The sports that “burn” the most calories are not necessarily the ones that most people think, especially athletes.

And certainly, it will be surprising, the result of related researches, which proved that more energy is required by a handball player, compared to a polo player.

In order of “burning calories”, as far as team sports are concerned, handball comes first with 800 to 920 calories per hour, followed by water polo (600 to 800 calories/hour), rugby (650 to 715 calories/hour), basketball ( 500 to 600 calories/hour), volleyball (450 to 600 calories/hour) and soccer (400 to 600 calories/hour).

Also, a very significant loss of calories is observed in Basque pelota athletes (800 to 950 calories/hour), squash (600 to 920 calories/hour) and tennis (400 to 700 calories/hour), while in “combat sports” , in the first place of the relevant table, is judo (800 to 1,000 calories/hour), followed by boxing (600 to 1,000 calories/hour) and karate (600 to 850 calories/hour).

Regarding water sports, rowing is the most demanding with 600 to 1,000 calories/hour, while kayakers “burn” 850 to 950 calories/hour and swimmers 600 to 900 calories/hour.

For endurance sports, more energy is required and in the first places we find roads (800 to 1,000 calories/hour), skating (600 to 1,000 calories/hour) and cycling (500 to 1,000 calories/hour), while with traditional “rope”, we will “burn” 700 to 900 calories/hour, with step 600 to 850 calories/hour and dancing zumba, from 530 to 750 calories/hour.

Finally, of the outdoor sports, cross-country skiing is the most demanding, as those involved in it “burn” from 500 to 1,100 calories/hour.