How Many Calories Can You Burn from Doing Winter Activities?

Winter activities such as skiing, sledding, and snowboarding require a lot of intense physical effort. You can burn a lot of calories from doing winter activities. Keep on reading to find how many calories you can burn from doing winter activities.

Calories Burned with Winter Activities

The number of calories that you burn from doing winter activities depends on the type of activity that you are doing. The numbers are different for different winter activities.

For example, you can burn about 360 calories from skiing which is a popular winter activity.

Weight in Pound

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Calories Burned Doing Winter Activities Calculator

If you want to find the number of calories that different winter activities help you burn, you can use our calorie burned calculator to calculate that.

You can enter your weight, the type of winter activity, and the amount of time you have spent doing the activity, in the calorie burned calculator.

When you add all of that information to the calculator, it calculates the number of calories burned for you, based on that information.

How to Use this Calculator?

Here is how you can use the calorie burned from doing winter activities calculator:

  1. Choose your preferred input option for weight.
  2. Enter your weight in the calculator.
  3. Choose the type of winter activity.
  4. Enter the amount of time that you have spent doing the winter activity.
  5. Click on the Calculate button to find the number of calories burned.

How the Calculator Works

The calorie burned from doing winter activities calculator uses the standard formula for finding calories burned for its calculations.

The formula involves the concept of Metabolic Equivalent Tasks (METs) as its most essential element.

The MET for an activity is the amount of energy required by the body to do that activity. It is calculated by multiplying 3.5mL oxygen per kg of body weight by the total number of minutes you spend on an activity.

Intense physical activities have higher MET values as compared with the ones that are not so intense. This is the reason why different winter activities have different MET values.

Formula

The formula for finding calories burned per minute is as follows:

Calories Burned Per Minute = (MET x 3.5 x Bodyweight(kg)) / 200

MET

The term MET is the energy cost of a physical activity that is needed to perform a physical task. Every winter activity has its specific MET value, based on its intensity.

The Active Metabolic Rate (AMR) and the Rest Metabolic Rate (RMR) also come into play when talking about MET. This is because these terms are closely related to one another.

The AMR helps find the number of calories that your body burns when being engaged in different physical activities, throughout the day.

The RMR helps find the number of calories burned by your body while it is at rest.

If an activity has a MET value of one, it is going to burn the same number of calories as your resting metabolic rate.

An activity with a MET value of 5 is going to burn five times the number of calories as your RMR. The same ratio is true for all the other MET values.

Examples

  • What is the number of calories that a person burns from being engaged in skiing, which is a popular winter activity, who weighs 160 lbs (72.5 kgs) and spends 60 minutes playing this sport? The MET value for skiing is 4.8.
  • Calories Burned Per Minute = (MET x 3.5 x Bodyweight(kg)) / 200
  • Calories Burned Per Minute = (7.4 x 3.5 x 72.5) / 200
  • Calories Burned Per Minute = 6 calories
  • Calories Burned in 60 Minutes = 6 calories x 60
  • Calories Burned in 60 Minutes =  360 calories

What are Winter Activities?

Winter activities can be both fun as well as an effective way to work out and get your body in perfect health. Winters are usually less active for most people.

They prefer to just sit inside their cozy rooms and though that sounds great, it can take a toll on your health. Doing winter activities can help you keep your mind and body stimulated and develop more endurance.

These activities motivate you to get out of your bed and do something healthy and fun.

Popular Types of Winter Activities

There are a number of healthy winter activities that you can try out. Some of the most popular winter activities are Sledding, Snowboarding, Skiing, Ice skating, Ice fishing, etc.

You can also participate in things like snowball fighting and building an igloo or a snowman. All these activities keep your body moving and your mind occupied which is great for your health and fitness.

Health Benefits of Winter Activities

Enhanced Resting Metabolism

Winter exposure and activities can give you a steady resting metabolic rate. Sitting still slows down your metabolic activity and this can create several issues down the line.

Doing winter activities speeds up your metabolism and you can better digest what you eat.

Cure for the Winter Blues

People usually feel more down and sad during the winters. This is partly due to the fact that they are mostly trapped inside their houses and they do not try to go outside and have fresh air.

Doing winter activities can keep your body warm and give you an easy way to get rid of the winter blues and depression. You instantly feel a lot better while breathing in the outside air and your mood improves.

This way you can significantly reduce stress or depression from creeping in during winter.

Enhanced Production of Vitamin D

Whenever there is sunlight during the winter days in your area, go outside and do some fun activities. Sunlight helps your body produce vitamin D which is responsible for bone strength, muscle working, immunity, and better heart health.

Thus, by doing winter activities you can produce the necessary amount of vitamin D and ensure your body stays healthy and fit.

Burn More Energy

Doing winter activities helps you burn a lot more calories than normal summer activities. This is because you are doing these things while wearing heavy clothes and gear. This increased weight burns more energy and helps with fat loss.

Activities like ice skating, skiing, and snowboarding are extremely intense and physically demanding, and doing these can help a lot with your weight loss goals.

Burn Body Fat Fast

Winter activities are a great way to burn excess fat from your body.  When you are exposed to cold, your body starts burning stored up fat and that helps you get a sleeker body.

This makes winter activities so much more effective and that is why it is suggested that you take part in these.

MET Values Table

Type of Activity MET
Biathlon 13.5
Cross-country skiing 5.9
Cross-country skiing, >8 mph 15.5
Ice Hockey 8
Ice dancing 14
Ice skating 7
Skiing 4.8
Sledding 4.4
Snowshoeing 5.3
Snow shoveling by hand 5.3
Snowboarding 5.3
Speed skating 13.3

Factors Affecting Calories Burned from Winter Activities

The number of calories burned from doing winter activities depends on your weight, the intensity of the winter activity, and the amount of time that you spend being engaged in the winter activity.

More Calorie Calculators:

FAQs

1. Does exercising in winter burn more calories?

Exercising in winter burns a little more calories due to the added weight of the winter clothes. Cold temperatures increase thermogenesis by as much as 30% and thus winter activities can help you burn fats and calories at a much greater rate.

2. What winter activity burns the most calories?

Snowboarding has been found to burn the most calories. According to some researchers, you can burn about 300 to 600 calories if you do snowboarding for an hour.

3. Does cold weather affect calories burned?

In the winter your basal metabolic rate increases since your body must work harder to keep you warm. This means more calories are consumed when you do some activity in winter as compared to doing the same thing in the summer.

4. Does walking in the winter burn more calories?

Yes, walking in winter burns approximately 30% more calories from your body due to added weight of the clothes and faster metabolic activity.

Wrapping Up

Winter activities keep you healthy, active, and energetic during the cold winter season. These activities keep your body moving and make it strong enough to handle the intense weather, without any kind of health issues.

You can use the calorie burned from doing the winter activities calculator to keep track of the number of calories that you burn coming back from doing a winter activity.Calories Burned with 

Visit our website to find more of our calorie calculators for other physical activities.

References

  • Sidney, K., Jetté, M., & 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
  • Rol, James. “What Are METs, and How Are They Calculated?” Healthline, Healthline, 21 Oct. 2019, https://www.healthline.com/health/what-are-mets
  • Freishtat, S. (2017, December 1). 5 Unexpected Health Benefits of Enjoying Outdoor Winter Activities. Showbiz Cheat Sheet; Showbiz Cheat Sheet. 

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