Alongside the sheer fun, adrenaline fuel, and all-round social aspect of playing squash, this ball sport is one which burns an abundance of calories in the process!
If you’re keen on finding out just how well this sport is serving you, here we look at why it’s so popular with those players keeping a close check on their calorie intake.
Squash Is a High-Intensity Sport
Squash is undeniably the more faster moving and intensive of all games, particularly those ball sports. Therefore, it’s an excellent work-out performance all in one.
Here you use every muscle in your body and every part including legs, arms core, and your butt. This is why those new to the sport often find themselves aching with pain in places they never even knew existed for a few days after they first play it!
Yet, because of this intensity, the body can burn so much more calories than standard ball sports such as that of tennis and badminton, for example. So, it’s therefore favoured greatly by those who like to keep their calorie count down.
The Many Health Benefits of Playing Squash
- Keeps your heart healthy
- Keeps your circulatory system healthy
- Tones those legs
- Builds a fantastic muscle definition
- Tones the butt area
- Improves your core area
- Increases your strength
- Increases your sense of balance
- Makes you more agile
- Enhances your hand-eye co-ordination
- Offers an improved concentration span
- Reduces your stress levels
- Burns calories – and for many that makes it the ultimate in activities!
The Calories You Can Expect to Burn by Playing Squash
So, when it comes down to those all-important numbers, squash experts suggest you can burn up to around as much as 800 calories per session!
However, this figure will vary and depend on a few concepts. This includes the intensity of your squash session and indeed the time you play the game for. Added to this, your current weight will also play a part in the exact number of calories you’ll lose each session.
Yet as a guide, if you play squash for around the 30-minute mark, you can expect to lose around 400 plus calories. However, if your session is for a full-on hour of high intense squash play, you could be looking at burning 800 calories or even more.
Some players claim their high intensity hourly long squash sessions can, in fact, burn up to as much as 1000 plus calories per session!
The game of squash can produce such calorie-burning figures primarily because of its ability to get your heart working at around 80% of its maximum rate throughout this game. Therefore, with the constant sprinting and reduced downtime between your squash rallies, there’s no reason why you can’t expect to burn 800 calories or more by playing squash!
How the Body Can Burn so Many Calories During Squash
Now you know how many calories you could potentially burn playing this fantastic ball sport, you may be wondering just how this process works? The simple answer lies in the anaerobic endurance that squash demands.
Anaerobic endurance refers to any activity type that encourages the body to sustain those more intense but ultimately shorter durations of activity.
This means maximum effort from your body, but in doing so, the demands for oxygen and fuel will exceed the rate they are being supplied. This means your muscles have no choice other than to tap into this stored reserve of fuel to keep your body functioning.
In time, this reliance on such energy sources for fuel works to build muscle endurance, while ultimately allowing you to lose more calories per session.
