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How Many Calories Do You Burn When You Play Football?
Whether you're out on the field for the team or simply playing a game with the family after Thanksgiving dinner, football gets you moving. You'll burn a significant number of calories passing the ball, sprinting down the field and blocking opponents in a full-contact game. Play more tame versions of the game and burn fewer calories.
Full Contact
A 200-pound person playing full contact burns about 438 calories per 30 minutes. If you weigh less, you burn fewer calories and if you weigh more, you burn more. For example, a 150-pound player burns 328 calories and a 220-pound player burns 482 calories in the same 30 minutes.
Touch and Catch
A game of touch football burns fewer calories than full contact. In 30 minutes of play, a 200-pound person burns 396 calories, while a 150-pound person burns 297 calories. Tossing the ball around in the backyard, a 200-pound person burns 114 calories and a 150-pound person burns 86.
References
Writer Bio
Andrea Cespedes is a professionally trained chef who has focused studies in nutrition. With more than 20 years of experience in the fitness industry, she coaches cycling and running and teaches Pilates and yoga. She is an American Council on Exercise-certified personal trainer, RYT-200 and has degrees from Princeton and Columbia University.