The average person will burn 80-100 calories for each 20 minute game of bowling. The number of calories burned from bowling depends on your weight and the amount of time you bowl.
Calculator
How many calories does bowling burn?
Formula
Calories burned per minute = (MET x Body Weight in KG x 3.5) ÷ 200
MET (Metabolic Equivalent Task) is a measurement of an activity’s energy cost.
A task with a MET of 1 is a person’s energy expenditure from sitting still at room temperature not actively digesting food. A MET of 2 is an activity that uses twice the energy as a MET of 1. A MET of 10 is an activity that uses 10 times the energy as a MET 1 task.
MET values “do not estimate the energy cost of physical activity in individuals in ways that account for differences in body mass, adiposity, age, sex, efficiency of movement, geographic and environmental conditions in which the activities are performed. Thus, individual differences in energy expenditure for the same activity can be large and the true energy cost for an individual may or may not be close to the stated mean MET level as presented in the Compendium.” (as quoted from the main page of the Compendium of Physical Activities).
Example
A person weighs 180 pounds (81.65kg) and bowls at an indoor alley (a task that has a MET value of 3.9) for 1 hour (60 minutes).
Calories Burned from Bowling (per minute) = (3.9 x 81.65 x 3.5) ÷ 200 = 5.57
Calories Burned from Bowling (for 60 minutes) = 5.57 x 60 = 334
Sources and External Resources
- Ainsworth BE, Haskell WL, Herrmann SD, Meckes N, Bassett Jr DR, Tudor-Locke C, Greer JL, Vezina J, Whitt-Glover MC, Leon AS. The Compendium of Physical Activities Tracking Guide. Healthy Lifestyles Research Center, College of Nursing & Health Innovation, Arizona State University. Retrieved May 11, 2015, from the World Wide Web.
- https://sites.google.com/site/compendiumofphysicalactivities/
- Arizona State University Healthy Lifestyles Research Center – Compendium of Physical Activities – Sports – Provides MET values for sport activities, including bowling.
- Learn about “MET” and the compendium of physical activities from Arizona State University, University or South Carolina, and Wikipedia. There is a summary of general physical activities defined by intensity from the CDC and the Harvard School of Public Health.
- Recommendations on physical activity for health from the Harvard School of Public Health and the WHO.
- Find out the health benefits of bowling with “What Types of Physical Benefits Can Be Obtained From Bowling?” by Liza Blau of AZ Central, “Bowling may be a sport, but is it work?” by Marla Krause of the Chicago Tribune, and “Health Benefits of Bowling” by Bowling for Beginners.
- Learn to bowl with “Basic Bowling Techniques (Part 1)” by YouTube’s StormBowling, Reddit’s r/bowling forum, “Bowling for Dummies Cheat Sheet” by A.J. Forrest and Lisa Iannucci of Dummies.com.
- Get better at bowling with tips from “Norm Duke – Learn to bowl competitively: Lessons from the legend” on YouTube, “How to Bowl a Strike” by Brett of The Art of Manliness, and “Rick Benoit’s Expert Bowling Tips – Timing” on BowlingFans.com.