Disc golf as exercise

[GLong]

can you cite the source? I would like to see that as well, it does seem a little high.

And there's no way that running a mile only burns 100 calories ... gotta be more than that

 

[notBOB]

i used to play hockey and disc served as my cool down/relaxing exercise. now that my college hockey career is over, ive switched to disc full time, though i still bike like a maniac. thus i think i would be able to sprint the whole round as im still in good shape with a really fast metabolism. the only problem would be sprinting with beers in my hand

 

[CrshNburnd]

I've read that on average for a hour and a half game you should burn anywhere between 800-1100 calories. I'm sure it's different for everyone and I'm sure you obviously burn more on the hilly courses. Compared to other exercise that's pretty good. They say that for every mile you run you should burn about 100 calories so...run miles or play disc golf?

I definitely agree that disc golf is a great workout, but I'm rather skeptical that a round would burn off the majority of your daily caloric intake. I usually bring a couple snacks (oranges, Clif bars) in order to keep the balance. The number you're talking about would require almost two full meals to counteract. As much as I'd love to believe that's true, that number just seems a bit exaggerated.

 

[jhgonzo]

it certainly is exercise. if you want it to be.

I dropped over 100 lbs. and 12' on my pants size.

Twelve feet?! Sheesh, you must've been gargantuan!

 

[DavidSauls]

Twelve feet?! Sheesh, you must've been gargantuan!

Not to mention full of styrofoam.....

12 feet, only 100 pounds?

 

[BrotherDave]

I've started doing squats and lunges to pick up my discs during putter practice, little things like that make a difference. My legs are starting to tone up pretty quickly since I keep missing the basket.

 

[garublador]

I definitely agree that disc golf is a great workout, but I'm rather skeptical that a round would burn off the majority of your daily caloric intake. I usually bring a couple snacks (oranges, Clif bars) in order to keep the balance. The number you're talking about would require almost two full meals to counteract. As much as I'd love to believe that's true, that number just seems a bit exaggerated.

I don't believe that 800-1000 calorie number, either. I'd guess that the 200-400 number is quite a bit more accurate.

100 calories per mile of running seems close to me. I'd believe 150, too, but it probably depends a lot on how much you weigh, how good you are at running and how fast you go.

The problem is that most of the accurate information we see about calories is how much we're eating when we eat packaged food. Having to run 2 miles to run off a can of pop seems ridiculous, but it's probably pretty accurate. It's a good illustration of how important diet is when you're trying to lose weight. It's easy to cut 500 calories out of a poor diet but takes a lot of work to burn an extra 500 calories by adding exercise.

 

[scarpfish]

I've read that on average for a hour and a half game you should burn anywhere between 800-1100 calories.

They say that for every mile you run you should burn about 100 calories so...run miles or play disc golf?

The contradictory nature of these two statements make me call bunk. Considering most disc golf courses are 2 miles or less in length (even with the between hole walks and almost assured zig-zagging figured in) and considering that most players aren't running/jogging on them, the numbers simply do not compute.

I did five rounds on Tuesday. I took the added distance of the five rounds, tacked on an extra mile to account for between hole walks and zig zags (likely a gross under count) and it came to 37,527 feet (7.1 miles). These were almost completely flat courses but even using a mere 400 calories per round, that would have amounted to 2000 calories burned. So you're telling me that a runner, doing considerably more strenuous activity covering that same distance is only going to burn 710 calories?

 

[GLong]

Twelve feet?! Sheesh, you must've been gargantuan!

:doh::doh::doh:

forgot to hit the shift key :thmbup:

 

[Chiefstang]

My buddy always makes fun of me for telling him I'm sore after playing all day. I have a pretty heavy bag, and after a 54 hole day of carrying that and throwing, I'm beat. Especially in the winter.

Unfortunately I'm dealing with the bad part of that as well, as my knees are getting pissy, and I have a small tear in the muscle on the back of my shoulder that refuses to get better.

<sigh> Gettin' old...

 

[Jeffrey2636]

There are many factors involved in figuring calories burned during the activity. How aerobic is the round? What is your heart rate throughout the round? Current weight etc..

A normal walking round of disc golf based on a 90 minute round, would typically burn 700 calories.

Running the same round at an average pace of 5MPH would get you to about 975 calories burned.

If you added sprints to each disc, your calories burned would rise considerably due to the anaerobic threshold you would achieve in intervals. Now your talking about 1100-1200 calories burned. This would be similar to playing a full length soccer game which involves casual running, short sprints and recovery rests.

 

[jongoff09]

I don't believe that 800-1000 calorie number, either. I'd guess that the 200-400 number is quite a bit more accurate.

