Calories Burned Kayaking Calculator

Calculates how many calories are burned kayaking, whitewater rafting, rowing, or canoeing using MET (metabolic equivalent) values, and a simple formula to calculate the total calories burned. The average person burns 375 – 476 calories per hour kayaking.

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Calories Burned with Outdoor Activities (weight: 175 lbs)

	MET	15 mins.	30 mins.	45 mins.	60 mins.
Cycling or Biking	9	188	375	563	750
Hiking	4.8	100	200	300	400
Fishing	3.5	73	146	219	292
Horseback Riding	5.5	115	229	344	458
Kayaking	5	104	208	313	417
Skating	9	188	375	563	750
Skateboarding	5	104	208	313	417
Golf	4.8	100	200	300	400
Jogging	9.8	204	408	613	817
Rock Climbing	8	167	333	500	667

How many calories does kayaking burn?

This calculator calculates how many calories are burned doing various watersport tasks. The average person would burn 476 calories (weighing 200 pounds) an hour kayaking at a moderate effort. An individual of average weight will burn the same calories rowing, canoeing, or whitewater rafting at the same intensity, and the same person will burn 1193 calories (about 95 minutes of running) an hour doing the same watersports with vigorous effort.

Calories burned kayaking will vary depending on age, sex, weight, and muscle mass. This calculator will give an estimation that does not include those variables.

How to use the calculator

This calculator that calculates calories burned kayaking is easy and simple to use. It is as easy as plugging in 2 values and then getting the estimation of how many calories were burned. This is how you use the calculator.

1. Choose the unit of measurement – kilograms or pounds
2. Enter your weight and the time spent kayaking
3. Look for the specific activity you have done and the exercise intensity, whether it is kayaking at moderate effort, whitewater rafting, canoeing, or doing the same but at a high intensity with vigorous effort.
4. Hit Calculate

Once you hit calculate you should see the number of calories that were burned while kayaking.

Now that you know how to use the calculator, you should know what a MET value is, and how this calculator works.

How does the calculator work

Formula

This tool uses the MET formula for determining the calories burnt during different physical activities. Each task is given a MET value to rate the calorie expenditure.

• Total Calories burned in 1 minute = (3.5 x MET x body weight in kg)/200

MET

MET values metabolic equivalents and are values that represent your resting metabolic rate (RMR) relative to your active metabolic rate (AMR). This ratio assigns a number to many physical activities, rating its calorie expenditure based on the MET value of the task. 

A MET of 1 is the energy you expend at rest when you are not actively digesting, and is your RMR. A task with a MET of 2 burns 2 times the energy as your RMR. 

The higher the MET, the more calories are burned when doing that task.

Your muscles use 3.5 ml of oxygen per kilogram of body weight per minute. You can find out the amount of oxygen your muscles use by multiplying your weight in kilograms by 3.5. The MET formula uses this number to calculate the number of calories you burn doing a task, along with your body weight in kilograms, the MET of the task, and then you will divide those values by 200 to get the calories you burn per minute doing that task.

Examples

An individual weighing 140 pounds will burn 334 calories per hour of kayaking with moderate effort. This includes kayaking, whitewater rafting, or canoeing. The same person will burn 835 calories per hour when kayaking at a high intensity with vigorous effort.

Calories burned (per minute) = (bodyweight in kg x MET x 3.5) / 200

So, the calories burned kayaking per minute for a 140-pound individual will look like this.

(63.5kg x 5 x 3.5) / 200 = 5.565 calories burned per minute kayaking with moderate effort

To calculate calories burned in an hour of kayaking, you must multiply calories burned per minute by 60.

Calories per hour burned = 5.565 x 60

This is how a 140-pound person will burn an estimation of 335 calories per hour of kayaking with moderate effort, and 835 per hour when kayaking with vigorous effort. A 140-pound person will also have an energy expenditure of 5.565 calories every minute while kayaking.

What is kayaking?

Kayaking is using a kayak to move across the water. A kayak is a small boat that is narrow, so it only fits one person. It is propelled across the water using a double-bladed paddle. A kayak is like a canoe, and it sits low-to-the water.

Kayaking is an eco-friendly way to travel across rivers, oceans, lakes, and surf zones. It is eco-friendly because you can fish and travel without the use of a motorboat of any kind. Kayak fishing is very popular, just like whitewater kayaking. Whitewater kayaking is the most popular form of kayaking among hobbyists, and it involves going down a series of rapids ranging from different difficulty classes.

How great kayaking is as a weight-loss tool

Kayaking is a magnificent calorie-burning tool that has only a couple of drawbacks. Kayaking needs some additional equipment to do, unlike other types of cardio like jump roping, running, or playing a popular sport. Instead of a single piece of equipment, or even borrowing equipment, you must buy multiple pieces of equipment (kayak, paddle, life jacket), and then you need to drive to a specific place to use the kayak.

This might not be a worry for some people, but for others, it can be a pain to have to travel each time you want to exercise.

One of the main keys to weight loss is consistency with your fitness routine, and if you cannot do this activity you love on a consistent basis, it is not a great tool to rely on for your weight loss but is a great aid to burn extra calories.

Kayaking does burn a decent number of calories. It burns as many calories for the average person as 2 and a half snickers. So, cutting out junk food and doing exercise such as kayaking will be a significant help to your fat loss.  Any exercise is recommended for weight loss because burning calories should be the goal of an individual with fitness goals that relate to fat loss.

Kayaking burns calories just like any other exercise.

Kayaking is not only good at burning calories, but it is also good at building muscle, but should not be relied on for the purpose of building muscle. Kayaking will take a while to get your muscles used to when just starting, but after you get past the endurance curve of using a double-bladed paddle over and over it should be a breeze.

It is a great arm workout and uses strong core muscles and shoulder muscles to be good at. It is a complete upper body workout that works multiple muscle groups. It also puts you in a position to not make mistakes, which makes you work harder. This is because if you tip the kayak over because of a mistake, you will have to swim and turn the boat back over whilst in the water.

Conclusion

Kayaking is a great exercise to lose weight and burn calories while getting a great upper body workout. Kayaking can sculpt the upper body when paired with a good diet. It takes some purchases and transportation to get to do it, but if you enjoy it is worth it.

Kayaking burns an estimation of 477 calories an hour kayaking at a moderate effort. The average person will burn the same number of calories rowing, canoeing, or whitewater rafting at the same intensity because those water sports use the same muscle groups. The average person will burn more than double that amount if kayaking with vigorous effort. The more effort that is put into exercise, the more calories a person will burn no matter what.

So, if you want to lose weight properly and healthily while building muscle, make sure you eat a diet that puts you in a caloric deficit, exercise daily and use your exercise routine as a tool to be in a deficit, and be consistent with it. You must eat 200-500 fewer calories than you normally do to be in a caloric deficit. Having a workout routine, a good diet and consistency is all you need.

With those simple guidelines, you are on your way to living a healthier life and looking better than you have ever been. Using this calculator, you can calculate the number of calories you burn, having practice counting how many calories you consume and how many calories you burn will jumpstart your progress! 

References:

1. Kayaking,  Wikipedia, retrieved January 28, 2022
2. Jetté, M.; Sidney, K.; Blümchen, G. (1990-08). Metabolic equivalents (METS) in exercise testing, exercise prescription, and evaluation of functional capacity. Clinical Cardiology. 13 (8): 555–565. doi:10.1002/clc.4960130809.

Additional References:

1. Compendium of physical activities: Arizona State University
2. WHO global recommendations on physical activity for health (updated): https://www.who.int

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