Basketball is a widely loved sport, with millions of fans worldwide supporting their favorite teams. It’s not just an entertaining sport but also a great form of exercise. It is medically proven that playing basketball regularly has various health benefits for the body and mind, keeping the person active and robust. One can incorporate playing basketball into a daily fitness regime to reduce fat and stay fit. While growing up, you must have heard from adults advising kids to play basketball to increase their height. They said so because playing basketball includes jumping and anaerobic movements that help the body to train the muscles.
Let’s calculate how many calories you burn by playing basketball for 2 hours:
Basketball is a fast-paced game that has two teams, having five players on each side that compete against each other. It includes bouncing, dribbling the ball while walking or running, and making goals. The game is played between four periods of 10 minutes. Basketball is a great sport if you consider incorporating it into your daily fitness regime.
Follow this formula to calculate the total number of calories burned by playing basketball for 2 hours:
Calories burned (per minute) = (MET*body weight in kg*3.5)/200
The ratio of the work metabolic rate to the resting metabolic rate. One MET is defined as 1 kcal/kg/hour and is roughly equivalent to the energy cost of sitting quietly. A MET also is defined as oxygen uptake in ml/kg/min with one MET equal to the oxygen cost of sitting quietly, equivalent to 3.5 ml/kg/min.
Source: Compendium of physical activities
Note: MET value of a general game of basketball is 6.5
For example, if a person weighing 70 kg plays basketball for 2 hours, then the calories burned by him will be as follows:
Total minutes:120 minutes (60*2)
MET: 6.5
Calories burned per minute: (6.5*70*3.5)/200 = 7.96
Calories burned in 120 minutes: 7.96*120 = 955
Therefore, calories burned in 2 hours by playing basketball will be 955. To burn more and more calories, do increase the intensity and the duration of the game. The high rate of the game will ensure that more calories are being burned.
Here are some of the health benefits of playing basketball:
1. Improves mental health
A game of basketball majorly engages our mind and body and helps to relieve stress and tension. Relieving stress through physical activities. Our stress levels can effectively be managed through physical activities and keeping our mental health in check.
2. Makes bones strong
Playing basketball regularly can keep our bodies away from Osteoporosis, a medical condition that makes a person’s bones weak and brittle. Basketball includes lots of running and jumping; all these activities develop and enhance leg muscles, making them strong. Our bone health improves as our leg muscles and joint movements improve. Therefore, basketball improves our stamina and makes our bones stronger.
3. Great way to lose weight
Playing basketball requires physical activities like running and jumping, which require stamina and energy. When we put in more stamina and energy, our body loses more calories and helps us lose weight significantly. It is scientifically proven that losing 2000 calories a week helps us lose weight significantly. Our article above states that playing basketball for 2 hours burns around 887 calories, making it a great way to lose weight.
4. Helps in developing communication skills
Basketball requires interacting with teammates and developing strategies to win the game. As we interact with more and more people, our social skills grow and help us to gain confidence in a social setting. This confidence further helps us in life.
5. Better heart health
As our body gets more active while playing basketball, it directly affects our health as our resting heart rate increases actively. When we work out daily and our hearts are healthy, the risk of heart attack and strokes reduces significantly.
Things to keep in mind before getting into basketball
As we discussed earlier, basketball is a high-intensity sport; there are certain things you are required to keep in mind before setting foot on the basketball court. They are:
1. Do not compromise on rest and get a sound sleep of 6-8 hours. Playing such a sport and not getting enough sleep will cause more harm than benefits.
2. Having a balanced diet is as important as burning calories. Do not make your body deficient of vitamins and minerals that help our body to stay fit and fight diseases.
3. Since basketball requires a lot of jumping and dribbling, do not ignore joint and muscle pains, if any. Such pain can cause trouble to the body later in life.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
1. How long does it take to burn 1000 calories playing basketball?
To burn 1000 calories by playing basketball, one must play basketball for around 2-2.5 hours. The number of calories mainly depends on the person’s weight and the duration game being played.
2. How many calories burned in playing basketball?
Playing basketball for half an hour can help a person to burn around 220-250 calories. One can intensify the game and increase the playing hours to burn more calories.
3. Is basketball a full body workout?
Basketball is a great form of exercise to stay fit and reduce weight. It is a full-body workout, including hand movement to bounce and dribble the ball, along with running and jumping.
4. How many calories do you burn basketball 30 minutes?
An average person playing basketball for 30 minutes can burn up to 220-250 calories.
5. Does basketball burn fat?
Since basketball can burn up to 450-500 calories in an hour, it can help burn fat. If you are someone who doesn’t like going to the gym for workouts, you can incorporate basketball into your fitness routine.
Conclusion
We hope the above article helped you calculate the number of calories burned by playing basketball. Basketball is a great form of exercise and can be included in the fitness regimes of young children and adults to strengthen bones and develop muscles.
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Also Read: What to do before Yoga in the morning?
