3 Sports That Won’t Improve Fitness as Much as You Think

If you were in stellar shape when you were a young athlete, and your motivation to remain fit and trim went on a precipitous slide ever since you hung up the tools of your preferred sport, you’re not alone. For millions of people, physical fitness was merely a pleasant byproduct of regularly engaging in a sport they enjoyed.

Fortunately, there is no shortage of opportunities to join sports teams and clubs in adulthood, which means that you can extend your glory days while forging new friendships, making new memories, and hopefully returning the fitness peaks of your youth. 

Sadly, not all sports will present equal opportunities for you to improve the form and function of your body, so if your goal is to upgrade the quality of your life solely through playing a sport you enjoy, here are three of the popular adult sports hobbies that might send you sliding in the wrong direction if you’re not careful about how you engage with them.

1. Golf

Working in your favor is the fact that the average 18-hole golf course is approximately 6,600 yards, or 3.75 miles. Without a doubt, that is a respectable distance to cover during a recreational activity, and the travel gets reasonably more challenging once you throw on the weight of a fully loaded golf bag, which can weigh up to 30 pounds.

If this is what your typical golf outing consists of, and you play several rounds of golf per week, then your golf routine earns full marks as an approved form of exercise. However, two thirds of golfers admit to relying on golf carts for their intra-course travel, and survey results reveal that the average golfer consumes two to three beers per round of golf played (Wisconsin golfers top all of the state averages with a whopping 5.2 beers consumed per round). 

In short, the majority of golfers burn a negligible number of calories during golf outings, and the calories from beer alone can offset any caloric burn and send you home from the links bearing the consequences of a caloric surplus. So if your goal is to get in shape and lose weight, the natural temptations of a golf course might be too much for you to overcome.

2. Bowling

Bowling leagues are a very popular source of recreation in many communities, and a bowling alley can be a fun, stress-free environment to enjoy some friendly competition and socialize. Nevertheless, don’t let the fact that bowling is technically a sport distract you from the unfortunate truth that nearly every element of bowling in a team setting is working against your plans to get in shape.

First of all, the average size of a bowling team is four to five members. Assuming that it takes between one to two minutes for each bowler to cycle through their turn, you will probably only be standing upright for two out of every eight minutes in a best-case scenario. And that’s before we begin to evaluate what your “exercise” will consist of once your round begins. 

Simply put, the average bowling approach amounts to four to five slow steps, the release of a ball, and a slide of your back foot. Therefore, simple math dictates that if you took the maximum number of steps in the maximum number of possible bowling approaches in almost every game, which is 21 (two per frame for the first nine frames, and three in the final frame), you would take a grand total of 105 total steps in the service of your team during a competitive game.

Sure, you’ll technically end up taking more steps than that while pacing, shuffling, and socializing, but those 500 added steps won’t be doing you much good if they’re in the direction of the bowling alley’s snack bar. So, if fitness is your priority, the local bowling league should probably be off limits.

3. Softball

There’s no doubt that there are some extremely fit softball players on organized teams, but the majority have put in the bulk of their effort away from the softball field. Calisthenics, resistance training, conditioning drills, and a host of other adjunct activities all coalesce to provide many ballplayers with enviable physiques. 

With that caveat out of the way, our mission is to account for the activity that takes place during an actual softball game, and as you enter adulthood, the majority of your softball will be played in a local rec league. This results in considerable time spent standing around between pitches, or remaining parked on benches waiting for an opportunity to bat. 

If you manage to bat four times during a game, and safely sprint your way around the bases each time you step to the plate, you’ll hustle through a total of 960 feet, or 320 yards, during your 90-minute game. 

Simply for the sake of argument, let’s also assume that you’re a stellar softball player who roams the outfield, and your pitcher has a habit of getting shelled. If you are forced to field five balls per inning for seven innings, those 35 plays might help you accrue another 500 yards of running during the game, bringing your total to 825 yards. Sadly, this will leave you still shy of half-a-mile’s worth of purposeful movement in the heat of your softball competition. 

Separate your exercise from your entertainment

Nothing mentioned here is intended to dissuade you from indulging in a sport that you love. By all means, you are encouraged to get out there and give it your all in whatever sport you select. However, if your sport of choice is one of the three listed above, we strongly encourage you to participate in structured workouts away from the golf course, bowling alley, and softball field to improve your strength and conditioning. 

That way, you can still be a credit to your team while relying on other activities to serve as a credit to your waistline.

Summary

4. Organized sports can provide tremendous motivation for adults to get in better shape for the sake of improving sports performance, but not all sports will improve your fitness simply by playing them.

5. The tendencies and activities involved in golf outings often cause golfers to make decisions that result in weight gain and a worsening of physical health.

6. The act of bowling provides limited opportunities to make major fitness improvements.

7. Softball games involve quite a bit of sitting around, and limited potential for movement except under very specific conditions.

8. If you decide to play or participate in any of these sports in an organized setting, you should look to separate forms of exercise — like cardiovascular and resistance training — to upgrade your fitness level and help you get in better shape to play your sport.