Few people think of fishing when they’re asked for ways to train for a big event. You might have thought you’d need to spend countless hours cycling or working out in the weight room if you wanted to get into shape. Fishing equipment might hold the key to a lower-impact exercise routine that can still offer great benefits. Check out these creative ways to add some fishing gear to your fitness routine.
Just Go Out For A Day
Quite possibly the best way to improve your performance with fishing equipment is to use it in the original intended way. A day spent fishing can burn calories without making you aware of the fact that you’re being active. It’s very easy to overexert yourself when doing other types of exercises during the course of a whole day. Actively moving around between different fishing holes isn’t likely to tire you out, so here’s a good chance you’d never actually know how much exercise you were getting until you were done enjoying what’s essentially a day off.
Casting and reeling can actually contribute to muscle tone. There are few better workouts than rowing, so it makes sense to also rent a small boat if you’re planning on using fishing as a form of athletic training. Stocking up on professional-grade fishing supplies will make the day go much more smoothly.
Set Up an Obstacle Course
Fitness supply companies provide a number of tools to help interested parties create their own obstacle course, but there’s no reason you couldn’t do this yourself with some surplus fishing equipment. There’s a reason that the armed services actually use fishing line when they’re rigging up obstacles for new recruits to train with. Professional athletes who have to regularly work on agility drills have also found a number of ways to fit this kind of equipment into their workouts. Rigging up a set of boundaries can be a great way to reinforce basic agility skills that you may have learned from another venue.
Work On Strength Training
Admittedly, fishing equipment isn’t the first thing that comes to mind when most people think about strength training. Take a moment to think about how heavy your tackle box is, however. There’s a good chance that all of the equipment you carry back and forth to your favorite fishing spot is actually quite heavy. Competitive fishers will often use a motor vehicle to transport it, but you can get a much better workout if you’re free to carry everything yourself.
Getting a walk in would probably burn around 200-300 calories itself, and this figure might very well double when you’re carrying some rods or nets with you. Depending on the kind of equipment you use, there’s a good chance that you might have to make multiple trips. On top of this, fighting to reel in a fish of any great size should provide you with some excellent resistance training.
Best of all, this is an exercise regimen you’re likely to enjoy, so you won’t soon give it up. You’ll be able to tone and condition your body physically while also improving your mental health.
