The average person will burn between 150 to 550 calories per hour fishing. Lighter intensity fishing such as fishing from a boat will burn fewer calories, and more fishing in a stream with waders will burn more calories.
The number of calories burned fishing will depend on your weight and the intensity of the fishing. A 200-pound (90.8kg) person burns 191 calories per hour fishing from a boat, 382 calories per hour catching fish with their hands, and 573 fishing in a river with waders. A 150-pound (68kg) person burns 143, 286, and 430 calories per hour doing the same tasks.
Calculator
How many calories are burned fishing?
Formula
Calories burned per minute = (MET x body weight in Kg x 3.5) ÷ 200
“MET” is a measurement of the energy cost of physical activity for a period of time. You can find an activity’s MET on the chart above.
A task with a MET of 1 is roughly equal to a person’s energy expenditure from sitting still at room temperature not actively digesting food.
A task with a MET of 2 uses twice as much energy as a task with a MET of 1. A task with a MET of 10 uses 10 times as much energy as a task with a MET of 1.
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 fishes from a river bank (standing) (a task that has a MET value of 3.5) for 1 hour (60 minutes).
Calories Burned from fishing from a river bank (per minute) = (3.5 x 81.65 x 3.5) ÷ 200 = 5.00
Calories Burned from fishing from a river bank (for 60 minutes) = 5.00 x 60 = 300
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 – Occupation – Provides MET values for occupational activities, including fishing.
- 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.
- Learn about the health benefits of fishing with “How fishing makes you a better person (according to science) by Abigail Wise of the Huffington Post, “Health Benefits of Fishing (Infographic) by Bass Pro Shops”, and “Identifying the health and well-being benefits of recreational fishing” by McManus, Hunt, and White.