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How many calories do you really burn skiing?

Nick

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Its a new year and with a new year comes a renewed effort to shed some pounds. I was 183 back in September but the holidays crept me back up to 188. I'd like to shoot for 178 now, so 10 lb.

I started my strict diet regimen again and my wife said I will probably blow it out with eating and drinking at the summit. To which I replied, at least I'm burning calories skiing. She told me I wasn't. And I used to always say how skiing wasn't all that difficult (cardiovascularly) compared to, say, running or biking. Itnoa anaerobic and you do sweat but then you get frequent 10 - 20 min breaks on the lift.

I'm sure its also a factor of the terrain you ski, how fast you ski, etc., but in general, how many calories do you think are burned during alpine skiing? Some apps say crazy numbers like 700 calories per hour. That seems high to me... I have to run 5 miles for the same amount.

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Riverskier

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I have no idea of the actual answer, but I know you burn a ton of calories being active outdoors in really cold weather. I read something to the effect that you need like 4000-5000 calories a day backpacking in the winter.
 

soposkier

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Not really versed in how many calories are burned an hour for any exercise, but Id believe the 700 per hour of real skiing time (excluding lifts). Maybe not on groomed terrain, but id say skiing ungroomed/woods all day is as good of a workout as anything.
 

drjeff

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Its a new year and with a new year comes a renewed effort to shed some pounds. I was 183 back in September but the holidays crept me back up to 188. I'd like to shoot for 178 now, so 10 lb.

I started my strict diet regimen again and my wife said I will probably blow it out with eating and drinking at the summit. To which I replied, at least I'm burning calories skiing. She told me I wasn't. And I used to always say how skiing wasn't all that difficult (cardiovascularly) compared to, say, running or biking. Itnoa anaerobic and you do sweat but then you get frequent 10 - 20 min breaks on the lift.

I'm sure its also a factor of the terrain you ski, how fast you ski, etc., but in general, how many calories do you think are burned during alpine skiing? Some apps say crazy numbers like 700 calories per hour. That seems high to me... I have to run 5 miles for the same amount.

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I could see 700 per hour IF one is skiing hard in bumps/trees/deep powder and getting atleast 30 min per hour of that intensity skiing in. Maybe of you're earning your turns too that number could be higher also depending on how much climbing and resting you're doing. But my guess is that the folks who might be burning 700 per hour are by far and away the minority of folks on the hill on any given day. But compared to the CONSISTANT level of exertion that my treadmill or my bike trainer tells me that it takes to burn 700 calories, I know that I rarely have an hour like that when I'm on the hill, let alone an entire day on the hill with that consistant a level of physical output.

For me, I'm about 99% sure that if I'm doing a bit of apres :beer: that my caloric intake for that day will more than likely exceed my caloric output (a few pints of 7-11% beers, which is what I tend to have if i'm going to have a few on that day) add up the calories pretty quick.

I will say that solid food wise, I've definately gone towards the lighter and healthier and smaller meal choices that tend to be popping up in more and more ski area cafeteria's and restaurants these days. That small cup of turkey chilli or a turkey wrap sandwich is far more likely to be infront of me these days than that cheeseburger and fries. But I'd be dreaming if I thought that day in and day out that my downhill skiing caloric burn ends up with me burning off more than I injest :(
 

Mpdsnowman

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I would also think there would be a wide range based on peoples metabolism rates. Everyone burns different....I have the worst eating habits of anyone I know personally but I tend to burn it off quick...
 

Cannonball

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Not really versed in how many calories are burned an hour for any exercise, but Id believe the 700 per hour of real skiing time (excluding lifts). Maybe not on groomed terrain, but id say skiing ungroomed/woods all day is as good of a workout as anything.

This. That is one of the reasons the AlpineReplay app is useful. It automatically calculates your lift time versus your active ski time versus your rest time. Other sports tracking apps perceive that you are active while riding the lift. You probably actively ski ~1/3 of the total time you are out on the hill (+/- how hard you go and not including breaks). That probably puts you closer to ~300kcal/hr ballpark if going hard for all your turns.

