How Skydiving Can Burn Calories

Picture this: you’re standing at the edge of an airplane door, heart racing, adrenaline pumping, and the wind whistling in your ears. The moment arrives! You make the leap! You’re freefalling through the sky with the world spread out beneath you like a canvas of endless possibilities.

As the world zips past you at terminal velocity, your mind is occupied by a single, burning thought: “WOW! I’m burning SO MANY CALORIES!” Okay, that will never happen.

Jokes aside, skydiving is not just an adventure. It IS something of a calorie-burning extravaganza, depending on how you approach the sport. A single tandem won’t whittle your waistline, but the sport in general can offer an unexpected workout that torches calories and helps to keep you fit.

Wondering if picking up your solo skydiving license can help you shed those extra pounds? Read on as we unravel this high-flying fitness secret.

You bet it does! Skydiving isn’t only about the adrenaline rush and the breathtaking views. It’s also a physical activity that engages muscles you probably don’t even know you have! In freefall, you’re not at all passive: you’re maintaining balance, adjusting your position, and countering air resistance to stay steady. All of these movements require energy, which translates to … burning calories.

Jumping out of planes isn’t a magical solution, but you may lose weight while skydiving – especially when combined with a balanced diet and regular exercise. Of course, a single skydive won’t lead to weight loss, but earning your skydiving license, actively logging jump after jump (after jump!), and taking on the many challenges of the sport sure might. The cumulative effect of the calories burned during each jump can, theoretically, contribute to gradual weight loss, increased strength, and improved overall health.

At any rate, you can think of skydiving as a fun and exhilarating way to supplement your existing fitness routine.

A single skydive can, more-or-less, be compared to a light workout session in terms of calories burned. The specifics here are a little fuzzy as skydiving is not an established weight loss modality.

The average sport skydiver might burn through 150-200 calories during the freefall phase of a given skydive. Those calories are burned as the skydiver engages their core muscles, legs, arms … pretty much everything … in order to move with precision and maintain stability and on-heading in the strong resistance of the relative wind. In freefall, our heart rates are liable to soar as high as we do.

After the parachute opens, the rate of calorie burn decreases. But, we’re still actively steering and controlling the parachute, which certainly requires effort.

Back on the ground? Great! The calorie-burning shenanigans don’t end when the jump does.

If you’re serious about skydiving, you’re going to find yourself packing parachutes. Packing a parachute involves precision, strength, and endurance, and most definitely makes you sweat. Folding the canopy correctly requires a fair amount of muscle power and agility, making it a decent workout for your upper body. Sometimes it looks like yoga and sometimes it looks like Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu!

The Skydive Carolina campus is teeny-tiny compared to Charlotte Douglas International, but you rack up steps walking across our airport nonetheless! A day of jumping takes you from manifest to the hangar, then to the loading area and landing area and back again (and again!) keeps your feet in pretty constant motion. Add the stunning – and sometimes sweltering – Carolina sunshine, and you’ll be sweating for sure!

Skydiving is the epitome of adventure, there’s no denying that! But beyond the heart-pounding excitement and the stunning vistas, it’s a form of physical activity that can help you stay in shape. The calories you burn during freefall, the muscles you engage to maintain balance, and the unexpected workout of packing parachutes all contribute to a more active lifestyle. While skydiving won’t replace your regular gym routine, it’s bound to add a unique and thrilling dimension to your pursuit of health and well being (not to mention motivation to stay fit).

Beyond physical gains, skydiving offers powerful, positive benefits to the brain, the psyche, and to your overall quality of life. Plus, you engage with an amazing community of people who you might not otherwise encounter. If you need motivation, skydivers are exactly who you want to hang around. Skydivers are highly driven, empowered, and supportive.

Ready to book your Sky Jazzercise sesh? We won’t deduct cool points if you show up in a leotard. Blue skies!