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Excited sports fans can burn up to 540 calories in a 90 minute match (Image: EDF/ Zak Hussein / Cover Images)
Watching sport can be a workout in itself, as a new study has shown you could burn up to 540 calories watching a 90-minute football match.
This could be the equivalent of a decent run, and you don’t even need to kick a ball.
Following your favourite sport is an emotional ride that can leave your heart racing, sweat dripping, and tense muscles, especially during nail-biting moments. That’s why, according to a new study, over half of sports fans (59%) feel like they’ve had a workout just watching.
This summer, Brits are set to watch almost 10 hours of sport a week and the new research by EDF to launch its Change is in our Power campaign, which spoke to 2000 people, finds watching it from your sofa could be burning the same energy as actually playing some sports.
Over one in four people (42%) feel their heart rate rising while they’re watching from home, while a similar number (38%) also say they can’t sit still.
There’s even a runner’s high, with a whopping 88% saying watching sport with others gives them an energy boost.
This infographic breaks down the maths (Image: EDF/ Zak Hussein / Cover Images)
To put the findings to the test, EDF devised a new scientific formula in partnership with Dr. Dale Esliger, a Sports, Exercise, and Health Scientist at Loughborough University, which shows that energised watching of a 90-minute football match could burn up to 540 calories.
While a tennis fan could burn up to 432 calories, the equivalent of a 60-minute swim, while an athletics fan could burn up to 162 calories, which is similar to a 30-minute walk.
The ‘Power of Celebration’ formula takes factors such as the way sport is watched, the intensity of the spectators’ celebrations, and body weight into account and enables sports fans to calculate their own energy expenditures.
The summer of sport, isn’t even over, and over half of Brits (55%) feel inspired to exercise more, with most (75%) choosing to work out at home while streaming workouts or using fitness apps, equipment, and trackers.
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Dr. Dale Esliger, a Sports, Exercise, and Health Scientist at Loughborough University, who created the Power of Celebration Formula, said: “It’s great to see the research from EDF provides further support to the evidence-base that watching sport is positively associated with wellbeing and vitality, especially as we enter a summer packed with thrilling events where people gather with family and friends.
“By combining how we watch sport with the intensity of our celebrations, and considering factors including body weight and overall duration, the innovative Power of Celebration’ formula allows sports fans to quantify their own energy expenditure while enjoying the excitement of the games.”
Philippe Commaret at EDF, said, “The summer of sport has given the nation a real energy boost and it’s exciting to see people getting inspired to change their approach to exercise or try new things. From generating zero carbon electricity to installing EV chargers, solar panels and heat pumps, our new campaign shows how we’re changing the way we’re powering the nation, one home at a time. We’re proud to be part of this change, as well as charging up new exercise regimes and powering the love of sports spectatorship.”
To launch its Change is in our Power EDF is giving three households the chance to win a solar package, worth £9,000, so they can start producing their own energy to help Britain achieve net zero.
Head to edfenergy.com/zero-carbon-home-competition to enter the competition.
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