Nordic and AT on the other hand, off the charts! Easily 800kcal/hr when cruising along and >1,200 on climbs.
 

SKIQUATTRO

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i wore a Polar HR monitor one day spring skiing bumps at Sbush.....3800 calories burned
 

Powderqueen

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Its a new year and with a new year comes a renewed effort to shed some pounds. I was 183 back in September but the holidays crept me back up to 188. I'd like to shoot for 178 now, so 10 lb.

I started my strict diet regimen again and my wife said I will probably blow it out with eating and drinking at the summit. To which I replied, at least I'm burning calories skiing. She told me I wasn't. And I used to always say how skiing wasn't all that difficult (cardiovascularly) compared to, say, running or biking. Itnoa anaerobic and you do sweat but then you get frequent 10 - 20 min breaks on the lift.

I'm sure its also a factor of the terrain you ski, how fast you ski, etc., but in general, how many calories do you think are burned during alpine skiing? Some apps say crazy numbers like 700 calories per hour. That seems high to me... I have to run 5 miles for the same amount.

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You burn a good amount being out in the cold and skiing. If you eat a normal diet and reduce the amount of fat and sugar, you will lose weight skiing. I have taken off a couple of pounds skiing the last week, so I must be burning more than I'm eating. I don't like to eat a lot while skiing because it slows me down. I usually just eat a PBJ and a piece of fruit, maybe some corn chips and a cup of coffee. I'll have an energy bar while skiing if I get hungry. Apres ski I'll have a couple of beers and maybe a few chicken wings (they are 200 fat cals each! so don't eat a dozen...share a dozen with a few friends). Have steak, salad and potato for dinner and share a dessert and you'll be fine.
 

bdfreetuna

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I don't know about calories burned..

But I have the metabolism of a jackrabbit. Prior to ski season I was probably around 155lb, due to limited amounts of exercise in the summer.

Now I'm 167lb and 90% of that new weight is muscle. This is an all time high for me.. never been over 165 before. I was actually shooting for 165lbs but seems like I'm off to a better start than expected so maybe I'll shoot for 175lbs by the end of the season. And try to keep it on by mountain biking more in the summer.
 

Cheese

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Its a new year and with a new year comes a renewed effort to shed some pounds. I was 183 back in September but the holidays crept me back up to 188. I'd like to shoot for 178 now, so 10 lb.

I started my strict diet regimen again and my wife said I will probably blow it out with eating and drinking at the summit. To which I replied, at least I'm burning calories skiing. She told me I wasn't. And I used to always say how skiing wasn't all that difficult (cardiovascularly) compared to, say, running or biking. Itnoa anaerobic and you do sweat but then you get frequent 10 - 20 min breaks on the lift.

I'm sure its also a factor of the terrain you ski, how fast you ski, etc., but in general, how many calories do you think are burned during alpine skiing? Some apps say crazy numbers like 700 calories per hour. That seems high to me... I have to run 5 miles for the same amount.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

Simply put, concentrate on calories in (log, count and reduce). Calories out always varies so it's a poor way to plan a weight maintenance or reduction diet. If you ever get too light, putting on a couple pounds is easy. Compared to banking on a constant exercise level then missing a few ski days or workouts, you'll be far more successful at losing the weight and keeping it off for years if you only worry about how many calories you eat. Burning them off is just a bonus.
 

Cannonball

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Simply put, concentrate on calories in (log, count and reduce). Calories out always varies so it's a poor way to plan a weight maintenance or reduction diet. If you ever get too light, putting on a couple pounds is easy. Compared to banking on a constant exercise level then missing a few ski days or workouts, you'll be far more successful at losing the weight and keeping it off for years if you only worry about how many calories you eat. Burning them off is just a bonus.

