Can I lose weight bowling?
Bowling is a great sport to help you lose weight. Bowling can help increase your metabolism which can therefore help with weight loss. Bowlers can burn between 150-300 calories an hour.
When bowling, your whole body is working. You’re exercising your legs when you’re walking back and forth up and down the approach and working the rest of your body as you lift and swing the bowling ball down the lane. Bowling not only helps you lose weight, it also helps you gain and tone muscle.
Playing around three games of bowling burns the same amount of calories as walking a mile. The good thing about bowling is that you’re always walking around even though you’re in a tight area which will help you lose weight. An advantage of bowling over other sports is that it is a low impact sport.
This means that it is a sport that is easier on your body, especially your joints. Even though they don’t burn calories as quickly as high impact sports, they keep you in shape and there’s also less risk of injury. Another positive about bowling being a low impact sport is that it’s not too intense on overweight or older people.
What muscles do I use when bowling?
Bowling uses all the major muscle groups. The upper extremity muscles are used the most and they affect grip and finger strength. Bowling helps you build your muscles as well, so when you’re working your muscles, you are losing weight and gaining muscles which is a great positive.
Your leg muscles are used in bowling with every shot. Delivering a smoothly rolling ball requires a low position at the foul line. Being able to hold this position without falling over at the release point is key to delivering a consistent, strong shot to the pocket.
Keeping leg muscles strong will make it easier to hold that low position game after game. Having strong leg muscles allows you to get a quicker run up allowing you to generate more power from your legs onto the ball making your shot faster and more powerful. Having stronger quads, calves, glutes and hamstrings will help you reduce the risk of injury because your legs will be able to take more stress and endurance.
Your arms and shoulder muscles are key components for bowling. Your shoulders muscles are used to help with the rotation which enables the bowler to get a large swing on the ball which helps generate more power on the bowl. Your deltoids, biceps and triceps are the muscles which are mainly used to help you lift, hold and swing the ball while generating power. If you increase the strength of your arm and shoulder muscles, you will be able to generate more power and speed on your bowl.
Your wrist and finger muscles are also key components in bowling as well. Your wrist muscles are used to help hold the ball in your preferred position. Bowling helps your wrists get stronger because you’re putting a lot of weight on them when holding a bowling ball.
This can lead to injuries but if you don’t over play then you should be fine. Your fingers are also used to hold the ball as well. Your fingers help you to hold the ball comfortably and safely so you don’t injure yourself. Bowling helps increase your finger strength because there is a lot of weight resting on your fingers while holding the ball. Your finger and wrist muscles are also used to generate power and accuracy when flexing and extending them on release.
How badly can I get hurt when bowling?
There are many injuries that can happen when bowling. The main causes of bowling injuries are over playing and incorrect technique. This is because if you over play, your body is put under too much stress for too long and if your technique is incorrect your body will be in an unnatural bowling position which can cause you to get hurt.
The most common injuries involve fingers, wrists, elbow and shoulder. This is because these are the areas of your body that most of the weight is being held up by and large amounts of force are exerted by these areas. Also, these areas of your body, especially the shoulder and elbow, are where repetitive motions happen like swinging and rolling a ball. Too many repetitive movements cause the body to be put under too much stress too many times which is unsafe. This is why you should never over train or play. Back and leg injuries are also fairly common as well.
Wrist and finger injuries usually occur if you use a ball that is too heavy for you or if your grip is all wrong. These two mistakes result in too much weight being applied to your hand which can lead to long and short-term injuries. Some of the most common injuries in bowling are; thumb and finger sprain, carpal tunnel syndrome, DeQuervain’s syndrome, biceps tendinopathy, elbow injuries, shoulder injuries, lower back pain, groin strain, knee ligament injuries, knee meniscus injuries, patello-femoral syndrome, and ankle sprain.
Leg injuries usually occur when overusing the tendon, which can lead to the tendon fibres beginning to break down. This is caused by over playing. Leg injuries are also caused by tripping over or misplacing your foot in your approach. This can be caused by incorrect technique or not wearing the correct shoes. Back injuries occur from incorrect technique. If you bend too low or do sudden jerky movements you may pull a muscle in your lower back.
Obviously, you can also injury yourself by messing about or not paying attention. You could easily break a bone by falling over on the approach or lane. Being hit by another bowling ball is unlikely but it could happen so you need to stay out of the way when other people are bowling. Hand injuries can also be caused by putting your hand into the bowling ball return system to retrieve a ball. This is why when bowling, you need to be sensible and aware of your surroundings to prevent yourself from getting injured.
Wrist Injuries
The wrist is a fragile pivot joint that structures distinctive indispensable tissues. The wrist comprises inaccessible bones of the lower arm. Intense or constant wrist wounds can have a huge effect on a person’s life. Dull Bowling exercises and wrist wounds can be interlinked with one another.
Thumb Injuries
Managing the bowler’s thumb can be truly excruciating as it happens when the ulnar nerve inside your thumb is feeling an excess of tension on it. This happens when a bowler holds a bowling ball way too firmly than needed.
Novices are more inclined to this thumb injury as they need an opportunity to sort out precisely which bowling ball is ideal for them. This cycle generally takes more time to get over if the beginner has no earlier information in regards to the essential variables of Bowling as a game and the different pinion wheels related with it.
Subsequently, they continue squeezing the thumb as they acquire insight. Intermittent beginner bowlers don’t experience the ill effects of this injury as they don’t play routinely.
Back Injuries
Bowling can clearly be seen as a physical game. Bowling puts pressure on your back when you lift and toss the ball. Inappropriate strategy and substantial ball lifting could cause you a serious back physical issue. Lower back torment is the most well-known example of back torment wounds for Bowling.
These are just a few injuries from a plethora of serious ways you can hurt yourself from Bowling, and all of this can be avoided by taking proper precautions and stretching well before you bowl.
So this article finally showed the world that Bowling is more than just a recreational game, it is a game that requires physical prowess and skill to master, but you can still have fun with it as long as you follow guidelines and keep yourself and others safe all around.
