Gyms and running tracks are filled with folks who are not planning on a sedentary retirement! Many health clubs and community centers now offer classes and sports for their older members. Just because you never played a sport in your youth is no reason not to start now!

Which sports are appropriate for those over 55? The possibilities are endless. An active retirement can mean anything from walking with your friends several times a week to completing triathlons! Like anyone, you should consult your doctor before embarking a new exercise regime. Let's look at some of the more popular sports for seniors.

If you'd like to stay fit, but you're not quite ready to hit the soccer field, you may want to try golf, hiking or cycling. These are all low-impact exercise, and all are popular with retirees and those getting ready for retirement. They're good for your heart and build up muscle. Best of all, they're social sports, and can be done with friends. Combining exercise with socializing is a great way to make sure you get out there and get yourself moving!

If you live in a temperate climate, sports like golfing and hiking are easy to do year-round. But if it's snowy or cold, you'll need to find something you can do indoors. Most gyms and health clubs offer classes for every fitness level. Many have classes designed especially for Over-55s, which concentrate on issues like balance and flexibility, which tend to decrease with age. Walking on a treadmill or riding a stationary bike are both great workouts. Sign up for an aerobics class with a friend! Or go to one offered to people in your age group, and make some new friends.

If you were an athlete in your youth, there's no need to stop now just because you've gotten older! One of the benefits of retirement is that there is time to pursue new interests. If you're getting tired of the gym and looking for a new challenge, how about taking up tennis? Or joining a softball team? There are lots of sports out there that can both contribute to your health and provide you with hours of camaraderie and fun.

Although no one wants to get older, this is a great time to be in an aging population. The health benefits of exercise are outweighed only by the fun you'll have doing, alone or with your friends!

Snorkelling is considered one of the safest ways of exploring life beneath the waters. It is also a popular recreation activity and a unique way of exploring underwater life. This is done from the surface of the water and usually requires equipments such as a diving mask, fins and a breathing tube. This fascinating activity is best executed in coral rich seas such as the Indian Ocean, the Red Sea and the Caribbean. Although snorkelling is an activity that is mainly done on clear and calm waters with interesting marine life it is also possible on any type of water.

Unlike most other water sport activities, snorkelling is a more slow paced and peaceful way of observing marine life and all its wonders. Therefore, this serene activity is famous for its minimal dangers. One of the finest places to enjoy snorkelling is Canouan Island which is an ideal destination for an action packed memorable holiday. It's clear blue waters are popular for water sports activities such as snorkelling, surfing, fishing and scuba diving.

The Corbay is one of the safest bays to snorkel in Canouan Island. Snorkelers will be able to witness various types of fish, fauna and even turtles. If fortunate, divers will even come across some rare marine creatures like sea urchins, jellyfish and cephalopods. The sea around Canouan Island is well known for its large coral reefs that make it one of the safest places to enjoy a memorable Snorkelling experience. Canouan offers the water sports enthusiast unmatched views of marine life along with calm water. Canouan Island Hotels like the Raffles Resort Canouan Island, the Grenadines offers comfortable and luxurious accommodation for any type of visitor. Therefore, visitors to this stunning island can enjoy its scenic beauty and range of water sports by staying at a similar Luxury Hotel in Canouan Island.

If you are looking for a new exciting sport to take up then it can be twice as much fun if that sport happens to be brand new itself. There is the fun of being the first one in your area to be doing something that no one has done before and there is generally a great sense of camaraderie as you get to meet other early adopters of the activity. Granted, being in at the beginning of a dangerous sport like basejumping while the equipment is still having design flaws worked out is a bit worrying but fortunately stand up paddleboarding isn't a life threatening sport so those concerns aren't there.

Stand up paddle boarding is a watersport which involves standing on an extra large surfboard and propelling it by using a long hand held paddle. Its roots can be traced back firstly to the 1960s beach boy era and before that to the sea fairing Polynesians who used it as their form of transportation. In its modern incarnation the sport can be said to have started in 2002 when a collection of Hawaiian watermen rediscovered the joys of SUP on a day when the wind was down and the waves were flat. They soon realized the fun that it could give, the strength workout they got from it and also the great benefits to their core and balance. Due to the larger sizes of their boards compared to regular surfboards and the extra speed that paddling gave them meant they could catch a lot more waves as well as carving tighter, more exhilarating turns with the aid of using the paddle as a rudder.

Originally the sport was limited to this tight knit group but steadily the idea caught on throughout the Hawaiian islands and in no time at all respected locals like Laird Hamilton and Jimmy Lewis started fabricating their own boards which were in turn marketed to a larger audience. This new sport soon came to the attention of the established windsurfing brands and companies that were more geared up to large scale production like Mistral added SUP boards to their roster and the global push began.

SUP was originally targeted at windsurfers who were already used to standing up on a board and who wanted to get out on the water when the wind was down. Originally many of them dismissed it as a fad that wouldn't catch on but once they actually tried it for themselves they were hooked.

So, at the time of writing, even though the sport is officially 7 years, old in many countries it is only in its 2nd or 3rd year and the pace of advance is speeding up, both in terms of board evolution and user take up. If you are reading this article and you can stand, swim and aren't afraid of the water then there is a high chance you would enjoy at least one of the aspects of this great new sport.

For starters its not just about waveriding. Spend any sort of time browsing online and you can easily come away with the impression that its just a surfing sport. Initially it was, but its true potential will be in bringing watersports to the masses of people who live miles away from the sea. Just like with kayaking where the majority of people use them on rivers and lakes rather than out in the surf . Whether its for going exploring, multi day expeditions, meeting up with likeminded people or just for getting away from life's stresses for a few hours then paddleboarding can do all that and more. We all know canoeing and kayaking can be fun but standing up on a board is even more fun! There is something about the upright position allowing you to see more that leads to a much more rewarding experience whether its being able to look down at the fishes swimming underneath or over hedgerows for a better view while paddling along or just watching the water pass rhythmically under the nose of the board as you glide along.

If you do live within driving distance of a beach then the increased length of the board compared to a regular surfboard means you have got more chance of getting some surf time in, even if your local spot isn't renowned for a big swell. The extra buoyancy a SUP board gives over mini mals and longboards means you'll be catching long rides no matter how small the conditions are, either away from the regular overcrowded surf spots or when the conditions are flatter and your surfing brethren are waiting on land for the conditions to pick up a bit.

Either way taking the plunge with the great sport of SUP means you are going to benefit from some fantastic strength training, a great core workout and the chance to switch off from it all while exploring inland waterways or hitting the lesser known surf spots all year round. Plus you are in at the beginning of something very exciting!