Yes and no. I hear what you are saying but you alsoreally need to fuel your activities. If you are burning 400-700/hr or 3,000/day you need to re-fuel that get the most out of your skiing, health, and fitness. Massive calorie deficits while doing something active will make you under-perform and actually won't help with long term weight loss or maintenance.
 

BackLoafRiver

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I'm actually really glad this came up...I was wondering the same thing. I've seen numbers tossed around from 400 - 700/ hour. That seemed low to me and I figured that didn't take into account chair time. I also downloaded the Alpine replay app. I hope it works.

As an aside, the calorie in vs calorie out thing kills me....after 6 + hours on the hill, I am starving. A cliff bar doesn't cut it and I need real sustenance so I end up binging. Not good. I don't want to take a break for lunch, especially if the skiing is prime like it is now. I need to figure out some kind of balance.
 

Cheese

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I'm actually really glad this came up...I was wondering the same thing. I've seen numbers tossed around from 400 - 700/ hour. That seemed low to me and I figured that didn't take into account chair time. I also downloaded the Alpine replay app. I hope it works.

As an aside, the calorie in vs calorie out thing kills me....after 6 + hours on the hill, I am starving. A cliff bar doesn't cut it and I need real sustenance so I end up binging. Not good. I don't want to take a break for lunch, especially if the skiing is prime like it is now. I need to figure out some kind of balance.

I'm going to go out on a limb here and assume that your binge wasn't greater than 3K calories. So, if you believe the calories burned numbers in this thread, you're fine.

However, if you want to truly maintain energy while controlling weight, consider better planning and a stronger mental control over eating.

Planning: Breakfast when leaving home, a Clif bar at 10am on the chair, a brown bag lunch (known calorie quantity vs. a calorie guess at what came out of the cafeteria), a fruit and nut trail mix at 2pm and a normal sized dinner later. The Clif bar and trail mix should provide a 500 calorie boost for the day. Between three meals per day, two extra snacks, dipping into some fat stores in your body (assuming you're above single digit percentage body fat) and plenty of water, your body should perform just fine for the day.

Mental control: Both the additional snacks are for energy between main meals. Snacks WILL NOT fill your stomach even though they have curbed hunger. Mentally you have to learn the difference between hungry and full so that you don't over snack to the full point. Eat the snack, believe that you are no longer hungry and don't let a non-full feeling trick you into believing you're still hungry.

The 500 calorie boost in the snacks I mentioned works just fine for me during the ski season. There is no way I could increase my calories by 3K per ski day and maintain my weight just because I'm skiing. No way! More often any temporary weight loss I notice after skiing is due to dehydration and those pounds creep right back up mid-week.
 

BenedictGomez

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As someone who literally and not figuratively counts calories on a daily basis, I agree with those who claim there's no way in hell skiing burns 700 calories per hour.

And not to depress people further, but when you see those calorie burn charts you need to know whether they're including normal metabolic burn in that activity or not, or the chart is de facto useless (i.e. people burn calores while sitting on the couch mouth breathing and watching Dancing With The Stars).
 

ScottySkis

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Probably some but then when I use be in safety meeting I would put on more calories then what ever I took off.:)
 

Nick

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i wore a Polar HR monitor one day spring skiing bumps at Sbush.....3800 calories burned

See to me that just seems insane.

I ran the Boston Marathon and burned 3900 calories, also according to a HRM. How the hell can skiing a single day match up with running a marathon?
 

Nick

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As someone who literally and not figuratively counts calories on a daily basis, I agree with those who claim there's no way in hell skiing burns 700 calories per hour.

And not to depress people further, but when you see those calorie burn charts you need to know whether they're including normal metabolic burn in that activity or not, or the chart is de facto useless (i.e. people burn calores while sitting on the couch mouth breathing and watching Dancing With The Stars).

Right. That's your 2000 calories per day you need to stay the same. Mouth-breathing calories :lol:
 
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