Calories Burned Archery at 75 kg — 322 kcal per Hour
Archery at 75 kg (165 lb) burns about 322 kcal per hour. That figure comes from the activity's MET value of 4.3 in the 2011 Compendium of Physical Activities, multiplied by body weight: 4.3 × 75 kg × 1 hour = 322 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.
Archery is a target sport: nock an arrow, draw the bow, aim, loose, then walk down the range to collect your arrows and do it again. The work is mostly in the shoulders, back and core during the draw and hold, with steady walking between ends. It is a quiet, deliberate sport — the opposite of a frantic gym session — and that is exactly why many people stick with it for years.
At 4.3 METs, archery sits in the light-to-moderate band, close to brisk walking and doubles tennis. It will not torch calories the way a combat sport does, and nobody should pretend otherwise. What it does offer is an activity you can do for two or three hours without noticing the time, and the calories add up precisely because the session is long and pleasant rather than short and punishing.
Calculate your own numbers
Use the calorie calculator to work out your own burn for archery 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 running calorie calculator to see how this session fits into your total daily energy use.
Related pages in this section:
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 4.3 METs therefore uses 4.3 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 is the one recorded for this activity in the FitCalc activity data, taken from the Compendium.
Worked through for this page:
- MET for archery: 4.3
- Body weight: 75 kg (the midpoint of the 70-80 kg band, 154-176 lb)
- Duration: 1 hour
- Calculation: 4.3 × 75 × 1 = 322 kcal
For a 30-minute session the same calculation is 4.3 × 75 × 0.5 = 161 kcal. Nothing else is hidden in the maths — if your weight or duration changes, only those two numbers change.
Your numbers at 75 kg
| Duration | Calculation | Calories burned |
|---|---|---|
| 15 minutes | 4.3 × 75 × 0.25 | 81 kcal |
| 30 minutes | 4.3 × 75 × 0.5 | 161 kcal |
| 45 minutes | 4.3 × 75 × 0.75 | 242 kcal |
| 60 minutes | 4.3 × 75 × 1 | 322 kcal |
| 90 minutes | 4.3 × 75 × 1.5 | 484 kcal |
That is about 5.4 kcal per minute of archery at this weight. A short session still counts: even 15 minutes burns 81 kcal, and three 15-minute sessions across a day add up to the same 242 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 | 236 kcal | 118 kcal |
| 65 kg | 280 kcal | 140 kcal |
| 75 kg | 322 kcal | 161 kcal |
| 85 kg | 366 kcal | 183 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 archery compares
Here is archery against four other activities at the same 75 kg, all using the same MET formula:
| Activity | MET | Calories per hour at 75 kg |
|---|---|---|
| Archery | 4.3 | 322 kcal |
| Nordic walking | 4.3 | 322 kcal |
| Tennis doubles | 4.5 | 338 kcal |
| Raking leaves | 4.3 | 322 kcal |
| Volleyball | 4.0 | 300 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 archery into your week
| Sessions per week | 30 minutes each | 60 minutes each |
|---|---|---|
| 2 sessions | 322 kcal | 644 kcal |
| 3 sessions | 483 kcal | 966 kcal |
| 5 sessions | 805 kcal | 1610 kcal |
A typical club session lasts 60 to 90 minutes: a few warm-up ends, then scored rounds of six arrows, with a walk to the target after every end. A 60-minute session at this weight burns the figure on this page; a 90-minute session burns half as much again. Because the effort is intermittent — draw, hold, loose, walk, repeat — most archers can shoot three or four times a week without the recovery problems that harder sports cause. At 4.3 METs, archery counts as light-to-moderate activity, so it contributes directly towards the widely used target of 150 minutes of moderate activity a week for adults. To burn 500 kcal from archery alone takes about 94 minutes at 75 kg, and 1,000 kcal takes about 187 minutes — spread across the week, that is far more realistic than trying to do it in one session. Build up gradually — add 10% to your weekly total at most, and keep at least one rest day.
How to use the result
What changes the burn for archery in practice:
Draw weight: a heavier bow costs more per shot, because the draw and the hold load the shoulders and back harder. Moving from a 20 lb training bow to a 35 lb bow raises the effort of every arrow, though the MET average for the session only rises a little, since so much of the time is spent walking and waiting.
