From long walks to martial arts, almost any exercise yields more good than bad. These physical activities make our bodies fit and more able to perform daily tasks.
So, if you’re a skateboarder, you might have once asked, “how many calories does skateboarding burn?” Depending on several factors, we can burn about 400 to 800 calories per hour using a skateboard.
Keep reading this article as we explain the most efficient way to take on the sport and optimize calorie loss.
Table of Contents
The Number of Calories Lost From Skateboarding
Many of us want to lose weight skateboarding while improving our skills and movements. Let’s learn more about the benefits of the sport, how it’s effective for weight loss, the body mechanics involved, and the numbers to quantify its overall effect.
1. Based on the skateboarder’s weight
Let’s group skaters based on weight and assume all skate for one hour.
If you are a skateboarder weighing 125 lbs, there’ll be 300 calories burned skateboarding in an hour. The calorie loss increases for the 155-lbs skater, as this person will end up with 372 lost calories. Ultimately, 185-pound skateboarders lose the most with 444 calories.
2. Based on activity levels
According to many people on Reddit, energy figures may change because the intensity of skating and your diet are factors in your calorie loss. For example, a transition skater can lose 200 calories by skating for only 15 minutes. And that makes it 400 already in 30 minutes.
But let’s deal with the numbers using MET as a quantifier of energy. Specifically, skateboarding is at MET levels 5 and 6, representing moderate and vigorous skating efforts respectively.
In an hour of skating, general or moderate skateboarding activities can make a skater lose 358 calories. On a competitive or vigorous level, the loss amounts to 430 calories.
3. Based on wheels and bearings
Do urethane rollers and bearings influence weight and calorie loss? Yes! While we can’t translate their effects into numbers, we’ll apply a practical approach to their differences.
Skateboarding with rigid wheels and rough bearings means more effort is necessary to move the skateboard. Alternatively, soft wheels paired with smooth bearings will feel less straining to the skater’s legs.
So, when choosing between a skateboard and a longboard, expect the latter to be smoother and less tiring because of its soft, large wheels.
Moreover, pulling off stunts on obstacles like ramps will drain your energy more quickly than just cruising around.
Frequently Asked Questions
How skateboarding is a good workout
The essence of working out is to feel strong and confident about yourself, and such a concept also applies to skateboarding. Here are some health benefits of skateboarding.
- It improves mind and body coordination.
- Skateboarding pushes you to manage your speed, weight, and perform tricks that require great balance.
- Falling off a skateboard can enhance your mental strength. You’ll learn to pick yourself up and push forward despite disappointments.
- Skating frees your mind from unwanted stress.
- Riding a skateboard improves patience as you progress from one trick to another.
- It prepares you for other board sports like surfing and snowboarding.
Can skateboarding help you lose belly fat?
Absolutely! But the calorie you’re going to burn is not fixed. So, how effective is skateboarding to lose weight?
As discussed, how much we lose depends on our weight, how long and vigorous we skate, and what wheels and bearings we have.
To be more realistic, let’s say you’re riding in two styles: casual pushing and trick skating.
By pushing your board and trying to balance forward, the body won’t have to engage in too many motions. On the other hand, our legs and upper bodies work more when dodging ramps and other skateboard obstacles.
So, a longboarding burn and weight loss are more probable in the second scenario than the first.
Is skateboarding good cardio?
Ask fitness friends about their favorite cardio, and at least a few of them will pick running. So, how many calories does running burn? Is skateboarding effective cardio?
Skateboarding can be a cardio workout partially, but it won’t be as effective as running or cycling.
If you want to try other forms of skating too, inline skating, ice skating, and figure skating can all provide cardio benefits.
Which muscles do you use while skateboarding?
How is skateboarding a full-body workout? Let’s understand by identifying the muscles associated with every move in this sport.
- The core muscles
The abdominal, obliques, and back muscles stabilize the skateboarder. When skating over unstable surfaces, the core muscles initiate balance and support the lower extremities by receiving part of the pressure from doing tricks.
- Quadriceps
The Quadriceps or Quads are the muscles that feel tight on your thighs after every skateboard ride. They connect your knees to your hips, which should be flexible when performing tricks.
- Gluteus Maximus
Like the core muscles, the Maximus also promotes balance when skateboarding. These fibrous tissues work when you do tricks that require extending the legs from a lowered stance.
- Hamstrings
Strong knees lead to impressive skateboard tricks. And such things are possible with firm hamstrings.
These muscles allow optimum knee flexibility and a better center of gravity.
How to calculate calories?
As mentioned, the energy used when skateboarding is at MET 5 and 6.
Applying these figures to a formula, we can compute the possible skateboarding calories burned per minute by multiplying MET with 3.5 and the skater’s weight in kilograms. Whatever product we get, we divide it by 200.
What is MET, by the way? It’s like a standard calculator of energy usage for different activity levels.
So, if you feel confused about why we categorize skateboarding into MET 5 and 6, that’s because these activities’ energies amount to 5 or 6 times more than a sitting task.
Does skateboarding burn more calories than walking?
Both skateboarding and walking are physical activities that are good for our health. But which one burns calories faster? Let’s discuss these through numbers.
Assume we have three individuals weighing 125lbs, 155lbs, and 185lbs. These people burn 300, 372, and 444 calories when skateboarding in an hour.
How much does walking burn per mile? Let’s say the same three people walk 30 minutes with a maximum speed of 4.5mph. In this case, the lightest person weighing 125lbs will burn 150 calories. People who weigh 155lbs and 185lbs will burn 186 and 222 calories respectively.
If you compare them, the numbers of calories are the same in both situations. The only time skateboarding gets the upper hand is if the person walks at a slower pace.
Conclusion
We always think of ways to lose weight efficiently and enjoyably. And skateboarding is one of the options we can try. Not only does it make our bodies fit, but it also helps us free our minds from unwanted baggage.
So, how many calories does skateboarding burn? Often, it’s no less than 400. The more vigorous the routine gets, the better the weight and calorie loss we experience.
To further assess its positive effects, be mindful of the factors pertinent to this fitness method. By doing so, you’ll be able to plot your time and activity intensity to get in your best shape.
Hi, I am Charles Harris. I opened this site to write as much as I can about my biggest passion – skateboarding!
I started as a clumsy yet passionate rookie 10 years ago to now a still passionate yet much better skateboarder! But I have to tell you, the whole journey has always been fun and rewarding, indeed not without hardship.