I was on a 100km bike ride today with a friend and we were talking about alternative fitness activities to cycling, jogging, etc. I told him about how I thought I got a good workout using traction kites.

Has anyone ever strapped on a heart monitor and taken note of how many calories they've burned during a kiting session?

I plan to do this once the winds are favorable. I'll try to record all of the variables and report back once the stars align to let me out to do this.

Never done a study, but after about 10 minutes of being overpowered, I feel like Im going to puke.

Scoop

Hello Gunkie,
Not only a workout, but as Scoopy says, we get whipped, as it is so intense. Not counting the RUSH we get from it.
Please do not hesitate to post your finding, I am sure this is a very interesting subject, don't forget to mention the type of kiting activity, wind speed, kite type and size related to the weight of the guinea-pig:singing: at the time of testing.
"Fly safe and loose weight"
RMV

after A fast reach, my hart is just pounding. And every part of my body is sore. 24 hour fitness has nothing on our sport!!

80 minutes burned approximately 800 calories. I burn about twice that in the same amount of time on a bicycle. I'm 41 years old, 5'8" tall, 195 pounds.


This first attempt was poor. 0-10 mph winds, dying fast. I took out a Flexifoil Proteam 8 and didn't even get it off the ground. Ran back to the car and got a Blade II, 7.8m. Got that in the air a half dozen times and had a very small amount of fun. I think the running between the kite, controls, and car burnt the most calories.

I'll give it another go next time the winds come up and I can get away from the family for an hour and a half...

Hello Gunkie,
If one Flexifoil Proteam 8 didn't do the job, then try to stack 2 or even 3 in 10mph wind.
2 of those in 20mph wind will give you a workout.
RMV

I had a thorough workout at the weekend - but the arms only lasted 20 minutes! But all the fresh air running around has got to be good for you, not to mention fun.

If you can burn 800 callories running back and forth trying to get a kite to fly, you should burn about 3200 if you were actually under power.

Scoop

I took a 7.8m4 Flexifoil Blade II out for 85 minutes (car-to-car) in 2-12 MPH winds. I burned 1250 calories according to my heart monitor. I'm still 41 years old, male, 5'8" tall, and 195 pounds. For me, a typical bike ride of the same duration with moderate effort burns about 1500 calories.

I burned more calories per minute than in my first attempt. I had the kite in the air for extended periods of time with only a handful of slack wind periods.

I really think that a steady 15 MPH wind with the 7.8m kite would cook off as many calories as I burn on anerobic bike rides that I do once in a while.

I'll post more results as I get them.

After reading this post I think I'm gonna give up the gym, cycling, running and just concentrate on getting fit by kiting!
No point doing the dull stuff if you can get the same result from doing something enjoyable - and I've managed to convine the other half it is good for her so she doesn't sit and sulk in the car any more