The Humana Walkit Pro was new this year and offered information about how PGA TOUR pros are staying healthy through their craft.

Humana, in partnership with IDS, a division of SMT and the PGA TOUR’s ShotLink Scoring System, tracked the number of steps taken and calories burned by every player on the course in real-time – each day of the Humana Challenge, in order to show people the immediate impact that golf – and walking – can have on their health.

3,500 calories is the rough estimate for the energy contained in a half a kilo of fat!

The total estimates:

R1 1,999,792 steps 288,772 calories 41.5 kilos!
R2 1,998,153 steps 284,698 calories 40.5 kilos!
R3 1,993,691 steps 287,211 calories 41 kilos!
R4 1,053,757 steps 146,972 calories 21 kilos!

Do you feel by playing golf, walking or riding, that it is helping you with keeping weight down or off?

Without a shadow of a doubt.

so how many calories would you say one burns walking a 6000mt course pulling a buggy? obviously ballpark figure?

so how many calories would you say one burns walking a 6000mt course pulling a buggy? obviously ballpark figure?

“I work with retards, Those goofy bastards are about the best thing I’ve got going.” – Pat Healy – “There’s Something About Mary”

In your case Hack, not as much as they drink in beer :)

Looking around our club I would suggest that golf is not great at weight loss. The beers etc. after the game well and truly counteract any benefit of walking.

Walking the course for 4.5 hours pulling a cart will burn approx. 1200 calories for an 80kg male. About the equivalent of an hour long run at around 12km/h but by the time you have a round of beers, pie for lunch, chocolate bars, sports drink etc as many do the benefit is nullified.

Depends on the length of your step I’d imagine Hacky ….... but I figure for a 6km course, if your step is say 90cm (considering you only move at walking pace, and not briskly) .......... in a straight line, theres about 6.7 km.

Then factor in the distance between holes, and of course going sideways and around the greens ….... and I reckon you wouldn’t be far short of say 8 to 9 kms in terms of distance …. or 10,000 steps (9 kms).

According to Mr Google …..... 10,000 steps equates to about 5 miles, and they say that for every mile you burn 100 calories ….... so 500 calories or thereabouts.

A pound of body fat they say, equates to about 3,500 calories, so for every pound you want to lose, it looks like 5 rounds of golf will be required.

That of course doesn’t factor in the effort of pushing a buggy.

Or taking a swing Gaz! Some of us swing very hard, not to any gain of course :)

Depends on the length of your step I’d imagine Hacky ……. but I figure for a 6km course, if your step is say 90cm (considering you only move at walking pace, and not briskly) .......... in a straight line, theres about 6.7 km.

Then factor in the distance between holes, and of course going sideways and around the greens ……. and I reckon you wouldn’t be far short of say 8 to 9 kms in terms of distance …. or 10,000 steps (9 kms).

According to Mr Google …….. 10,000 steps equates to about 5 miles, and they say that for every mile you burn 100 calories ……. so 500 calories or thereabouts.

A pound of body fat they say, equates to about 3,500 calories, so for every pound you want to lose, it looks like 5 rounds of golf will be required.

That of course doesn’t factor in the effort of pushing a buggy.

http://www.golflink.com.au/...
2012 Rotary Ambrose Champions “All Star Team” Member.
LD Champion – Growling Bog ’11, A Grade WV ’12, Bendigo ’12.
Albatross – 3rd hole Par 5 Beaconhills 19-11-2012 3W-6 iron.

Or swings and practice swings.

It has always been my understanding that the post exercise effect is where body fat is broken down to fatty acids and phosphates. Not during the activity itself. The body prefers to break down carbs (simple and complex) to fuel the body. After carbs, proteins and are next in line (includes muscle tissue), then comes consumed fat with body fat being the last to be used as operating fuel. Golf would only qualify as a fat burner (post exercise effect) if it raised the heart rate above a certain level for a minimum of 30 continuous minute. Fat is stored calories that the body failed to use as a fuel source.
The physical benefits of golf and other sports are in the movement. Movement keeps the blood (which carries nutrients) coursing through the body and the limp system flushing and removing waste products. Movement protects muscle tissue and tells the body that muscle is needed in the near future, so don’t break it down for fuel because we will need it to do this again.:-)

Looking around our club I would suggest that golf is not great at weight loss. The beers etc. after the game well and truly counteract any benefit of walking.

