🛶 Kayak Calories Burned Calculator
Estimate how many calories you burn kayaking based on your weight, paddling duration, and intensity level.
| Body Weight | 30 Minutes | 60 Minutes | 90 Minutes | 120 Minutes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 120 lbs (54 kg) | 136 | 272 | 409 | 545 |
| 140 lbs (64 kg) | 159 | 318 | 477 | 636 |
| 160 lbs (73 kg) | 181 | 363 | 545 | 726 |
| 180 lbs (82 kg) | 204 | 409 | 613 | 817 |
| 200 lbs (91 kg) | 227 | 454 | 681 | 908 |
| 220 lbs (100 kg) | 250 | 500 | 750 | 1000 |
| Activity | MET | Cal / Hour | Intensity |
|---|---|---|---|
| Leisurely Kayaking | 3.5 | 254 | Low |
| Moderate Kayaking | 5.0 | 363 | Moderate |
| Vigorous Kayaking | 7.0 | 508 | High |
| Whitewater Kayaking | 8.0 | 581 | Very High |
| Competitive Kayaking | 12.0 | 871 | Max |
| Canoeing (moderate) | 4.0 | 290 | Low-Mod |
| Rowing (moderate) | 7.0 | 508 | High |
| Stand-Up Paddleboarding | 6.0 | 435 | Moderate |
| Swimming (laps) | 6.0 | 435 | Moderate |
| Water Skiing | 6.8 | 494 | Moderate-High |
Kayaking is an attractive way to exercise and burn calories, while one enjoys nature. Whether slipping on calm lakes or struggling against difficult rapids, it helps to spend hundreds of calories and strengthen the whole body. So how many calories burned does kayaking cause?
Everything depends on several factors.
How many calories does kayaking burn?
Usually folk burn between 375 and 475 calories during one hour of kayaking. The precise amount ranges according to body mass, paddle speed, distance and the level of trouble of the water. For instance, folk weighing about 200 pounds, that paddle at medium intensity, burn around 476 calories per hour.
On the other hand, folk of 130 pounds, doing a calm kayak journey, maybe will spend only around 300 calories in the same time. Someone of 185 pounds could burn aroudn 336 calories per hour. The heavier one is, the more energy the body requires to move, so that the calorie expense grows together with the weight.
Also the style of paddling matters a lot. Hard kayaking, like whitewater kayaking or fighting strong flows, can burn from 450 to 550 calories each hour. Paddling in fast moving water or against the flow spends more than simply slipping along a calm surface.
Besides that, in longer sessions, one burns more calories, obviously. Folk weighing 155 pounds, kayaking during three hours, could spend between 1056 and 1413 calories.
Kayaking covers a wide range of intensities. Simple floating along a slow river barely spends anything. But working hard at your aerobic limit can burn just as much as many other sports.
Actually, it is more like hiking than running, when talking about calories burned. Run 10 miles, and you burn around 1000 calories, witch is much more per hour than in typical kayaking sessions.
Kayaking brings also other health benefits. It raises the heart rate and improves heart health. Keeping a steady heart rate of 105 to 115 beats each minute during some minutes per hour benefits the heart.
Kayaking requires a strong core for the power strokes, which gives better posture and core strength. Engaging the legs and key muscles helps to build force and reach bigger distances. Choppy water forces harder work, which then causes bigger calorie expense.
One thing that folks commonly miss is the effort to load and unload the kayak. That physical work adds up and forms a big part of the whole calorie expense during a kayaking trip. To estimate your own calorie expense, enter your body weight and the time of paddling in a calculator, which gives an approximate result.
A simple formula is to divide the kayaking time by 60, multiply by 300, then multiply by your body weight divided by 150. Even so, all those are only guesses, because the real calories burned depend onmany different things.
