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.