any of you play racquetball?

[hitmanrva1]

its a great source of racquetball.....how many here enjoy playing it for cardio and how long do you play for?....how many calories CAN it burn an hour?

[JudoChop!]

Ive never played, but it looks like fun. I dont have a club membership, and none of my friends play. Kind of sucks, looks fun.

[tripnastic]

When I was in the Army, we had a guy do a little experiment. We were talking about how good of a workout racquetball is etc... We had a little over 3 months until our next PT test. We did a 2 mile run for a base time. Instead of running to train for the 2 mile run, he played r-ball instead, he did this in place of every time he would have run for exercise for the next three months. He played an hour or so every time. His run time was a little over 2 minutes faster after the 3 months of playing r-ball in place of regular running.

I'm not advocating the abolishment of running, but it IS a good way to get a nice workout in that's a little more exciting than running.

[statisticool]

Originally Posted by hitmanrva1

its a great source of racquetball.....how many here enjoy playing it for cardio and how long do you play for?....how many calories CAN it burn an hour?

Hey there hitman,

I play racquetball, but I'm afraid not on a regular basis. In college some years ago, I used to play quite a bit.

We'd play for about an hour and a half before we were exhausted. There wasn't a lot of running around but since the court dimensions are so confined, there is a lot of starting and stopping, changing direction, which I found extremly exhausting.

I don't know about the calories. Personally, my subjective feeling is more than running for an hour.

[pittelp]

Raquetball is a fun sport...

Don't use it to get in shape, get in shape to play...

Depending on your level of skill determines how many calories you burn.

Beginners vs Intermediate - 1200 calories an hour for the beginner, 600 for the intermediate.

Play with someone that is your level or one step above your level.

[Sonny]

I play raquetball sometimes in the winter but I prefer tennis. Been playing tennis since I was like 6 or 7 years old.

[JSN]

do you wear tennies when you play racquetball?

[No Quarter]

I play regularly.

It is great for cardio and hand-eye co-ordination.

[Sonny]

Originally Posted by No Quarter

I play regularly.

It is great for cardio and hand-eye co-ordination.

If you want an even more intense cardio workout, play squash.

[MikeMartial]

Originally Posted by Sonny

If you want an even more intense cardio workout, play squash.

Raquetball is brutal. Do people still play that? Shit, I thought it died in the 80's. It's like squash, but with training wheels and bumper pads.

Squash FTW. I played competitive court handball at the provincial level, and switched to squash. As far as cross-training for martial arts, it's phenomenal. Explosive speed, reaction time, and fast footwork are all needed.

We have a squash court in the firehall I'm stationed at.