Walking the course for 4.5 hours pulling a cart will burn approx. 1200 calories for an 80kg male. About the equivalent of an hour long run at around 12km/h but by the time you have a round of beers, pie for lunch, chocolate bars, sports drink etc as many do the benefit is nullified.

Absolutely agree with this observation. Golf is what confirms my weight loss and management works. I do not knock back a few litres of beer, chips and nuts etc after my rounds or during them. My choice of course and I do drink in a round after a game with partners. Excess in moderation and it is all about not eating too much crap etc during the week.
PS and I cheat by taking diet supplements daily as well.

Ive also seen the report from one of the sports commissions that even riding in a buggy will have some positive impact on burning calories. As you would still be doing some of the walking. It was actually better for you than some of the major sports out there ie cricket where your standing around much of the time.

so how many calories would you say one burns walking a 6000mt course pulling a buggy? obviously ballpark figure?

“I work with retards, Those goofy bastards are about the best thing I’ve got going.” – Pat Healy – “There’s Something About Mary”

I tracked a recent round walking StAB (a bit over 6000m, plus walks between holes and a few zig-zags across some fairways), using “Runkeeper”.

Told me I burnt 958cals just through walking, covered 11.3kms in 4hrs, 27mins. This was just 1st tee to 18 green and didn’t include the monster hill climb at the end

Runkeeper is sort of dynamic enough to measure changes in elevation (to a degree) so partly accounted for all the hill climbs at StAB.

Obviously as others have said that figure doesn’t include swinging clubs, towing buggies etc etc, so I reckon I probably clicked over the 1000cals- especially factoring in the temp in the high 20’s-low 30’s and some pretty gnarly head winds at times adding to the challenge.

Also Tracked Yarra Bend & Freeway in late Dec, both similar stats- 9.2kms & 9.26kms. Both took about 4hrs 20 -30ish, burnt between 830-850 cals

This is based on my height of about 5’11 and weight of about 80kgs.

I don’t think that you are going to necessarily lose heaps of weight from golf, if you are associating it with then eating badly to refuel afterwards. However, a walk of 10km ish whenever you play is going to be a good start to an addition to a sensible plan for weight loss.

Quite the next point, the fact of taking a break from the busy life for 4.5 hours and concentrating on the relaxed focus of golf requiring a certain calmness of spirit to get through a round can be a tremendous stress-buster. I know that is where I notice the biggest difference in whether I play golf in a week or not.

mmm interesting stuff…...

I’ve gone from 117kg down to 84kg in about 4 months (no exaggeration…) since I started playing regular golf.

To be fair, I know it’s 80% diet and 20% exercise… I’m low carb and struct about it, but the golf is great for the exercise bit. I’m not a gym person, it bores me to tears walking on a treadmill etc, but golf keeps my mind active

In our recent study, we found that we were burning 1000 calories just from the walk (the distance is in some cases almost double the course yardage)
Inside Golf Walking 18 holes
We will have our full stats soon – for those of you who haven’t participated, we’d love to have your data as well.
Richard

Good job jme75!

I’ve gone from 117kg down to 84kg in about 4 months (no exaggeration…) since I started playing regular golf.

To be fair, I know it’s 80% diet and 20% exercise… I’m low carb and struct about it, but the golf is great for the exercise bit. I’m not a gym person, it bores me to tears walking on a treadmill etc, but golf keeps my mind active

Well done! Having some general movement of the body in walking will help the metabolism work much better. Slow rounds would hurt the process then if stop/start throughout the day.

