The average person weighing 160 pounds burns 229 – 610 calories per hour playing Volleyball, the calories burned depends on the your weight and the intensity of your activity.
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Volleyball has always been a popular sport, and it ranks third among team sports in popularity after basketball and football. This is the type of sport that’s played on courts, but it’s also very popular on the beach as well.
Many people get a group of friends together and take the sport to the beach, which significantly increases the game’s intensity. So not only is it a great game that is a lot of fun and can improve your social life, but you can burn a lot of calories while playing volleyball as well.
Since volleyball does involve a significant amount of moving and leaping while playing, it is one of the best sports you can play if you want to burn a lot of calories. The sport of volleyball can be played by anyone of any age, as it is a popular sport for young adults and older adults who play the game for fun.
The number of calories you will burn from playing volleyball depends on your height, weight, time spent playing volleyball, and the intensity that you are playing the game. Continue to find out how to determine how many calories you’ll burn playing volleyball.
How To Use The Calculator
Our volleyball calculator is easy to use and will help you determine how many calories you can burn while playing non-competitive volleyball and beach volleyball. To calculate the number of calories you will burn, simply input your weight and the time you spent or plan to spend playing volleyball. Then select the type of volleyball game you will be playing and hit CALCULATE.
Using the calculator step-by-step:
- Choose your unit of measurement (pounds or kilograms)
- Enter your weight in the corresponding unit of measurement
- Find the specific game of volleyball that you are playing. You can choose from options such as non-competitive volleyball and beach volleyball, to name a few.
- Enter the time (total minutes) you are playing volleyball for
- Hit “CALCULATE”
How the Calculator Works
Our volleyball calculator uses metabolic equivalent of task (MET) values to find the number of calories that playing volleyball will burn. This value is determined by a convention of 3.5 mL of oxygen per kilogram of each minute while playing volleyball [1].
The calculator has pre-set levels that match your intensity while playing volleyball. Using this calculator will provide you with a realistic idea of how many calories you will burn, no matter what type of game you are playing.
MET (Metabolic Equivalent of Task)
This calculator is used to determine your body’s energy output. A MET value is the number that determines the energy it takes to perform various activities, such as playing volleyball.
The MET is also an indicator of the ratio showing the relationship between your active metabolic rate (AMR) and resting metabolic rate. The resting metabolic rate (RMR) measures the number of calories you burn when your body is at rest and not actively in movement.
Activities with a MET value of 1 burn as many calories as your RMR, while exercises with a MET of 7 will burn seven times as many calories as you would at rest.
Formula
Our volleyball calculator’s formula to determine the number of calories burned per minute is (MET x bodyweight in Kg x 3.5) ÷ 200.
Examples
An individual weighing 160 pounds will burn approximately 228 calories from playing a general game of volleyball non-competitively. This activity has a MET of 3, which means that it burns three times as many calories as your resting metabolic rate.
This is what the formula for calculating the calories burned while playing non-competitive volleyball will look like for a 160-pound individual:
- Calories burned (per minute) = (body weight in kg x MET x 5) ÷ 200
- Calories burned (per minute) = (72.57 x 3 x 5) ÷ 200
- Calories burned (per minute) = 8 calories x 60
- Calories burned (per hour) = 228 calories per hour
What about playing beach volleyball in the sand? A higher intensity would be characterized by playing the sport in the sand, which makes for a more challenging game than if it was on the courts.
Playing volleyball on the beach has a higher MET than a general, non-competitive game of volleyball. The MET for playing beach volleyball is an 8, which is over double the intensity you would experience if you were playing a non-competitive, general volleyball game. Here is what the formula would look like for playing beach volleyball:
- Calories burned (per minute) = (body weight in kg x MET x 5) ÷ 200
- Calories burned (per minute) = (72.57 x 8 x 5) ÷ 200
- Calories burned (per minute) = 15 calories x 60
- Calories burned (per hour) = 609 calories per hour
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What is Volleyball?
Volleyball is a team sport with six players, and in order to score in the game, a team must “ground” the ball in the court space of their opponent. In layman’s terms, this means the ball must hit the ground on the opponent’s side of the net, as long as it’s within the court boundaries.
Volleyball can be played on the courts as a professional game and is even an Olympic sport, but it is also very popular for fun on the beach. The main focus of this game is teamwork because the game is very dependent on the team members working together.
There are so many fantastic health benefits of playing volleyball, whether it’s on the beach or not. Check out all these great reasons to get out there and get involved on a team:
Health Benefits of Playing Volleyball
Burning Calories
Even just playing 20 minutes of a volleyball game can burn over a hundred calories [2]. This is because when you are playing the game, you are moving around the court following the ball’s movements.
