Calories Burned with Fun Activities
When
trying to lose weight you must create a calorie deficit through
calories burned and calories consumed. This means you must
consume fewer calories than you burn.
Most people think of
exercise when they hear the words burning calories. But you
can have fun while burning those unwanted calories and shed excess
pounds.
Here are several fun activities you can add to your
weekly routine to create your calorie deficit.
The example calories burned in these activities use a 35 year old
female weighing 165 pounds.
Your results will differ based on
your age and weight.
If you weigh less you will burn fewer
calories.
If you weight more you will burn more calories than
in the examples given.
Leisure Activities and Calories Burned
Here's a short list of some fun leisure activities and the calories
burned while having fun with these activities.
Archery
Hit your calorie target with archery as a fun activity.
Just
30 minutes of shooting your bow and arrow can burn approximately 129
calories.
Bowling
Although this is not often thought of as an extremely active sport, you
will be burning calories just the same.
Just one hour of
bowling and you can burn 180 unwanted calories. Go for a full
hour and a half and this number increases to 270.
Croquet
Get out the old croquet set and play a game with your family in the
backyard. Not only will you be enjoying the sun and spending
quality time with your family but you can burn 95 calories in just a
half an hour.
Fishing
If you love to fish, then this is the perfect outside activity to burn
calories. Even just a half an hour can burn up to 100
calories.
Of course if you haven’t caught the big one by
then, go for longer in order to have a fish fry and burn more calories.
Frisbee
Play at the park with your kids or your dog. Playing Frisbee
for 30 minutes can burn about 110 calories. Although your arm
may give out before your dog does, at least you’ll get some fun in with
this activity.
Golf
Of course this wouldn’t be a complete list of leisurely activities
without mentioning golf. 30 minutes on a driving range and
you can burn almost 100 calories.
Make it a full game of golf
and in 30 minutes you can shed 115 calories using a cart or forego the
cart and burn up to 165 calories in just 30 minutes.
Of
course, the full course may take longer then 30 minutes. Good
news is that means you will burn even more calories with this fun
activity.
Other
Leisure Activities
Other fun leisurely activities that will burn calories include rock
climbing (30 minutes = 248), hiking(without a pack for 30 minutes =
256), horseback riding (at a trot = 240), downhill snow skiing (30
minutes = 260) and even playing with your kids can burn in excess of
100 calories for just 30 minutes.
Sports and Calories Burned
In addition to the above fun activities, check out how you can get
calories burned off with these sports.
Bicycling
Go on a bike ride and enjoy the weather.
Go with a friend and
find a good riding path so you can make the most out of this fun
activity.
Even just 15 minutes of a leisurely bike ride can
burn 75 calories. Make it more intense and longer and you
will burn even more calories plus build lean muscles in your legs.
Badminton
At your next BBQ, get out the net and racquets and play some
badminton. A fun 20 minute game can burn upwards of 100
calories.
Go for an hour and reach up to 300 calories burned
while having fun and kicking butt.
Basketball
Maybe this sport isn’t for everyone but give it a try for a fun
change. Playing hoops just for fun with your friends for 20
minutes can burn over 140 calories.
Make it a real game and
challenge and you will burn about 240 calories for those same 20
minutes.
Handball
This is a great way to burn several calories in a short period of
time. Of course this sport takes some skill and practice but
even if you haven’t mastered it you will be burning calories.
Just 30 minutes of play equals 380 calories burned.
Hockey
If you love to skate and always fantasized about being a star, then try
this activity to burn calories and play out your fantasy. In
as little as 30 minutes with this sport you could burn 300 calories.
Racquetball
This fun sport is another high calorie burning activity. In
just 30 minutes of a fun and friendly game you could be burning over
300 calories. Go for an hour and you will burn over 600
calories.
Softball
A friendly game of softball at your next family reunion is just the
ticket to burn excess calories. Team up with or against the
in-laws and hit your home run to burn about 200 calories in just a 30
minute non-competitive game.
If you get the winning home run,
who knows, you may no longer be the black sheep of the family.
Other
Sports
Other sports that can help you burn calories include soccer (30 minutes
of a leisurely game = 320), squash (30 minutes = 338), table tennis, or
as I like to call it, ping pong (30 minutes = 150 calories) plus more.
Try these other sports for burning calories burned while having fun
like regular
tennis on the courts (30 minutes of singles = 295 calories and doubles
= 198) and of course my favorite, volleyball (30 minutes = 115 for a
leisure game, 198 for a competitive game and 297 for beach volleyball).
To find out more how the calories are calculated, be sure to check out
this article on
calories burned during exercise.
Additional Articles
Exercise
Calorie Calculator
Find out how many calories you burn during your workout. This
calculator has many structured exercises as well as more fun activities
to select from.
Benefits
of Warming Up
Be sure to find out why it's important not to skip warming up before
exercising. Warming up can help your muscles get ready for the workout. This will minimize injuries.
Exercise Tips
Use
these tips to start exercising today. Although you will burn extra
calories with these fun activities, a structured workout can really
give you the fat burn.