Calories Burned Playing american football at 85 kg — 680 kcal per Hour
Playing American football at 85 kg (176–198 lb) burns about 680 kcal per hour. That figure comes from the activity's MET value of 8 in the 2011 Compendium of Physical Activities, multiplied by body weight: 8 × 85 kg × 1 hour = 680 kcal. This page works the numbers out in full — for 15, 30, 45, 60 and 90 minutes, across all four weight bands, and against four comparable activities at the same weight — so you can plan sessions with real figures instead of guessing.
American football is built from short, maximal bursts: a play lasts a few seconds of sprinting, tackling, blocking or chasing, then the teams reset for the next one. The Compendium rates it at 8.0 METs, reflecting the combination of sprinting, contact and the weight of pads and helmet.
It suits strong, powerful athletes, and different positions suit very different body types — linemen, receivers and quarterbacks barely resemble each other. It is a contact sport with a real injury risk, so organised coaching, proper equipment and a gradual build-up are essential, especially for newcomers. The headline number to remember is 680 kcal per hour at 85 kg, or about 340 kcal for a 30-minute session. Everything below is an estimate: MET values are population averages, and your own burn will vary with fitness, technique and conditions. That does not make the numbers useless — it makes them a planning tool, and a good one, as long as you treat them as approximate.
Calculate your own numbers
Use the Calorie calculator to work out your own burn for playing American football at your exact weight and session length. Enter your weight, pick the activity and set the duration, and the tool applies the same MET formula shown below. You can also try the Maintenance calorie calculator to see how this session fits into your total daily energy use.
Related pages in this section:
Calories Burned Playing american football at 55 kg — 440 kcal per Hour
Calories Burned Playing american football at 65 kg — 520 kcal per Hour
Calories Burned Playing american football at 75 kg — 600 kcal per Hour
The formula, shown and cited
The standard way to estimate the energy cost of an activity is the MET formula from the Compendium of Physical Activities (Ainsworth et al., Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, 2011; 43(8): 1575–1581):
Calories (kcal) = MET × body weight (kg) × duration (hours)
One MET is the energy you use sitting quietly at rest — about 1 kcal per kilogram of body weight per hour. An activity rated at 8 METs therefore uses 8 times as much energy as resting. The Compendium's MET values come from published studies that measured oxygen use during each activity, so they are measured averages, not guesses. The value used here, 8, is the one recorded for playing American football in the FitCalc activity data, taken from the 2011 Compendium.
Worked through for this page:
- MET for playing American football: 8
- Body weight: 85 kg (the midpoint of the 80–90 kg band, 176–198 lb)
- Duration: 1 hour
- Calculation: 8 × 85 × 1 = 680 kcal
For a 30-minute session the same calculation is 8 × 85 × 0.5 = 340 kcal. Nothing else is hidden in the maths — if your weight or duration changes, only those two numbers change.
Your numbers at 85 kg
| Duration | Calculation | Calories burned |
|---|---|---|
| 15 minutes | 8 × 85 × 0.25 | 170 kcal |
| 30 minutes | 8 × 85 × 0.5 | 340 kcal |
| 45 minutes | 8 × 85 × 0.75 | 510 kcal |
| 60 minutes | 8 × 85 × 1 | 680 kcal |
| 90 minutes | 8 × 85 × 1.5 | 1020 kcal |
That is about 11 kcal per minute of playing American football at this weight. A short session still counts: even 15 minutes burns 170 kcal, and three 15-minute sessions across a day add up to the same 510 kcal as one 45-minute session.
How the burn changes with body weight
The MET value stays the same — it describes the activity, not the person — but the calorie total scales with weight, because a heavier body costs more energy to move:
| Body weight | Calories per hour | Calories per 30 minutes |
|---|---|---|
| 55 kg | 440 kcal | 220 kcal |
| 65 kg | 520 kcal | 260 kcal |
| 75 kg | 600 kcal | 300 kcal |
| 85 kg | 680 kcal | 340 kcal |
Two people doing the same activity for the same time can therefore burn quite different amounts, and that is expected — it is physics, not a mistake in the formula. If your weight sits between two rows, your figure sits between the two values.
How playing American football compares
Here is playing American football against four other activities at the same 85 kg, all using the same MET formula:
| Activity | MET | Calories per hour at 85 kg |
|---|---|---|
| playing American football | 8 | 680 kcal |
| playing rugby | 8.3 | 706 kcal |
| playing ice hockey | 8 | 680 kcal |
| playing a basketball game | 8 | 680 kcal |
| playing competitive soccer | 10 | 850 kcal |
Use this table to choose, not to judge. A higher number means a harder session, not a better one: the activity you enjoy and repeat three times a week beats the activity that burns more per hour but that you quit after a fortnight. Mixing intensities across the week — one harder session, two easier ones — is usually more sustainable than doing the hardest activity every time.
