Can you really count playing violin/fiddle?

rachaelp7777Izze
rachaelp7777Izze Posts: 4 Member
edited November 17 in Fitness and Exercise
I teach and play violin and fiddle. The exercise tracker shows it burning the same amount of calories per hour as slow walking, which I find hard to believe. I would love to deduct calories for playing music, but I am guessing the counter might be off. Anyone have any thoughts?

Replies

  • julie_broadhead
    julie_broadhead Posts: 347 Member
    Most of those trackers detect walking from arm movement. Try wearing your tracker on your non bow hand:-)
  • CyberTone
    CyberTone Posts: 7,337 Member
    The MFP Exercise Diary activities are based on METs, which are a multiple of your BMR. The METs for both Walking 2.0 mph slow pace and music playing are 2.5, which means both activities provide an estimated Calories of 2.5 x BMR.

    I have logged the same activity for playing piano in the past. I normally logged only 50% of the time, in order to subtract out the BMR Calories I would burn by just living.

    As long as you are not planning to log more than 30 minutes of that type of activity, it will not be too far off. If you do that activity for two or more hours per day, you should account for that in your MFP Activity Level setting and not log it as a separate exercise activity.
  • Azdak
    Azdak Posts: 8,281 Member
    The problem with trying to "log" an activity like the one you describe is that it is easy to double count. If you are doing something that is only 2-2.5 METs, most of that activity is already accounted for--either by BMR or your activity allowance (even if you consider yourself "sedentary"). The tiny amount left over is well within the "error factor" of energy estimation.

    Even if it was the equivalent of "slow walking", TBH slow walking falls into the same category and you wouldn't count it separately either.
  • TimothyFish
    TimothyFish Posts: 4,925 Member
    If you are playing while standing and the music is fast, I can believe it burns about the same as slow walking. But keep in mind that the calorie burn charts are creating by lumping various activities into groups and assigning a factor to each group. Some burn less. Some burn more. They are all given the same calorie burn.
  • Theo166
    Theo166 Posts: 2,564 Member
    I'd expect the calories teaching vs playing are very different.

    Instead of counting it as exercise, would selecting lightly active over sedentary be a better way of managing the burn?

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