Sometimes you have to change direction sporadically, which will expend even more energy. For example, finding a sport that you love is a great way to get in shape and burn calories. While you are playing, your muscles are in motion, which means you are constantly burning calories.
Increase the Body’s Metabolic Rate
In order to increase your body’s metabolism rate, your body needs to be using up energy all the time. Being involved in a sport is a great way to do this. When a player goes for a spike, the body has to use energy in order to engage those muscles.
When the metabolism is this high, you will get energy distribution to all your organs at an optimal level [3]. By having energy in your muscles during a game, you will increase your metabolic rate to give you all your energy requirements.
Increase Tone in Your Body
One of the great benefits of working out, in general, is to get that nice, toned body that we are all looking for. When you are playing a sport like volleyball, you are using a lot of your upper body. You also use your lower body for speed and balance since the ball is all over the place.
Your upper body requires hand-eye coordination to direct the course of the ball. You will find that you are using muscles that have been dormant for a while at times when you play volleyball. This is the type of sport that is going to give you tone all over your body.
Lower the Risk of Obesity
When you are exercising and expending energy, you have less of a chance of accumulating body fat, leading to problems with obesity. Obesity is the accumulation of body fat due to poor diet and lack of exercise. When body fat increases in the body, the risk of a heart attack and cardiovascular issues can increase as well.
When you are involved in a sport like volleyball, you are constantly running and leaping, which keeps your body agile. With all the constant movements that you are making in the game, playing volleyball to stay in shape is a great way to lower the risk of obesity.
Reduce Stress and Anxiety
Everyone deals with stress at one point or another throughout the day. But constant stress with no relief can cause health problems in your body. By engaging in a sport, especially with friends, it offers relief from the stress and will end up improving your mental health.
When you play volleyball, you have to be focused since it requires a great deal of concentration. You can’t be distracted by thoughts of work or what’s going on at home. By playing the sport, you don’t have time to be focused on what’s stressing you out.
Improved Speed and Agility
When you first start off playing volleyball, you might find yourself to be a little slow. You can’t always rely on speed in the game, you also need to know how to maneuver sporadically. In order to go from one end of the court to the other requires agility and flexibility.
As you adjust to the game and get better at it, so will your speed and agility. Not only will your speed increase, but so will your reaction time. By constantly moving sporadically, it will ensure that you will continually gain speed and agility.
Frequently Asked Questions:
Do you burn more calories during beach volleyball?
Beach volleyball is typically a much more intense game especially if you are playing in a tournament. The rallies tend to be longer, and the ball is lighter, so you end up burning a lot more calories compared to a general game of volleyball. You burn over twice as many calories when you play beach volleyball.
Is beach volleyball a great workout?
Playing in the sand makes the game much more intense. A game of beach volleyball will strengthen your whole body while being fun to play in the process. When you play on the beach, you are getting resistance from the sand, so it ends up being a much more intense workout since your body is constantly working hard at keeping your balance.
Is volleyball hard to play?
Yes, volleyball can be a challenging game to play. There are many levels of volleyball, and the higher levels that you play, the more challenging the game becomes. If you are just starting out with volleyball, the most challenging part will be understanding the rules and executing the right techniques.
The Bottom Line
Volleyball can be a challenging sport to play, and it requires you to be focused and disciplined as your teammates are counting on you. You have to have a firm grip on the rules, but at the same time, it’s a sport that is a lot of fun to play, especially with your friends. There are many volleyball tournaments that you can become involved in throughout the year.
It’s a great game to play if you are looking for something to help you meet new people and socialize. It’s also an excellent way to burn off a lot of calories.
Volleyball is also an activity with many cardiovascular and strength benefits that will help you be leaner and more muscular if you are playing volleyball regularly.
Be sure to check out all of the other calculators that we have to offer to get an idea of how many calories you can burn while doing any activity or exercise.
References:
- Jetté, M., Sidney, K., & Blümchen, G. (1990). Metabolic equivalents (METS) in exercise testing, exercise prescription, and evaluation of functional capacity. Clinical cardiology, 13(8), 555–565. https://doi.org/10.1002/clc.4960130809
- A Volleyball Player’s Diet. https://www.sportsrec.com/185481-a-volleyball-players-diet.html
- Physical Activity and Resting Metabolic Rate John R Speakman 1, Colin Selman Affiliations expand PMID: 14692598 DOI: 1079/PNS2003282