The first “fuel” to be burned is the sugar in the blood…when that gets low the ability to concentrate to a high level drops off.
Next fuel to be burned is the fat in the blood, usually fairly easy to mobilise but generally takes about 30to45mins to be mobilised as a fuel.

Thus…a golfer is usually munching away on easily metabolised fuel during the round – muesli bar, nuts, fruits, sangas, pies or whatever you have. A golfer is also drinking during the round – water perhaps but very often a sports drink, soft drink, maybe beer. Unless a golfer does not eat/drink during his round, it is unlikely (maginal) that his body will get to fat-burning levels.

Thus…a golfer is usually topping up on the sugars for immediate mobilisation to help keep the concentration levels up.

In the typical round of golf we are walking fairly slowly, sometimes a bit quicker for a maximum of 200-250m at a time, then we stop and wait for a couple of minutes, walk for another 100-150m, stop and wait all over again. Not really strenuous stuff.

Thus…a basic round of golf is not going to burn much “fat”.
In addition, there is always the 19th hole – drinkies, munchies of various types/value.

I actually think the weight loss and control actually comes from any incidental exercise one might do in conjunction with the game – bit of cardio perhaps, some stretching, maybe some weights.

Nevertheless, jme75’s effort is outstanding. Keep it up ol’mate, but as you note, most of it is about diet. I know losing weight can be very satisfying (mentally) and I hope your golf is simultaneously improving, thus giving you even more satisfaction.

Cycling yep

Golf no – cardio level is too stop start..Beer n chips dont help either

By eating low carb my body has been in ketosis, so it’s finding energy in a different way- burning fat. The sugars in the blood aren’t there… or are there in such low volumes that any activity will burn fat – even sleeping I guess.

When playing golf I eat strawberries or a low carb bar – usually smash a steak or salad after the round. But I am strict – no bread, rice, potato, grains, sugars, fruits etc. (Strawberries are quite low in carbs and ‘natural’ sugars so I find them good on the course – most low carb diets allow berries.)

I guess it’s all part of trying to get to a more ‘healthy’ lifestyle. I’m slowly introducing more carbs into the diet now that my weight is within a few kg’s of where it should be…. but I think a protein based diet is best.

I often play 36 holes – all walked and do it relatively easily. In September last year I’d struggle going much past 9 holes… but I go everyday- at least 6 holes depending on work either early in the morning or late at night. It’s great… hit the ball and think about life. I play a few different courses and many people are starting to know me… they see what I am doing and you gain their respect.

I’m only new to competition, the hcp started at 10 blew out to 14 and is now back at 12. The amount of golf, walking etc definately hurt my game in the short-term. My left side was often sore… I guess that stays strong in the golf swing and cops stress. But I think I am in a good position now to get it down well into single figures. I feel fitter, stronger and I’m getting wiser as to how to get around a golf course.

Life’s good. If you are carrying a few extra kg’s then give it a go… eat clean, and use golf as an excuse to get active.

Agree with Dave1.
The heart rate is not consistantly elevated enough to do any real good

Depend who you play with Rob, some people really get you going!

Calories Burned with Golf

One hour of playing golf and carrying clubs without a cart can burn 329 calories for a 160-lb. person, 410 calories for a 200-lb. person and 491 calories for a 240-lb. person, according to MayoClinic.com. Harvard Health Publications estimates that a half hour of playing golf and carrying clubs can burn 165 calories for a 125-lb. person, 205 calories for a 155-lb. person and 244 calories for a 185-lb. person. Playing golf with a cart burns fewer calories. A half hour of golf with a cart burns about 105 calories for a 125-lb. person, 130 calories for a 155-lb. person and 155 calories for a 185-lb. person, according to Harvard Health Publications. To burn the most calories, walk the whole course and carry your own clubs.

How much weight can you lose playing golf?

Mick has released a video

“Waggle your way to a new you”

He explains how 30 waggles is the same as running 2 Km, with his methods after 18 holes you have covered about 30 Km

He is a shadow of his former self