A new workout trend has been spreading across the country, and now it has floated its way to Auburn.
Stand-up paddleboarding is now being offered at Chewacla State Park.
Lori Fuller, stand-up paddleboarding instructor, created a partnership with Mountain High Outfitters where participants can rent boards for each class.
Fuller said the first time she tried stand-up paddleboarding, she was hooked.
"When I fall in love with something, I'm the kind of person that wants to share it with the world and my friends," Fuller said.
Amanda White, stand-up paddleboard instructor, said the instructors will offer a fitness boot camp class that involves interval training, using push-ups, sit-ups and yoga to focus on balance.
The instructors went through a training period before they started teaching.
"We did an intensive weekend certification, so it was about 24 hours over a three day span where we just were very intense with the technique itself, the way that your body works on a paddleboard and the different benefits of doing workouts," White said.
Classes will be from Aug. 25- Oct. 12. Fuller said they are trying to locate an indoor pool where they can have the classes during the colder months, starting in January.
"When you get to an indoor pool, you anchor down," Fuller said. "Or you can also tie on to the swim ropes so your board isn't hitting on the side of the pool or endangering you in any way."
Fuller said stand-up paddleboarding is the fastest growing water sport in the country, possibly the world.
"It's not just something people are doing in beach towns or lake towns," Fuller said.
Dell Banks, park manager, said there has been interest for classes such as these, and participants who rent a paddleboard from Mountain High Outfitters will have a place to store it at the park.
"People are coming out here," Banks said. "They're paying their entrance fee, it's just like normal and they're using the lake to do their classes."
The park fee is included in the $20 cost for a paddleboard rental and class. Classes are $15 per class if participants bring their own paddleboard.
The instructors recommend participants make reservations 12 hours before the class, so they can have the correct amount of boards.
"Stand-up paddleboarding in general is a much more beneficial workout because it requires more core," White said. "When you're doing things, you're activating muscles and you're using the stability muscles that you normally wouldn't be able to get."
Although there are not different level classes, they do accommodate different skill levels.
"It can help a basic beginner who's never been on a paddleboard and it can also help athletes improve on their stability and working on those inner muscles that really wrap around your organs and keep those in place," White said.
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