Surfing is a sport that requires physical strength, balance, and endurance. It also burns calories! Depending on how long you surf for, how often you go surfing, your weight, and the type of session you have in terms of how much effort is involved will determine how many calories are burned each time. We’ll give an estimate below to help get a rough idea about how many calories does surfing burn.
What is the number of calories that you can burn while surfing? What are some factors that contribute to how many calories you can burn? These questions are hard to answer because they vary between different people. Still, there are ways to estimate how many calories you may be burning when surfing–and this article will teach you how!
Table of Contents
How Many Calories Does Surfing Burn
There are a few different ways to calculate how many calories you can burn while surfing. The first is using the MET (Metabolic Equivalent of Task) scale. This measures how much energy your body expends while performing certain activities. One MET equals the amount of energy it takes to rest for an hour. Hence, activities that have a MET value of more than one indicate that you are burning more calories than if you were just sitting down and resting.
The second way to calculate how many calories surfing burns is by using the Compendium of Physical Activities. This scale measures how much energy an activity burns, on average, in kilocalories per minute (kcal/min). It also takes into account how much time you spend doing the activity.
Both of these scales are important when calculating how many calories surfing burns, as they give a good estimate for how active you are while performing the sport. Now that we know how to measure the number of calories burned, let’s look at how many calories different surfing activities can burn.
There are three main types of surfing: recreational, longboarding, and bodyboarding. Recreational surfing is the most common type; it is done on a shortboard and generally requires more physical effort than the other two types. Longboarding is similar to recreational surfing, but you ride on a longer board. Bodyboarding is the least physical of the three, as you are lying down on your stomach and using your hands and feet to paddle.
Below we have estimated how many calories each type of surfing can burn in an hour:
- Recreational surfing: 460 kcal/hr
- Longboarding: 510 kcal/hr
- Bodyboarding: 290 kcal/hr
These are just estimates of how many calories you can burn. At the same time, surfing will vary depending on your weight and the session’s intensity. However, this provides a good starting point to give you an idea about how many calories does surfing burn.
This article has given you insight into how many calories surfing can burn. The short answer is that it depends, but this article has estimated how intense your session is and how much physical effort you put into the activity.
Using Surfing Calculators
It’s easy to calculate the number of calories burned while surfing with online calorie calculators. All you need is your weight and how long you’ve been at it for, then they will estimate!
If you’re looking to get a rough estimate of how many calories are burned during an hour at the beach, this calculator is perfect. It’ll tell you how much energy and nutrients will be lost if your weight varies between 180 lbs – 200lbs or so while surfing for up to 120 minutes! You can enter in any information about yourself (e.g., height), then press go-which gives us different results on what activity yields certain activities levels outcomes with regards to energy expenditure, etcetera.
Types of Surfing for Burned Calories
Surfing in a Relaxed Day
You’re on your surfboard, and the water is warm. You take a few minutes to catch up with yourself, then paddle in some small waves while moderately paddling out into deeper waters where it’s more difficult for enemies or prey (waves) to find you – if they even care about that! Your workout burns between 250-300 calories per hour which will help keep those pounds off if maintained over time. This exercise routine has been estimated at 180 lbs person weight.
You can either ride the wave and try to catch another one as it comes in, or you could stay inside if that’s what feels more comfortable. The key here is not being too specific with your drop choices-350 calories might be good enough for a day like today where waves are light but long (or maybe someone isn’t feeling up to catching them).
Surfing in Smaller Waves
Paddling while standing up is a great way to increase the number of calories burned from 150 – 300. This may vary depending on some factors, including location and activity level within that area for paddlers; however, generally, you can expect about 50% more than if one were just sitting during their trip around shoreline or bayou! Aboard your boat; this could mean burning between 200-400 total calories per hour when out at sea (depending).
When catching waves in Hawaii, expect trades going up 15 to 20 knots. This makes the experience more intense, and it depends on how many clean-up routines you’ve got under your belt by then – with each catch burning calories that can add up if surfing all day!
Surfing in Amazing Waves
The calories burned while surfing in amazing waves can vary based on certain factors and scenarios.
You can gain up to 300 calories for one hour of your time. There is no drift, and it’s crowded, so the waves don’t come in fast like they usually would with a smaller crowd there, but that doesn’t stop anyone from having fun!
You can expect to get between 400-500 calories per hour when dealing with several sets, a good amount of drift, and light crowds. You could even end up getting an extra 150 if you are surfing on the exciting beach break!
A brutal session at the North Shore or Laniakea will burn up to 800 calories per hour. A good day out there can give you that same number too! Epic beach breaks also take care of your waistline, with a comparable amount burned in two hours.