risk can rise,’ explains Kate. ‘So anything that helps us stay steadier, stronger and more confident on our feet has real value – not just for fitness, but for staying independent and reducing the risk of falls.’

The World Health Organization recommends that people aged 65 and over do exercise that emphasises functional balance and strength on three or more days of each week. And a major Cochrane review found that exercise programmes reduce the rate of falls among older people living independently by around 23%.

Paddleboarding hones your proprioception – your body’s ability to sense where it is and adjust its position without you consciously thinking about every movement. In a small randomised study, older people who undertook stand-up paddleboarding training also improved their postural stability scored compared with a walking group.

4. Yes, it is weight-bearing – but there’s a catch

Since standing on a paddleboard means supporting your own body weight, it counts as a low-impact weight-bearing activity. ‘Weight-bearing exercise matters because bones respond to load, which is especially important after menopause, when bone loss accelerates,’ says Kate.

Still, don’t swap your dumbbells for a paddle just yet. ‘Paddleboarding can play a part in that, but probably not as the whole answer for actual bone density; resistance training and higher-load exercise tend to have the strongest effect,’ she explains. ‘I’d say paddleboarding is helpful, just best seen as one part of a bigger bone-health picture.’

5. It can get your heart working, too

Paddle harder and paddleboarding stops feeling quite so tranquil. In that same small six-week study, researchers found improvements in both aerobic and anaerobic fitness among previously untrained participants.

How demanding your session is will obviously depend on everything from your speed to the water conditions, but the findings suggest that paddleboarding can offer considerably more than a balance workout.

Kate describes the appeal neatly: ‘It feels enjoyable and outdoorsy, but it’s still doing a lot for the body.’

6. It may be good for your mind as well as your muscles

Exercising on water, passing birds and other wildlife, just hits differently to working out while staring at a gym wall. ‘The mental benefits of being outdoors in nature and focused on balance can support mood, confidence and cognition,’ says Kim.

Kate points to the small beginner study, which also found improvements in participants’ self-reported quality of life after six weeks.

More broadly, researchers are increasingly studying the relationship between ‘blue spaces’ – that’s watery environments such as sea, rivers and lakes – and wellbeing. Reviews have found associations between exposure to these spaces and mental health and wellbeing.

And, says Kate, there’s another advantage that’s hard to quantify: ‘For me, it’s something the whole family seem to enjoy doing together.’

Want the benefits without getting on a board?

You don’t need a wetsuit, or even any water, to train some of the same muscles and skills at home.

‘If you aren’t on board with the board, as it were, but would like to reap the rewards anyway, you can recreate some of the benefits at home,’ says Kim.

Try these four moves…

Sit-to-stands or squats: stand up from a sturdy chair without using your hands, then sit down slowly and with control. This works your legs and glutes.

Calf raises and single-leg balances: holding a wall or sturdy chair if necessary, rise on to the balls of your feet then slowly lower back down. For balance practice, stand on one leg for a few seconds before swapping sides. These moves target the feet, ankles and lower legs that help stabilise you on a board.

Glute bridges: lie on your back with your knees bent and feet on the floor. Slowly press your hips towards the ceiling while squeezing your glutes, then lower with control.

Planks: start on your hands and knees or progress to a full plank with your legs extended behind you. Draw your belly button and ribcage towards your spine and concentrate on keeping your trunk stable.

‘Use a wall or sturdy chair for support until you are fully confident with practising balance,’ advises Kim. ‘There are no prizes for falling over!’

Perhaps that’s paddleboarding's greatest selling point. Strength training, balance work and cardiovascular exercise can sound like three more things to squeeze on to the weekly to-do list. Paddleboarding wraps elements of all three into something that feels rather more like an adventure.

No wonder Louise Minchin is on board.