Water polo is an Olympic-level sport that combines periods of fast-paced swimming with periods of treading water, along with periodically sparring over the ball and even throwing the ball. All these different activities combine to make water polo a more effective way of burning calories than swimming, with one notable exception.
Water Polo
A 130-pound person playing water polo for an hour will burn 590 calories, while a 155-pound person will burn 704 calories and a 180-pound person will burn 817 calories in that same period of time. However, this is a baseline statistic. Different players in water polo occupy different positions in the pool. A goalie largely remains near the goal and spends more time treading water than an offensive player who alternates between treading water and swimming -- typically freestyle -- as he brings the ball toward the opponent's goal.
Butterfly
Butterfly -- one of the four strokes used in competitive swimming -- is the only stroke that burns more calories than water polo. A 130-pound swimmer doing the butterfly for an hour burns 649 calories; a 155-pound swimmer burns 774 calories in an hour and a 180-pound swimmer burns 899 calories. This is an average measurement, however. An experience swimmer with good technique is more efficient and, hence, burns fewer calories doing the butterfly than someone who struggles more to do the stroke. Additionally, butterfly is one of the most difficult competitive strokes to perform, particularly for long periods of time, so it may be difficult to sustain the stroke for an hour.
Freestyle, Backstroke and Breaststroke
When done at a fast pace, freestyle -- sometimes called front crawl -- burns just as many calories in an hour as water polo. Slow down your pace, however, and you'll also slow down your calorie burn enough that it drops below the baseline calorie-burn for water polo. Swimming freestyle fast burns 590 calories an hour in a 130-pound person, but a slow-paced swim burns only 413 in that same period of time. Breaststroke also burns 590 calories an hour in a 130-pound individual, on par with the number of calories burned doing an hour's worth of water polo.
Backstroke, the last of the four competition strokes, burns just 413 calories an hour, significantly less than 60 minutes of water polo.
Treading Water
Treading water is a key component of water polo, especially for a goalie. Vigorously treading water for an hour burns 590 calories in a 130-pound person. Reduce the intensity, however, and that same person burns just 236 calories in an hour.
Member Comments