How much energy are you really burning when you hit the tennis court, go for a hike, or spend the afternoon gardening? To find out, we crunched the numbers on a wide range of sports and everyday activities to see how they stack up when it comes to calorie burn.
We used Bupa’s calorie calculator to work out how many calories you burn while doing different sports or activities. We measured across three weight brackets: 70kg, 85kg and 100kg, comparing the calories burned for 60 minutes of activity in a variety of sports (or leisure pursuits), from fell running to horse riding and golf to gardening.
Boxing in a ring burns the most calories of any activity we looked at – but it’s not exactly the most accessible sport. After all, how many competitive boxing matches can you squeeze into a typical week?
While an hour of in-ring boxing burns 896 calories (for a 70kg person), other more accessible forms of boxing don’t come close. Boxing fitness classes burn around 466 kcal, and hitting a punching bag burns approximately 385 kcal.
Beyond boxing, running comes out on top for overall calorie burn, with 686 kcal burned per hour at a moderate pace of 6mph (9.65km/h) for a 70kg person.
Other high-calorie-burning activities include fell running (find best trail running shoes here), skiing (find best places in the UK to ski here), horse riding (jumping) (find the best UK bridleways here), mountain biking, cycling, climbing and bouldering, and tennis.
Meanwhile, walking, hiking, gardening, and surfing (find best UK surfing beaches here) offer moderate calorie burns – perfect for lighter, low-impact activity.
| Activity | 70kg | 85kg | 100kg |
|---|---|---|---|
| Surfing or body boarding | 210 kcals | 255 kcals | 300 kcals |
| Gardening | 266 kcals | 323 kcals | 400 kcals |
| Walking with a pushchair | 280 kcals | 340 kcals | 400 kcals |
| Circuit training | 301 kcals | 366 kcals | 430 kcals |
| Golf | 336 kcals | 408 kcals | 480 kcals |
| Hiking | 371 kcals | 451 kcals | 530 kcals |
| Swimming (front crawl) | 406 kcals | 493 kcals | 580 kcals |
| Hill and mountain walking | 441 kcals | 536 kcals | 630 kcals |
| Tennis (singles) | 511 kcals | 612 kcals | 730 kcals |
| Climbing and bouldering | 525 kcals | 638 kcals | 750 kcals |
| Cycling (moderate) | 560 kcals | 680 kcals | 800 kcals |
| Mountain biking | 595 kcals | 723 kcals | 850 kcals |
| Horse riding (jumping) | 630 kcals | 765 kcals | 900 kcals |
| Skiing | 630 kcals | 720 kcals | 900 kcals |
| Fell running | 651 kcals | 791 kcals | 930 kcals |
| Running (6mph) | 686 kcals | 833 kcals | 980 kcals |
| Boxing (in ring) | 896 kcals | 1024 kcals | 1280 kcals |
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Top image credit: Getty Images
