Disc golf as exercise

[sidewinder22]

Walking is considered exercise; therefore, disc golf is considered exercise. Is disc golf a sport or game?

 

[Bikinimower]

I have this argument with my roommate all the time. If you told someone that you walked two miles a day then everyone would assume that your getting exercise. But if you walk 2 miles a day while throwing a disc for some reason some people don't think it's exercise. I looked it up, for every hour of disc golf you burn 250 calories. The answer is yes, definitely exercise

Also it's a sport not a game. I may be wrong but I think that is official

 

[FredVegasDGC]

Last year after I found out I was Type 2 Diabetic I began walking around the neighborhood. I was up to about 4 miles before winter kicked in. I had dropped about 55 pounds. (I stopped Dr. Pepper cold turkey and began a strict vegetarian diet)

Over the winter I decided to quit smoking and very quickly put about 20 of those pounds back on. (I couldn't help myself, I faltered on my veggie diet when the only thing that would stop the nicotine craving was a bag of McD's hamburgers. Which I had stopped eating years ago)

When the weather warmed up enough I began walking again. Then sitting in my living room watching TV I saw my DG bag sitting there since 2003. I figured I might as well have some fun (and aggravation) while I walked.

Since taking up DG again (about 1 1/2 months now) I have dropped 21 pounds. One of the courses here has some serious up hill climbs. Just walking the course can wear me out, after 18 I'm pretty much beat.

But I must be getting in to better shape than when I first started. My throw distance is actually longer now than when I stopped playing and after my round this morning I was not tired so I played the front 5 holes again.

 

[OcDiscGolf]

I dabble in speed golf up at Lake Casitas. One disc (Roc).

My best is 25 minutes, -1. It's a great way to warm up for a regular round or tournament. Hands get nice and loose and the endorphins get going. Sometimes I really get in a zone, too. No time to second guess shot selection.

Sucks when you lose that one disc though.

Whoa.... That course kills me when I'm trudging it. 25 minutes? For all 18 holes? That is craaaaazy.

I've never seen a Casitas Local who wasn't in great shape.

BTW my avatar is me throwing on 16 at Casitas.

 

[thekman]

Disc golf is only going to improve the fitness level of people who are in pretty bad shape. Going out and not eating for 2 or 3 hours while walking a few miles is drastically better than watching TV while binging on cupcakes and soda but it's not vigorous physical activity. Having a hobby that requires physical activity is important and probably becoming increasingly rare. To that end, disc golf is great, but it won't get you ready for a triathlon.

Exactly. I am coming to love disc golf but walking around a park and throwing a plastic disc for two hours isn't strenuous for someone that isn't sedentary. It's essentially a nice walk.

If someone dedicates that equivalent amount of time while doing a proper gym workout, or while doing a rigorous aerobic workout (running, biking, etc.), there shouldn't be a comparison.

 

[LookIhitAtREE]

Get health: Disc golf is exercise disguised as fun

August 16, 2008 @ 12:00 AM

2008/The Herald-Dispatch

The Herald-Dispatch


HUNTINGTON -- While most people think of disc golf as a fun recreational activity, there are several healthy benefits to the sport when played at a challenging course such as the ones at Rotary Park in Huntington.

Bill Ragan, president of Huntington Disc Golf Club, said people who play 18 holes of disc golf at Rotary Park can expect to walk between three and four miles. The holes, Ragan said, were designed to feature the park's hilly landscape. While some holes are on even ground, several of the holes are in heavily wooded areas that require sturdy legs and strong lungs.

"The courses have a lot of hills, which makes for a better workout than courses that are completely flat," Ragan said.

Aside from the health advantages of navigating a challenging course, calories are burned every time a disc is thrown. According to www.healthstatus.com, a site dedicated to health risk assessment, a 200-pound individual would burn about 552 calories while throwing a disc around for about two hours.

The combination of throwing and walking equals about 920 calories burned during a two-hour round of disc golf. Next time you throw a disc into the woods, look on the bright side -- you're burning more calories than the pros.

 

[SmoothSailor]

You said uber in the first sentence, I'm out...










It's always fun to hear about someone using disc golf to get in shape. I have a friend who went from 300+ down to 195. Good job to the OP.

 

[jenb]

I've lost 66 lbs since November 15 playing disc golf, which puts me about halfway to my goal. At tournaments, several of the other ladies have told me they took up the sport to lose weight, and they have lost similar amounts.

The thing I really like about disc golf is that it lets people go at their own pace, but keeps them going at it until they complete a round, and then come back for more. And it's really convenient, because you don't have to join a league or make a tee time. It's there whenever you want it.

Another thing I like is that it is a sport for life. It's not like football. You can still play disc golf when you are 75. It's basically the perfect sport: doable; addictive; and available for life.

 

[deBebbler]

It's basically the perfect sport: doable; addictive; and available for life.

I had better see this quoted in someone's sig very soon.

Sans semicolons.

 

[kyflash]

I know some guys who play cardio disc golf.
They take the number of strokes and add the minutes it took to play and get a score that way.
I think it is a good measurable.

 

[grodney]

5 pages and no prerube on "speed golf"? Slackers.

I've known a few sprint-golfers. Most amazing was Andrew Swistak, playing Stoney Hill in something like 13 minutes---over 2 miles total

Hmmmmm. Stack is fast, but I'm not sure he's that fast. 2 miles in 13 minutes while playing frisbee golf? That would be REALLY fast.

He recently played Elon (short) in 8:57 (shooting 50). It is almost exactly 1 mile round trip if you make a straight line. My best time (I'm NOT a runner) is 11:07 (while shooting 49).

