Favorite Non-Typical Exercise?

Skelders88

Before I say anything else, I want to make sure it's clear that I know there's no replacement for a good workout. Walking, running, general cardio, weight training, etc. That's above all else, but my grandfather always used to say it's just as good to go out and do yard work all day.

So, I was wondering what you all thought about non-workout workouts.

For instance, I play real guitar/bass and drums on the game Rock Band. Mind you, it's a full sized electronic drum set, so there's a lot of torso and arm movement. Do you think these are viable means of exercise for maybe one or two days a week? I like to play real guitar quite a bit, and sometimes I don't have time for that and a traditional workout with everything else going on through the day.

MyFitnessPal has an entry for playing guitar while standing and playing drums, but I was wondering how good of a workout you thought that really is?

TavistockToad

i would count that as my activity level over the week, not extra exercise.

Packerjohn

Not much.

Machka9

philosearcher wrote: »

MyFitnessPal has an entry for playing guitar while standing and playing drums, but I was wondering how good of a workout you thought that really is?

Probably about the same as I do when I do the laundry ... load it all into the wash machine, cart the heavy wet laundry to the line outside or drying rack, and hang it all. Then later, gather it all up and fold it and put it away.

I log that on MFP as ... oh wait, I don't log that on MFP. It fits within my "Sedentary" setting.

leggup

That's part of your activity level. Just because you get sweaty/warm/heart rate up does not mean you're burning many more calories than just living. If you aren't logging it and are eating within your calories and you're losing weight too quickly, then consider logging and eating some of it back.

I am a dance instructor and some classes I mostly stand, demo, stand... while some classes I am dancing with students, then standing. I don't log it because it's not really a good consistent burn. If I lose a little extra weight because I maybe burned an extra 50 calories? Woohoo.

AnnPT77

Like others, I wouldn't log playing music (actually, don't log it - I'm a bluegrass banjo learner, of all things). It's part of activity level.

That said, it is worth doing: It does burn a few (hard to estimate) calories, vs. sitting.

It falls into what I'd call "NEAT improvement": The effort to burn a few extra calories in daily life, because these little bits add up, your body registers them, and (cumulatively, over the long haul) it shows up on the scale.

So, don't sit when you can stand, stand when you can move around, etc., for parts of your day.

Awhile back, I started a thread about this, which is here:

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10610953/neat-improvement-strategies-to-improve-weight-loss

cbohling1987

Even a lot of things that would be considered more "traditional exercise" are things I don't specifically log for calorie burn. For example, when I go to Crossfit I don't log that because there's no reasonable way to estimate calorie burn for that kind of exercise. Instead I just picked "lightly active" for my activity level rather than "Sedentary" since I'm mildly active at work + the Crossfit workouts.

Some people might call that inaccurate, but it's working (20 pounds down in 4 months) so obviously I do have the calorie balance correct.

julie_broadhead

Like others have said, I would not log playing a musical instrument.

middlehaitch

Machka9 wrote: »

philosearcher wrote: »

MyFitnessPal has an entry for playing guitar while standing and playing drums, but I was wondering how good of a workout you thought that really is?

Probably about the same as I do when I do the laundry ... load it all into the wash machine, cart the heavy wet laundry to the line outside or drying rack, and hang it all. Then later, gather it all up and fold it and put it away.

I log that on MFP as ... oh wait, I don't log that on MFP. It fits within my "Sedentary" setting.

What! You don't stand ironing all night.
You only get a calorie burn past sedentary inclusion if you iron it too.

(Lots of smiles so we know I am being silly)

If you are playing at a rock concert intensity for 30-60 min, you may get a reasonable burn on the drums, but it would depend on effort and intensity.
Guitar, again depends of effort and intensity.

If you feel you want to gain some cals from the guitar/drum playing make your own entries under 'exercise' ' cardio'
Drums/3cal per min. Guitar/2cals per min, or whatever, log, and see what happens to your real life results. Or use the MFP entries.

I think it will be a try it and see endeavour.

Cheers, h.

Skelders88

Awesome responses, everyone.

I never thought of it that way, so I've been tracking "exercise" kind of poorly for quite a while now.

Thank you for the information!!

anyWendy

Agree with all of the above, but would add that I absolutely do track more intense yardwork (e.g. manual mower), and would agree with your grandfather. I view that very differently than playing music. It's about intensity of the exercise for me.

How do you FEEL after playing Rock Band for an hour? Do you feel like you've been working out?

Skelders88

anyWendy wrote: »

How do you FEEL after playing Rock Band for an hour? Do you feel like you've been working out?

Well, I'm a bigger dude, and with my Ion drum kit, my hearts usually beating pretty hard and I'm definitely sweating. Thing is, when I play, it's usually a marathon of about 3-4 hours, and the music can get fairly intense with short breaks in between songs. Playing real guitar is considerably less work, though I usually do sweat a good bit with that too, but it's mostly because it's generally warm where I play. Too, sometimes I play a game called Rocksmith to help with guitar and bass, and I'll marathon those songs for 45 mins to an hour with minimal time inbetween songs (usually only a few seconds).

So in short, I feel a bit exhausted after playing drums, and actually during many of the songs, my arms start to burn pretty good. Both real guitar and Rock Band drums make me sweat enough to feel like I did something, but I'm also cool with not tracking it.

jessef593

Bow practice, free climb bouldering, spike driving and rail building at work. That will get anyone’s heart going

lorrpb

Workout so playing the drums is easier. Don't use playing the drums as a substitute for regular exercise.

sgt1372

Hiking is currently my non-typical exercise of choice. Averaging about 30 miles per month or 7.5 miles a week for the past 5 months.

Still lifting and doing cardio (mainly rowing) at home but hiking gets me out of the house doing something rather than just sitting in front of the TV or computer when I'm not lifting & rowing or cooking & eating.

middlehaitch

Ok this is just a silly observation.

When I read the post all I could do was think of the way Keith Moon played the drums, and he had quite a bit of muscle for the era, and Ringo Starr, always a slender build.

Like I say just a silly observation, but it does point to effort expended.

Cheers, h.
(I'm old and couldn't think of 2 more recent glaring comparisons)

SonyaCele

are you standing up and jumping around like a rock star when you are playing? does your heart rate go up? if so, it could be considered a cardio. Or if you're just sanding there strumming, then its probably not considered anything.

Skelders88

SonyaCele wrote: »

are you standing up and jumping around like a rock star when you are playing? does your heart rate go up? if so, it could be considered a cardio. Or if you're just sanding there strumming, then its probably not considered anything.

I honestly try to. No, it's not as intense as they are on a real stage, but I do try to move around as much as possible.