Walking between ends: the walk to the target and back after every end is a real part of the burn. Outdoor ranges with longer distances add more walking than a short indoor range, and it is the walking that keeps the hourly figure as high as it is.
Competition versus practice: a scored round raises tension and focus, and many archers shoot slightly faster between arrows in competition. Practice at your own pace is more relaxed and burns a touch less per hour, but you will usually shoot for longer.
Standing still versus moving: archery is mostly standing, so the burn depends on how much of the session is actually spent shooting. A busy session with short waits between ends burns more than a slow session where most of the hour is spent watching others shoot.
Practical tips for this activity:
Warm up your shoulders and upper back before the first arrow — ten minutes of band work and easy draws prevents the rotator-cuff soreness that catches new archers.
Build draw weight gradually: add 2–4 lb at a time and only when you can hold full draw steadily for several seconds without shaking.
Keep your bow arm shoulder down and relaxed; shrugging it up towards your ear is the most common form fault and the fastest route to neck pain.
Shoot little and often rather than one marathon session a week — three 45-minute sessions build skill and burn more in total than a single long one.
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 note at 75 kg
At 75 kg you sit in the middle of the four weight bands on this site, and that shapes how the numbers feel in practice. Your absolute burn is between the lightest and heaviest bands — 322 kcal per hour here against 366 kcal at 85 kg — but your burn per kilogram of body weight is identical, because the MET formula is linear: every kilogram costs the same. In practical terms that means duration and frequency matter more for you than for a heavier person doing the same activity if you are lighter, and less if you are heavier. Two 45-minute sessions will usually serve you better than one 90-minute session, because you accumulate the same total with less fatigue in each outing, and you are less likely to run into the joint and muscle soreness that long sessions cause. If you are tracking weight loss, remember that a smaller body also means a smaller total daily expenditure, so a 300–500 kcal deficit is a larger share of your day than it is for someone heavier — keep the deficit at the modest end of that range and let the activity do its work over weeks, not days.
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 75 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. Archery's 4.3 METs assumes a normal club session: shooting, walking to the target, and standing between ends. It does not capture the difference between a light training bow and a heavy hunting bow, and it says nothing about accuracy, which is the point of the sport. The figure also ignores the mental effort — concentration is genuinely tiring, but it does not show up in a calorie count. Archery is kind to the knees and the heart, but the shoulders do real work: anyone with a shoulder problem should start with a light bow and get coaching on form before increasing draw weight. Use the calorie figure as a planning estimate, and judge the activity by how you feel doing it and whether you keep doing it.
Frequently asked questions
Does draw weight change how many calories archery burns?
Yes, but modestly. A heavier bow makes every draw and hold harder on the shoulders and back, so the per-arrow cost rises. Over a whole session the effect is small, because much of the hour is walking and waiting — the MET average moves by a fraction of a point, not by whole points. Choose draw weight for control and accuracy, not for calorie burn.
Is archery good exercise?
It is good light-to-moderate exercise, and good for posture, shoulder stability and concentration. At this weight an hour burns about 322 kcal, which is comparable to a brisk walk. It is not a substitute for vigorous cardio or strength training, but as a regular, enjoyable activity it contributes genuinely to weekly movement — and the activity you enjoy is the one you repeat.
How many calories does an archery session burn?
At this weight, 15 minutes burns about 81 kcal, 30 minutes about 161 kcal, 45 minutes about 242 kcal and 60 minutes about 322 kcal, using the Compendium formula of MET × weight × hours. A 90-minute club session burns about 484 kcal. Your real figure varies with draw weight, how much you walk, and how much of the session you spend shooting rather than waiting.
Does walking to the target count towards the burn?
Yes — it is part of the 4.3 MET average. The Compendium value for archery covers the whole activity as people actually do it: shooting, walking down the range, pulling arrows and walking back. On a long outdoor range the walking share is bigger, which is one reason outdoor sessions can feel more tiring than the same number of arrows shot indoors.
Can I count archery towards my 150 minutes of weekly activity?
Yes. Archery at 4.3 METs counts as moderate activity, so it contributes towards the widely used target of 150 minutes of moderate activity a week for adults. Two or three sessions a week, plus some walking or other movement, is a realistic way to reach that target without ever setting foot in a gym.
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.