Taking a hot shower can be an enjoyable way to relax and unwind after a long day. But did you know that showering, especially with hot water, can also help you burn extra calories? While the calorie burn from showering is minimal compared to more strenuous forms of exercise, there are some factors that can influence how many calories you burn during your daily shower routine.
Quick Answer
The quick answer is that a typical hot 10-15 minute shower will burn around 40-80 calories. However, this can vary considerably based on the temperature of the water, your body size, and the exact duration spent showering.
Calculating Calories Burned from Showering
To estimate how many calories you can burn by taking a hot shower, you need to consider three main factors:
1. Water Temperature
The hotter the water, the more calories you will burn. Lukewarm water will not require your body to work hard to maintain its core temperature. But very hot water forces your body to regulate its internal thermostat, which burns more calories.
2. Shower Duration
The longer your shower, the more calories you can expect to burn. Most experts recommend counting calories burned for shower sessions 10 minutes or longer. Shorter showers of just a few minutes likely will not burn enough calories to really count.
3. Body Weight
Your body weight also comes into play. Heavier individuals will burn more calories in a hot shower, because their bodies have to work harder to control body temperature with more mass.
Here is a rough estimate for calories burned per 10 minutes of hot showering by weight:
| Weight | Calories Burned (10 min shower) |
|---|---|
| 100 lbs | 35 |
| 150 lbs | 53 |
| 200 lbs | 70 |
| 250 lbs | 88 |
As you can see, the calories burned can really add up, especially for longer showers using very hot water.
How Hot Water Burns Calories
You burn calories in a hot shower for a few key reasons:
1. Your Heart Rate Increases
Hot water causes an increase in heart rate as your cardiovascular system works to pump blood to the skin surface. This helps transfer warmth from your core to the outside of your body. Your heart has to work harder, which burns extra calories.
2. Your Body Temperature Rises
Exposing your body directly to hot water will inevitably increase your internal body temperature. Your hypothalamus has to kick in to regulate your thermostat against this heat exposure. Burning more energy from calories is part of this internal cooling process.
3. Your Muscles Become More Relaxed
The hot water also helps relax your muscles. This state of being more relaxed requires energy consumption from calories. Standing and moving around during the shower also engages your muscles, again requiring calorie burn.
4. You Perspire and Sweat
Sweating is a major way your body releases excess heat. This perspiration process demands energy derived from the calories you have consumed. More sweat means a greater calorie burn.
Calorie Burn Factors
As we’ve covered, the main factors that influence calorie burn in a hot shower include:
Water Temperature
The hotter the water, the more calories burned. Cool or lukewarm showers will not have the same effect. Shoot for a temperature around 100°F or more.
Shower Duration
Longer showers lead to greater calorie burn. Most calories are burned after being in a hot shower for over 10 minutes.
Body Weight
Heavier people burn more calories regulating body temperature due to greater mass. Larger individuals may burn 100+ calories in a long hot shower.
Age
Younger adults tend to burn more calories from hot showers than elderly people. Thermogenic responses diminish with age.
Ambient Air Temperature
Colder air temperatures outside the shower require your body to work harder to adjust to heat changes. This increases calories burned.
Showering Habits
Habits like moving around frequently, deep breathing, and tensing/relaxing muscles can all maximize calorie burn.
Maximize Your Calorie Burn
If you want to burn as many calories as possible during your next hot shower, keep these tips in mind:
Take Long Showers
Extend your shower to 15-20 minutes or longer. This gives your body more time to burn calories regulating temperature.
Use Very Hot Water
Don’t be afraid to turn up that dial! Water at 100°F or hotter will force your body to work harder.
Move Around
Walk back and forth, march in place, and engage muscles by stretching. This enhances calorie burn.
Change Temperatures
Alternate between hot and cold water. The shock from extreme temp changes burns more energy.
Breathe Deeply
Deep breathing helps oxygenate muscles and your whole body, boosting calorie burn.
Tense and Relax
Flexing and relaxing muscles repeatedly forces your body to regulate itself, using up energy and calories.
Calories Burned Showering vs. Other Activities
While showering can burn some extra calories, how does it compare to other common calorie burning activities?
Here’s an estimate of calories burned per 30 minutes by a 180 pound person for various activities:
| Activity | Calories Burned (30 min) |
|---|---|
| Hot shower | 140 |
| Low intensity exercise (stretching) | 90 |
| Moderate intensity exercise (brisk walking) | 180 |
| High intensity exercise (jogging) | 295 |
| Vigorous intensity exercise (hiit training) | 354 |
As you can see, more active forms of exercise tend to burn significantly more calories than showering. However, hot showers can be a nice addition to your daily routine to burn extra calories.
Improve Your Metabolism
An overlooked benefit of hot showers is that they may give your metabolism a slight boost.
Exposure to heat stresses your body much like exercise does. This stress on your cardiovascular system and muscles provides a challenge that your body adapts to.
Over time, your resting metabolism may ramp up slightly to prepare your body to better handle heat. This adaptation could potentially burn more calories overall each day.
Research has shown that repeated hot water immersion over several weeks increased metabolism in young men. While the effects were relatively small, a revved up metabolism can complement diet and exercise for weight loss.
Burn Calories Without Much Time
One great aspect about showering to burn calories is that it doesn’t take much time compared to other fat burning activities.
You can reap some calorie burning benefits from showering you already do every day. So by just making some small tweaks to make your showers hotter and longer, you give your body extra calorie burning potential for virtually no added time commitment in your daily routine.
Compare this to finding 30 minutes or more to get in a brisk walk, jog, or trip to the gym when you are busy. The simplicity and ease of burning calories showering makes it a useful lifestyle tweak.
The Verdict
So in summary, the average hot shower can burn around 40-80 calories for a typical adult when showering for 10-15 minutes or longer. Factors like water temperature, shower length, body size, and habits all impact the calories burned.
While the amount of calories burned in a hot shower is relatively small, it can add up over time as a complement to diet and exercise. The hot water also provides other potential benefits like relaxing muscles, improving your mood and even slightly revving up your metabolism.
If you want to maximize the calories burned from your shower routine, opt for very hot water, take long showers when possible, move around, vary temperatures, breathe deeply, and tense/relax muscles repeatedly. Using these tips, you may be able to burn 100+ calories in a single hot shower session.
So in addition to getting yourself clean, consider your daily shower as another small opportunity to burn extra calories and improve your overall fitness. The calorie burning effect may be modest, but over time those small numbers can contribute to bigger weight loss results.
Conclusion
In summary, the average hot 10-15 minute shower can burn approximately 40-80 calories. However, the exact amount of calories burned will vary based on factors like water temperature, shower duration, body weight, age, and specific habits during showering. While showering burns fewer calories compared to intense exercise, it can be a simple way to burn extra calories that adds up over time in combination with other weight loss strategies. If you want to maximize the calorie burn from your shower, use very hot water, take longer showers, move around frequently, vary temperatures, breathe deeply, and tense and relax muscles. With the right approach, you can turn your daily shower into a helpful calorie-burning activity.
