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You are here: Home / Health & Wellness / You Should Play Basketball for Weight Loss
You Should Play Basketball for Weight Loss

You Should Play Basketball for Weight Loss

Last updated on March 31, 2018 By Adam Nolan

You can burn more than 700 calories an hour playing basketball. Unlike running on a treadmill, basketball is more of a fun activity for more people. You won’t play basketball because you want to lose weight. You most likely would play basketball because you enjoy it.

Most people do well with their fitness regimen when they enjoy what they are doing. So if you like sports, stick with your sport and watch yourself get fit. Keep in mind, though, that physical activity is just a factor in weight loss. The other equally important factor is diet.

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How can basketball make you lose weight?

Any sport is like a cardio workout. When you spend one hour sprinting, running around, dribbling, and jumping, you’re firing up your muscles and burning calories. However, for any physical activity to be an effective means to weight loss, it should be done at the right intensity and frequency. You can’t play basketball just whenever you like and expect to shed pounds just like that.

It’s actually the repetitive motions that give basketball the ability to train your cardiovascular system. Running around, passing the ball, sprinting, and jumping at the basketball hoop for an hour constitute train your heart and lungs and boost your muscular endurance just like any cardio workout. In fact, basketball can be considered high-intensity cardio workout.

Basketball trains different muscle groups.

Basketball recruits the calves, quads, and hamstrings chiefly. These are essentially the main muscle groups that power your thighs and legs. You’re able to leap, sprint, and jump because of these muscles. These muscles get toned and gain strength as you engage in basketball on a regular basis. It’s hard to find out basketball players with tiny calves.

Maintaining balance is also essential during the game. You owe much of your balance to your core muscles, the muscles that surround your midsection, basically your abdominal, side, and back muscles. They do the hard work to keep you from falling over.

Of course, throwing and receiving the ball requires well-built arm and chest muscles.

So playing basketball has some strength training components. It fires up your muscles. You’re tearing up muscle fibers during the game. Repairing these muscle fibers, which happens during rest, burns calories. This is why people who do high-intensity workout have the advantage of post-workout calorie burn, something joggers and walkers don’t get.

Weight Loss Tips with Basketball

  1. Warm-up before playing. Do dynamic stretching for 10 minutes. Jog around to increase your breathing and heart rate.
  2. Play basketball for 30-60 minutes a day. That should make you burn about 300-500 calories, depending on how intense you play.
  3. Know your limits. Beginners have muscles and joints not primed for high intensity sports and thus should be careful. Don’t overwork yourself.
  4. Move as swiftly as you can. One secret to higher calorie burns in any cardio workout is to move fast, but again not to the point of complete exhaustion and muscular strain.
  5. Cool down after your game by jogging and walking.

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