I think I posted in the Speed Golf thread that I did all 3 Elon configs back-to-back-to-back (~4 miles and 169 throws) under par in under an hour. While that is certainly good exercise, it's a little more exercise than I care to do at one time.

 

[DavidSauls]

Yeah, that's why I said "something like" 13 minutes. I can't remember what his time was, only that it was astounding and we declared it a record, the old one being about an hour and a half.

 

[garublador]

Walking is considered exercise; therefore, disc golf is considered exercise.

It really depends on how you define "exercise." If by exercise you mean an activitiy that burns calories faster than sitting, then it counts. If you mean an activity that raises your fitness level then it only counts if you're really out of shape. It won't help you gain much, if any, useable strength and it's only aerobic if you're way out of shape.

Based on what I've seen from several websites that show how many calories you burn doing various activities, it seems like you will burn about the same number of calories by either playing disc golf for 2 hours or doing the elliptical for 30 minutes and then sitting for an hour and a half.

I'm not saying that getting out to play DG or go out walking is a bad idea. It's a great way to burn extra calories. However, if you're really serious about getting in better shape I'd be weary to consider it an actual workout. It's one of those things you do in addition to actual work outs that would take the place of times you'd normally be sitting around. I don't doubt that it's helped people who were out of shape lose weight (just fixing your diet and moving more will get you a calorie deficit). However, based on what I've seen from the people I know that have tried to rely on walking as their main source of exercise, you'll probably plateau earlier than you'd really want.

"Sprint golf" on the other hand, sounds like a really great way to combine exercise that will help you gain fitness (and probably drop your blood pressure, blood sugar and cholesterol) and an activity that's not as mind-numbingly boring as most cardio.

 

[grodney]

Yeah, that's why I said "something like" 13 minutes. I can't remember what his time was, only that it was astounding and we declared it a record, the old one being about an hour and a half.

Ha ha, I know what you mean by astounding. Having run Elon short myself, I can't even imagine doing it as fast as he did. That's the difference between the haves and the have-nots. Ha!

 

[Jukeshoe]

I see people "speed" discin' fairly regularly. Saw a guy at Hickory Hills over Mem Day w/e, and there are several groups that do so at Bertrand and Rum Village.

What I want to know is...WHY DON'T YOU DISC OVER THE WINTER?! YOU LIVE IN GEORGIA!

If I can disc all winter long through literally feet of snow and sub-zero conditions, you have NO excuse.

So one of the things that I love about disc golf is not only is it uber fun but it's also amazingly good exercise. I venture to say that I probably get just as much if not more exercise from playing everyday than someone else gets from hitting the gym every other day. Between all the walking, the 100+ degree daily summer weather here in GA and the actual throwing motion which itself burns more calories than most people probably think, it's one hell of a workout. When I started playing around June of last year I was pushing 210 pounds. After playing everyday, usually at least twice a day, I ended up at a cut 170 pounds by the time winter got here. Well over winter of course all that weight came back and it's proving harder to loose this year than it was last year. So my buddies and I were trying to think of ways to make it even more of a workout and XXXtreeme DG is what we've come up with. Not only will this test you physically but mentally also. So here's the deal. Feel free to play with your whole bag as usual but when we do this we'll only bring out a few of our go to discs. Basically its regular disc golf but instead of leisurely walking to your discs and in between holes you sprint to those mofo's every time! The only break time you get is while everyone is teeing off and then when everyone is throwing from wherever they landed. There is no catching your breath one you get to your disc either. You get there pick up, throw and sprint to it again. First time playing like this it was my bestie and I, who are in pretty decent shape, and we made it to hole 11 and after that we just couldn't go on lol. So the question is how many holes do you think you'd last?

 

[Andy in Lisle]

I got addicted to disc golf about a year ago and usually play around 300 holes every weekend. When I first started my whole body was sore and I'm in pretty good shape. It works different muslces than other activities and in different ways. Today I can play 300+ holes on a weekend no problem as my muscles have grown stonger. I also do push-ups regularly and since starting disc golf my left arm is dead after a good set of push-ups but my right arm could go all day.

I guess discing isn't as good a workout as hitting the gym 3-days a week and lifting weights but it definitly qualifies as a very good way to exercise in my book.

 

[jenb]

I think disc golf is certainly exercise; it's just a matter of whether it's low impact or high impact, and not bad versus good or good versus better.

It's also not doing disc golf justice to call it a game or activity, versus a sport. World of Warcraft is a game, and stuffing your face with miniature candy bars is an activity.

What makes disc golf "good" exercise in my book is that it is exercise, and it is a game. You can't really say that about working out on an elliptical. I can't imagine working out on an elliptical every day, but I sure do play and practice disc golf.

PS: Here is a gratuitous semi-colon; it is being used correctly.

 

[woodstock]

When you walk a couple of miles in the morning, It is definitely exercise. Its a game and its my meditation. Gotta play every morning sometimes by myself, Sometimes with a buddy or my day sucks.

 

[woodstock]

I got addicted to disc golf about a year ago and usually play around 300 holes every weekend. When I first started my whole body was sore and I'm in pretty good shape. It works different muslces than other activities and in different ways. Today I can play 300+ holes on a weekend no problem as my muscles have grown stonger. I also do push-ups regularly and since starting disc golf my left arm is dead after a good set of push-ups but my right arm could go all day.

I guess discing isn't as good a workout as hitting the gym 3-days a week and lifting weights but it definitly qualifies as a very good way to exercise in my book.

17 rounds a weekend, Wow I dont think so.

 

[coast2coast]

Was there a "bestie" in there?