How many calories are burned water walking?
The average person weighing 180 pounds burns approximately 214-840 calories per hour water walking, depending on the effort and pace i.e. light effort, moderate pace, calisthenics, vigorous effort and water jogging.
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One exercise that might surprise you for being a fantastic calorie burner is water walking. If you already enjoy walking, then water walking might be right up your alley. It will add a little spice to your current workout while boosting your fitness level.
It’s a great cardio workout and a low-impact exercise. It will help you to build strength and burn a ton of calories. There are many different variations of water walking, from light effort to water jogging. It is a fantastic way of burning a lot of calories. Water walking can be done from any age for both teens and older adults [1].
The number of calories you will burn from water walking depends on your height, weight, time spent water walking, and the intensity you are doing it with. Continue on to find out how to determine how many calories you’ll burn with water walking.
How To Use the Calculator
Using the calculator to determine how many calories you’ll burn while water walking is very easy to do. In order to calculate the number of calories that you’ll burn, just input your weight and the time that you’ve spent or plan to spend water walking. Then select the intensity that you will be water walking and hit “CALCULATE.” It doesn’t get any easier than that.
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 water walking activity that you are doing. You can choose from light effort water walking or water jogging playing styles.
- Enter the number minutes you are practicing Water Walking
- Hit CALCULATE
How the Calculator Works
Our water walking calculator uses MET (metabolic equivalent of task) values in order to find out the number of calories that water walking will burn for you. This value is determined by a convention of 3.5 mL of oxygen per kilogram of each minute while doing the specific activity [2].
The calculator has pre-set levels corresponding to the intensity of water walking. Using this calculator will give you a realistic idea of how many calories you will burn for fun as well as water walking with vigorous effort.
MET (Metabolic Equivalent of Task)
Using MET to determine your body’s energy output is what this calculator is primarily used for. A MET value is the number that determines the energy it takes to perform various activities, such as water walking at different levels of intensity. The MET value is the ratio that shows the relationship between your active metabolic rate to the resting metabolic rate.
The active metabolic rate (AMR) determines the calories that you continue to burn throughout the day. In contrast, the resting metabolic rate (RMR) measures the number of calories that you are burning when your body is at rest and not actively digesting.
Activities that have a MET value of 1 burn as many calories as your RMR, while activities with a MET of 7 will burn seven times as many calories as your RMR. This means that you expend 7 times more energy as the activity with only 1 MET.
Formula
The formula that our water walking calculator uses to determine the number of calories burned per minute is (MET x bodyweight in Kg x 3.5) ÷ 200
Examples
An individual weighing 180 pounds will burn approximately 385 calories from water walking with moderate effort. This activity has a MET of 4.5, which means that it burns 4.5 times as many calories as your resting metabolic rate.
This is what the formula for calculating the calories burned while water walking at a moderate effort will look like for a 180-pound individual:
- Calories burned (per minute) = (body weight in kg x MET x 5) ÷ 200
- Calories burned (per minute) = (81.65 x 5 x 3.5) ÷ 200
- Calories burned (per minute) = 42 calories x 60
- Calories burned (per hour) = 385 calories per hour
What about water jogging at a high intensity? A high intensity would be characterized by a vigorous effort of jogging while underwater at full speed with little to no rest during the activity except for brief breaks.
Water jogging at high intensity has a higher MET, which is at 9.8, being the most intensity of water walking that you can perform. This time, we are going to calculate the number of calories burned per hour for 180-pound individual water jogging at high intensity.
- Calories burned (per minute) = (body weight in kg x MET x 5) ÷ 200
- Calories burned (per minute) = (81.65 x 8 x 3.5) ÷ 200
- Calories burned (per minute) = 14 calories x 60
- Calories burned (per hour) = 840 calories per hour
How many calories are burned water walking in one hour?
A person who weighs 180lbs water walking for 60 minutes will burn 214-840 calories:
| Activity Name | Met | Time Spend | Calories Burned |
|---|---|---|---|
| Water aerobics, water calisthenics | 5.5 | 60 Min | 472 Cal |
| Water jogging | 9.8 | 60 Min | 840 Cal |
| Water walking, light effort, slow pace | 2.5 | 60 Min | 214 Cal |
| Water walking, moderate effort, moderate pace | 4.5 | 60 Min | 386 Cal |
| Water walking, vigorous effort, brisk pace | 6.8 | 60 Min | 583 Cal |
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What is Water Walking?
