When you are scuba diving you may have asked yourself, how many calories do I burn while scuba diving? Well, hopefully, we can help to answer the question. There are a number of factors that can affect the number of calories you burn. So how many calories do you burn when scuba diving?
Scuba diving is a low-impact activity but is energy-consuming. Scuba divers can burn from 300 to 600 calories with dive assuming the dive is near 1 hour but there are factors such as the current, fitness level, water temperature, and more that can affect how many calories you burn on a dive.
In today’s post, we will go through how many calories you burn when scuba diving in more detail, so let’s get started!
Read more on common questions asked by divers
How Many Calories Do You Burn Scuba Diving?
It is estimated by PADI that the average scuba diver can burn up to between 300 to 600 calories per dive. There are a number of factors that can affect how many calories are burnt, these are as follows.
- The current – If the current is strong and working against the current you’re going to use more energy and increase your air consumption. Divers are often trained to avoid swimming against a current and to move slowly and deliberately while underwater.
- Water temperature – The colder the environment the more calories you burn.
- Shore or boat dive – If you are diving from a boat there is work to maneuver by to the boat and that is with your gear.
- Fitness level and body weight – Your level of fitness affect the calories you burn, the fitter you are the less you will burn.
- Gender – Males tend to burn a little more than females because they are normally bigger.
Is Scuba Diving A Good Workout?
Yes, scuba diving is a good workout. Scuba diving is a full-body workout, therefore, is a great way to strengthen and tone your muscles as well as a good cardio workout.
The reason that diving is such a good workout is that you have to swim through the water which increases your energy demand to overcome water resistance.
Is There Any Weight Limit For Scuba Diving?
There are not any official limits on how much scuba divers can weigh. You do need to be at a reasonable level of fitness as being overweight can take a lot of joy out of the experience.
Can You Still Scuba Dive If You Are Overweight?
Yes, overweight or obese people can scuba dive but there are factors or effects that the overweight diver should consider. The biggest issue is buoyancy as fat is buoyant. Simply muscle is heavier than water while fat is lighter than water. Also the greater the percentage of body fat you have means you will need more weight to carry on your weight belt or pockets.
The second problem is air consumption, with the extra weight added already to someone overweight, and the activity of swimming around you air consumption is going to be higher than normal. This will reduce your dive short.
There is also a higher risk of developing diving-related issues such as decompression sickness (DCS).
Wrapping Up
Finally, scuba diving may be a low-impact activity but is energy-consuming. Scuba divers can burn from 300 to 600 calories during each dive but there are factors such as the current, weather, water temperature, and more that can affect how many calories you burn on a dive.
And that’s it for now! I’d love to know if this guide on how many calories you burn when scuba diving has helped you. Let me know if you have any questions and let me know if there is more to add.
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