Fitting playing American football into your week
| Sessions per week | 30 minutes each | 60 minutes each |
|---|---|---|
| 2 sessions | 680 kcal | 1360 kcal |
| 3 sessions | 1020 kcal | 2040 kcal |
| 5 sessions | 1700 kcal | 3400 kcal |
At 8 METs, playing American football counts as vigorous-intensity activity, so it counts double towards the widely used adult activity target: 75 minutes of vigorous activity a week is the equivalent of 150 minutes of moderate activity. Two 30-minute sessions a week already give you 60 vigorous minutes and burn about 680 kcal a week at 85 kg. Because the intensity is high, it works best as one or two sessions a week inside a broader mix of easier activity and rest days — not as an everyday effort.
How to use the result
Never skip the warm-up: cold muscles and maximal sprinting are the classic recipe for a pulled hamstring, and football has more of both than almost any other sport. Between plays, use the huddle to breathe and recover fully — that recovery is part of the sport, not laziness. Strength training matters as much as the game itself for both performance and injury prevention, and two full practices plus a game a week is a heavy load that needs real rest days. Use the numbers on this page to set realistic expectations rather than to chase a daily total. If you are tracking food as well, add the session's calories to your total daily energy expenditure for that day, and remember that the figure is an estimate with roughly 10–20% uncertainty. Do not eat back every calorie the calculator shows: activity trackers and MET estimates both tend to overstate slightly, and a small margin keeps a weight-loss plan on track. If you are aiming to lose weight, keep the deficit modest — 300–500 kcal a day is a common, sustainable range — and keep your total intake above the safety floors of 1,200 kcal a day for women and 1,500 kcal a day for men unless a healthcare professional advises otherwise.
A game lasts around three hours including stoppages, but the actual playing time is far less — roughly 11 minutes of live action spread across 60 to 70 plays. Training sessions are often more continuous, with drills, conditioning and scrimmage, and they typically run 90 to 120 minutes. The stop-start structure with full recovery between plays is what lets players repeat maximal efforts all game.
What the number does NOT tell you
The MET formula is honest about what it measures and silent about the rest. It does not account for your fitness level: a fit person burns fewer calories doing the same activity than an unfit person, because their body is more efficient. It does not account for body composition — two people at 85 kg with different amounts of muscle and fat will burn slightly different amounts. It does not include the afterburn (excess post-exercise oxygen consumption) that follows hard sessions, it does not measure strength, flexibility or balance gained, and it says nothing about how the activity affects your appetite, sleep or mood. It also cannot tell you whether the activity is safe for you: if you have a heart condition, joint problems, asthma or any other health concern, check with a healthcare professional before starting a new, intense activity. Use the calorie figure as a planning estimate, and judge the activity by how you feel doing it and whether you keep doing it.
The 8.0 MET figure is an average across positions and levels, but a running back who touches the ball every play works far harder than a lineman in a passing game. The figure also cannot capture the contact load: the calorie cost is high, but the physical toll of tackling and blocking is the bigger factor in how much football a body can handle in a week. Protective equipment is essential, not optional.
Frequently asked questions
How many calories do I burn playing American football for 30 minutes at 85 kg?
About 340 kcal. The maths is 8 METs × 85 kg × 0.5 hours = 340 kcal. That is an estimate from the Compendium average — your real burn depends on your fitness, your pace and the conditions. If you weigh more or less than 85 kg, use the weight table above to read your own figure.
Is playing American football good for weight loss?
It can help, but only as part of an overall calorie deficit. At 85 kg, an hour of playing American football burns about 680 kcal, which is a strong contribution — more than the energy in a full meal — but weight loss still comes from the total balance of food and activity across the week, not from one session. Aim for a gradual loss of 0.5–1% of body weight per week, and never drop below 1,200 kcal a day (women) or 1,500 kcal a day (men) without medical supervision.
How does playing American football compare with playing rugby?
At 85 kg, playing American football burns about 680 kcal per hour against 706 kcal for playing rugby. Playing rugby is the more intense activity by this measure, because its MET value (8.3) is higher than the 8 METs for playing American football. The best choice is usually the one you will actually do several times a week — consistency matters more than a small difference in the hourly rate.
Does the calorie burn change if I weigh more or less than 85 kg?
Yes, directly. Calories = MET × weight in kg × hours, so the burn scales with body weight. At 55 kg the same hour of playing American football burns about 440 kcal; at 85 kg it burns about 680 kcal. The MET value itself does not change with weight — it describes the intensity of the activity.
How accurate is the 8 MET value for playing American football?
It is a population average from the 2011 Compendium of Physical Activities (Ainsworth et al.), which compiled measured energy costs across published studies. The Compendium lists an exact entry for playing American football, so the value is not a substitute or an estimate of a different activity. Individuals still vary by roughly 10–20% around the average because of fitness, body composition, technique and conditions. Treat 680 kcal per hour as a planning estimate, not a precise measurement of your own body.
Estimates only, not medical advice. Minimum safe intakes: 1,200 kcal/day women, 1,500 kcal/day men — consult a healthcare professional before a very-low-calorie diet.