|
 STAND UP FITNESS was created by Brody Welte, a long time fitness and recreation enthusiast. Brody moved to Saint Petersburg from Hawaii to carry out his vision for Stand Up Fitness. His journey took him along Florida's watery coastline before he threw out an anchor in Tampa Bay. Working in the industry for over 11 years, Brody is a certified Personal Trainer and has worked and trained with some of the top watermen in the world, Laird Hamilton and Dave Kalama. Living in Hawaii and learning the ins and outs of SUP from some of its most recognizable players, has given Brody a plethora of knowledge on the sport and its Hawaiian roots. Once Brody stood atop a board and experienced the serenity, excitement, challenge, and all around good time that paddling gives its participants, he knew that he wanted to bring this experience to others.
|
|
|
 A multi-dimensional fitness and recreation business, Stand Up Fitness explores the waters in and around Saint Petersburg, Clearwater and Tampa by paddle. Whether we are giving SUP lessons, providing rentals, teaching Paddle Fit or discovering the area through our Eco Tours, Stand Up Fitness is on the water and loving every minute! While we spend most of our time with our feet wet, we do offer an on-land Boot Camp Fitness Class as well as Private and Semi-Private Personal Training. We are all about living a healthy lifestyle and showing alternate ways to stay fit and active.
HISTORY OF SUP
Stand Up Paddle Surfing (SUP), or in the Hawaiian language Hoe he'e nalu, has long been a part of the Hawaiian culture and its popularity is now spreading around the world. The sport, an ancient form of surfing, first came about as a way for surf instructors to manage their large groups of learner surfers, as standing gave them a better viewpoint of the water, increasing their visibility and ability to see incoming swells. In the 1960s, the Beach Boys of Waikiki would stand on their long boards and paddle out with outrigger paddles to take pictures of tourists learning to surf. 
In the early 2000s Hawaiian surfers such as Dave Kalama, Brian Keaulana, Rick Thomas, Archie Kalepa and Laird Hamilton started SUP as an alternative way to train while the surf was down. The greatest thing about SUP is that you don't have to be Hawaiian, a pro-surfer, or an experienced waterman to enjoy or master the sport. It has all the thrill of surfing and kayaking with the safety and stability of training wheels. Anyone can achieve the excitement these big wave surfers experience and become a part of the "surfing world" without big swells or even an ocean! SUP can be enjoyed on any body of water - anytime!
YOLO CONNECTION
We strive to embrace the concept that You Only Live Once, but finding a SUP manufacturer that lite rally based their entire company on that philosophy seemed too good to be true. Stand Up Fitness is proud to partner with YOLO not only for the quality products they produce, but also for the men behind the name. The theme of YOLO is very much at the hearts and minds of founders Jeff Archer and Tom Losee. Both are businessowners with a keen entrepreneurial spirit. Balancing family, business and recreational activities always has its challenges, yet the realization that life will never slow down caused them to look at maximizing fun in relation to responsibility. With the motto You Only Live Once as the mantra for these two entrepreneurs, the idea of YOLO as a bigger force was born.
After extensive research development, it was determined that there was a need for more of a hybrid style stand up paddleboard - one that not only has its roots in traditional surfing, but also in other related paddle sports such as kayaking and canoeing. With the endless supply of bodies of water in Florida and increasing momentum in this segment of the water sports market, YOLO BOARD was born...and we are thrilled to carry/use their products!
|
|