Water walking is simply just walking while immersed in water. It is more complicated than simply going for a walk because water is much denser than air. It requires a lot more effort than the same exercise on land.
Having the resistance available from the water allows you more of a workout challenge that strengthens your muscles in ways that would not be possible with land-based walking. As a result, you can burn many calories, which helps you lose weight.
Even though the water provides resistance, it’s still considered a low-impact cardio exercise. The great news is that it is gentler on your joints and bones, which makes it a perfect exercise for people who suffer from fibromyalgia, osteoporosis, and arthritis.
Water walking puts less stress and pressure on your body and can be a great workout for:
- Seniors
- A beginner who is new to exercise
- Pregnant women
- People recovering from an injury
The Best Way to Water Walk
Don’t Rush It
You might think that water walking would be easy, but it’s best not to overdo it at first. If you are a beginner, it’s best to start off easy and gradually build up the intensity, frequency and duration.
Create a Workout for Your Fitness Level
A lot of people use water walking as a means of recovering from an injury, but even athletes have used it as a tool to increase strength. You can make it as easy or as difficult as you want with the following guidelines:
Use Pool Weights
As you are building your strength and balance, you can start to add weights to your water walking routine. You can walk with weights in your hands which provides some resistance training.
Benefits of Water Walking
Perfect For All Ability Levels
Water walking is available for all fitness levels due to its versatility. You can decide what intensity you want to do it with. You can try simply walking casually in the water or have high-intensity interval training that involves coaches and even a motorized underwater treadmill.
You can do water walking in deeper water with a floatation belt or shallow water where you can touch the bottom of your feet to the pool. You can use weights or resistance training exercises to increase the intensity of your workout.
For those that have injuries, water walking is a huge benefit because water is buoyant, which makes it a comfortable workout. It can be difficult for someone to walk on land with an injury, so water walking is perfect.
Great Cardio Workout
You can choose the duration of your water walking workout, whether it’s a short one of 20 minutes or a long one that’s over 45 minutes. Any exercise between 20-45 minutes will allow your heart rate to go up, improving your cardiovascular health. You can push yourself harder in the water because your heart rate typically stays lower.
Equipment Needed
You don’t need a lot of equipment for water walking For some of the luxury places that do water walking classes, you might even find elliptical trainers or underwater treadmills available for you.
However, some of the common equipment water walkers use are:
- Foam dumbbells
- Ankle or strap-on wrist weights
- Resistance gloves
Frequently Asked Questions:
Is water walking good for you?
There’s no doubt about it, water walking is a great resistance training exercise and excellent cardio workout. You can tone and strengthen your muscles and burn off some serious calories. The best part is that it’s gentle on your joints and bones.
How long should you water walk for?
Every time that you go water walking, you will want to walk faster and deeper to get better at it. It’s best that you do whatever you are comfortable with so that you will stick with it. You have to pick a speed that you can maintain for at least 20 minutes without becoming out of breath. Once you get a hang of it, you can water walk for up to 45 minutes.
How do you start water walking?
Water walking is very easy to get started with. All you need to do is find a pool, ocean, or body of water that is waist-high and you can get started. You want to gradually increase the height of the water to increase the resistance that you get from water walking.
Wrapping It Up
Water walking is a fantastic way to have resistance training and cardiovascular exercise. It’s a great way to strengthen all of your muscle groups to get the toned body that you are looking for. The exercise is gentle on your body while allowing you to burn calories.
Finding a workout that suits your personality and lifestyle is the best way to find something that you are going to stick with. Once you get started, you will find that sticking to a routine that you truly love is very easy to do.
Be sure to check out all the other calculators that we have to offer to get an idea of how many calories you can burn while doing any activity!
References:
- Haynes A, Naylor LH, Carter HH, Spence AL, Robey E, Cox KL, Maslen BA, Lautenschlager NT, Ridgers ND, Green DJ. J Sport Health Sci. 2020 May;9(3):274-282. doi: 10.1016/j.jshs.2019.11.005. Epub 2019 Dec 23. PMID: 32444152
- 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
- Aquatic exercises. (n.d.). patienteducation.osumc.edu/Documents/AquaticExerBk.pdf
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