Louise Minchin says she wobbles precariously on a paddleboard, yet still finds the activity life-affirming, calming and tranquil. The broadcaster and endurance enthusiast wrote that description in Fearless: Adventures With Extraordinary Women, alongside a case for paddleboarding as a workout that looks easy but demands balance and control.
That matters for readers in midlife and older age because the exercise combines steady loading with constant corrections. In practice, it asks the body to keep itself upright while moving across water, which is why it is being discussed as a way to support strength, stability and fall prevention.
Kim Hawley on paddleboarding
Kim Hawley, Good Housekeeping’s fitness expert, called paddleboarding “a deceptively effective full-body workout”. She said standing on an unstable surface challenges the core, glutes, thighs, feet and ankles and brain, as the body makes micro-adjustments to stay balanced. That mix of loading and correction is what turns a quiet float into a demanding session.
Kate Rowe-Ham, a women's fitness coach, said the same movement keeps the core engaged throughout. She said paddleboarding also works the feet and ankles, plus the lower legs, because they help hold the body steady on an unsteady surface. Her point is simple: the work is happening even when the pace looks slow.
Six-week study findings
A small, six-week study of previously untrained adults backs that up. Participants paddleboarded three times a week for an hour at a time, and researchers saw improvements of roughly 20-28% across several measures of core strength. A separate small randomised study found that older people who undertook stand-up paddleboarding training improved their postural stability compared with a walking group.
Standing on a paddleboard also counts as a low-impact weight-bearing activity because it requires supporting your own body weight. 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 exercise programmes reduce the rate of falls among older people living independently by around 23%.
Women in later life
Kate Rowe-Ham said, “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.” For women in later life, that makes paddleboarding more than a leisure activity: it is a practical way to train balance, lower-body control and confidence without high impact.
Minchin’s account leaves one useful question open for anyone thinking about trying it: she does not spell out the routine or conditions she uses, only the sensation of wobbling through to calm. That is enough to show why the activity can feel serene and awkward at the same time, and why the workout is harder than it looks.