100 calories per mile of running seems close to me. I'd believe 150, too, but it probably depends a lot on how much you weigh, how good you are at running and how fast you go.

The problem is that most of the accurate information we see about calories is how much we're eating when we eat packaged food. Having to run 2 miles to run off a can of pop seems ridiculous, but it's probably pretty accurate. It's a good illustration of how important diet is when you're trying to lose weight. It's easy to cut 500 calories out of a poor diet but takes a lot of work to burn an extra 500 calories by adding exercise.

I agree with all of this^. I am a runner and I weigh 130 lbs. When I am running at a quick pace, I think I still barely burn 150 calories per mile. Usually, at a normal pace, I will probably burn right at 100 calories per mile.

I don't know what it means as far as calories burned, but I am more tired after 3 miles of running than I am after one round of DG.

 

[BrotherDave]

If this fitness diary website is accurate, then a 230 lb man playing frisbee and hiking hills with a < 10 lb load for 2 hours would burn 2107 calories.

 

[Connor Jones]

If this fitness diary website is accurate, then a 230 lb man playing frisbee and hiking hills with a < 10 lb load for 2 hours would burn 2107 calories.

If that is accurate,I would have lost so much weight by now,cause I know my caloric intake daily can not be that insane

 

[sloppydisc]

I was more tired after standing in a boat and fishing all day a few weeks ago than I typically get from DG. So I vote for no it is not exercise. Sure, there is some benefit, but unless you are obese, or really out of shape it shouldn't crush you to play a few rounds. Plus most people I have played with don't exactly sprint around the course. It is usually a pretty slow paced game. No aerobic benefit at all in that situation. Now, someone could play speed rounds or hilly courses and turn it into some real exercise.

If that level of playing burns the calories mentioned above, I'd weigh about 32 lbs. And our man Donavan would have lost about 40 lbs in one day when he did his most holes in 24 hours attempt.

 

[drickanderson]

I think the temperature really changes things too. Playing 18 holes in 80 degree weather is a lot different than playing 18 in 110, which we do all summer here.

 

[jongoff09]

can you cite the source? I would like to see that as well, it does seem a little high.

And there's no way that running a mile only burns 100 calories ... gotta be more than that

you can use the website that BroD linked to find that running a mile only burns about 100-150 calories. For me, I put in 130 lbs, running at 8.6mph (7min/mile pace), and put in 7 min for "how long" and got 96 calories.

After thinking about it, what I and probably a lot of others don't think about is how long it takes to run a mile vs. how long it takes to play a round of DG. A prolonged workout can trump shorter workouts of any intensity. I would actually not be surprised to see that DG burns much more calories than running a mile.

 

[garublador]

If this fitness diary website is accurate, then a 230 lb man playing frisbee and hiking hills with a < 10 lb load for 2 hours would burn 2107 calories.

Are you adding up two activities when you do it that way? If you are then you're adding in the number of calories he'd burn just by living, standing and walking twice.

According to that site a 230 pound man would burn 1670 calories by doing vigorous calisthenics for two hours which I'd assume is a lot more than what you'd burn from disc golf. He'd also burn 417 calories by sitting and playing classical guitar for 2 hours. I wouldn't call that exercise, though.

I guess the real question is whether we're talking about number of total calories burned or the number of extra calories burned vs. sitting around.

 

[JoshEpoo]

Disc golf is only going to improve the fitness level of people who are in pretty bad shape. Going out and not eating for 2 or 3 hours while walking a few miles is drastically better than watching TV while binging on cupcakes and soda but it's not vigorous physical activity. Having a hobby that requires physical activity is important and probably becoming increasingly rare. To that end, disc golf is great, but it won't get you ready for a triathlon.

I've done some 1 disc running rounds at Acorn in about 20 minutes but it's not something I do often. There are tons of little stumps and roots and mudslides and whatnot in the woods around here and I already stub my toes enough just walking around.

 

[rshrevo]

I once saw a guy run on a course near me. I think he is nuts. If i saw him run any other course in the area i wouldn't think that as much. The reason i thought he was nuts to run this course was because of the vast majority of the hills on this course. The course is Johnson Park in Walker Michigan. the first couple holes are flat. that would be ok. 4 starts to go uphill. 5 tees off from the top of the hill and the post for it is on the top of a second hill. between the two hills is a steep down and upslope. 6 you go back down and a little bit up. 7 you go back to the top of the hill that 5 is on. I get exhuasted just walking this course while playing because of the steepness of the hills and the constant going up and down these hills. 18 is great though it is like 450 feet all downhill but i don't think that i would ever run this course.