How Many Calories Burned Playing Soccer?

After a 4 year wait the soccer world cup is finally back on out TV screens.

The 2014 world cup which was held in Brazil had a global TV audience of a staggering 3.2 billion with 1 billion watching the final between Argentina and Germany with Germany winning a tightly contested match 1-0.

This time round the most prestigious sporting tournament is taking place in Russia showcasing some of the highest paid sports stars in the world battling it out on the field.

 

What exactly does it take though to compete at the highest level?

 

When your playing soccer at the pinnacle of the sport you have to clearly have great technical ability and ball mastery to be able to control and dribble the ball along with vision and intelligence to read the game and all done under immense pressure.

Also physically, these players are some of the fitness athletes on the planet with a wide array of attributes not found in many other sports.

 

What physical attributes does a world-class soccer player have?

 

• Agility/Balance/coordination – Zigging, zagging, changing direction, jumping and turning at a fast pace.
• Speed – Accelerating and sprinting in a straight line or in multiple directions with or without a ball at the feet.
• Power and strength – Being able to win the ball in a tackle on the feet or in the air.
• Stamina – A soccer player needs to have great aerobic capacity to last the 90 min match and needs to be equally as good anaerobically to be able to sprint and recover throughout the match.

 

 

As you can see, playing soccer can be extremely physically demanding and is a great way to improve your physical fitness and get into shape.

A recent study by the University of Copenhagen compared the effects of 2-3 weekly rounds of soccer practice with 2-3 times a week of jogging for a period of 3 months.

The results from the soccer group showed that:

“their percentage of fat went down, the total mass of muscle went up, their blood pressure fell and their fitness ratings improved significantly”.

The soccer players after 12 weeks had lost 3.5kilos (7.7 pounds) and the joggers had lost 2 kilos (4.4 pounds).

Interestingly the soccer group had gained 2 kilos (4.4 pounds) of lean muscle mass where’s the joggers had gained none.

This was due to the explosive high intensity nature of the sport as opposed to the steady state low impact movement of jogging.

 

How many calories are burned playing soccer?

 

 

 

On average a professional soccer player will cover about 6 miles during a 90 minute match made up of walking, jumping, jogging and sprinting.

The amount of calories burned can vary depending on many conditions such as position played, weight of player, weather conditions etc., but on average a competitive soccer player will burn over 600 calories an hour and up to 1000 calories over a 90 minute match!

Apart from being a great form of exercise, playing soccer is a lot of fun.

Unlike going for a long jog on your own or working out in the gym, you play soccer as part of a team which is more motivating and results in great deal of camaraderie.

If you fancy yourself as a bit of a Messi or Ronaldo and your a bit competitive with it, you will get tremendous workout which will tax your body in many ways.

Soccer is fun and effective way to exercise and as demonstrated by the previously referenced study, will burn a massive amount of calories,  help you lose weight and even add muscle mass with 2-3 sessions a week.