Snow Shoveling - Exercise or Health Risk
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wiigelec
Posts: 503 Member
Shoveling snow can result in fatal heart attacks, back injuries and aggravate respiratory conditions such as asthma and bronchitis.
I have a hard time considering this nefarious activity to be "healthy."
What say you?
I have a hard time considering this nefarious activity to be "healthy."
What say you?
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Replies
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You can also die of a heart attack eating vanilla ice cream, like my Mom did. Or having sex.
Snow shoveling should be done with joyful abandon. You should stop part way through to make snow angels or build a snowman. ❄❄❄45 -
Snow Shoveling & Me:
1) I have never enjoyed doing it but have always HAD to do it, to either make sure my folks could get to or from work or so I could get to and from work (when I decided to actually go in a storm 😉). Today, as a retiree I have no work to go to. So long as I do my due diligence in pre-storm prep, I can afford to wait.
2) For many of the past winters, I just dreaded having to shovel any amounts of snow due to discomfort and diminished mobility. I looked for any all ways to avoid it. After two hip replacements and a significant renewal of attention to fitness and exercise, I am actually kinda looking forward to shovelling...well actually, no I won't, but I shan't dread it either!! But knowing I can do it more comfortably and will be more aware of safety will be huge...and I might even make snow angels 😊.11 -
@geraldaltman This retiree will be thinking of you when I'm making my snow angels with my bionic knees and hip.3
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When I was a kid we took the opportunity to make some money going door to door in the neighborhood. I’d be glad to pay a teenager shovel. Don’t kids these days do that kind of stuff anymore?3
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@geraldaltman This retiree will be thinking of you when I'm making my snow angels with my bionic knees and hip.
😁😊0 -
When I was a kid we took the opportunity to make some money going door to door in the neighborhood. I’d be glad to pay a teenager shovel. Don’t kids these days do that kind of stuff anymore?
They were non-existent when I really needed them. I put posts up and got nothing. I would have paid well too.
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My guess has always been that the ones making the headlines led a fairly sedentary lifestyle until the moment in time when they overly exerted themselves shoveling snow. The body just couldn’t handle it. I have seen a number of people out push mowing their yards that made me nervous as well (I have stopped and asked if they needed help on more than one occasion if I had time to spare, but no takers so far). Beet red, drenched in sweat, looking like they were about to pass out.11
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Snow shoveling 101.....
Never let the snow compact and turn to partial ice. Shovel it while its still light and fluffy.9 -
nytrifisoul wrote: »Snow shoveling 101.....
Never let the snow compact and turn to partial ice. Shovel it while its still light and fluffy.
This is, sadly, not always possible.2 -
Shoveling snow can result in fatal heart attacks, back injuries and aggravate respiratory conditions such as asthma and bronchitis.
I have a hard time considering this nefarious activity to be "healthy."
What say you?
I wouldn't personally consider it exercise, more like just a background part of life in a snowy place.
People get back injuries from shoveling snow, moving furniture, even coughing. These are almost always people who don't get any exercise. The main job of your core muscles is to protect your spine. When people have very little core strength from a sedentary lifestyle, they're at more risk of a spinal injury (hernia) when they stress their backs. The solution isn't being more sedentary, it's being active and getting exercise - but not going from 0 to 100 all at once. Seriously, I knew somebody who smoked some marijuana, coughed really hard, felt a pop in her back, and spent the next six months in severe pain (herniated disc impinging her sciatic nerve). I don't smoke, but I also don't like pain, so I do a lot of core exercises.
Heart attacks can be caused all sorts of ways, but one of them is pretty similar, suddenly causing more stress than the cardiovascular system is able to handle.
People should be fit enough to handle the tasks they're going to face in life, because that way life is easier and less painful or worrisome. It's not about being moral or whatever, it's about being good to future you.16 -
One needs to know one's own capabilities. Do what is right for you and no one else. Regrettably, we can all misjudge ourselves. Keep safe.6
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Considering last year at this time I was around 80 lbs heavier, snow shoveling should be a breeze and my ticker shouldn't be in so much stress this year! Now watch, I slip and fall and break my neck! Living is a risk.5
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I live in Florida... so unnecessary... is that an option.. lol8
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Actually we don’t want to hear about it 😁psychod787 wrote: »I live in Florida... so unnecessary... is that an option.. lol
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I suppose if youre already an exerciser, it could be just another exercise, but if you're not then DEATH TRAP, ALL THE WAY 😂6
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Shoveling snow can result in fatal heart attacks, back injuries and aggravate respiratory conditions such as asthma and bronchitis.
I have a hard time considering this nefarious activity to be "healthy."
What say you?
Not because of the activity, but because people who don't get regular exercise push their body beyond it's current limits.6 -
When I was a kid we took the opportunity to make some money going door to door in the neighborhood. I’d be glad to pay a teenager shovel. Don’t kids these days do that kind of stuff anymore?
we have crackheads doing it now. less kids. if i have the cash, i'll let them do it
if it's a smaller amount i don't mind. but when we get foots at a time and it's heavy...not my favorite.0 -
"I think we're going to need a smaller shovel." (If the snow is heavy, use a smaller shovel.)
Also, there are starting to be battery-powered snow blowers that will likely be sufficient for smaller amounts of snow. This greatly simplifies the work of owning a snow blower! Whereas I need a big gas powered unit where I live, the battery units may be sufficient for people who have less to clear or who live in areas with less snow. I am tempted to get one to supplement my gas powered unit!
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I've always had to do it, did not have a brother or father figure to do it for me, my mom and sisters. I used to live on a corner property, and that was the worst. I always had back pain afterwards, but never thought much of it because it was just a necessity that had to get done.
We were gifted an old snow blower two years ago, so we fill it with gas and then run it up and down the sidewalks on our street until it runs out. Husband runs the blower, I follow behind with a shovel to scrape up any compacted stuff. A few neighbors have written thank you cards for our efforts, but it's really so easy with a snowblower that it would feel selfish to not help others out. We don't do driveways, but hopefully clearing the sidewalks helps prevent some injuries for some folks.
Edit: I live in New Jersey, we get snow but usually not feet of it at a time.5 -
Snow blower for the win!
I'm 65, in good shape for my age, but just don't enjoy the cold or the risks inherent with shovelling snow. If it's a light snow, I'll just broom it off the walks. Anything deeper than that the snow blower makes mercifully short work of.5 -
All exercise is a risk if your fitness level is knocking up against the rocks. That includes getting on the treadmill at the doctor's office. You can have a heart attack right then and there on the dreadmill. You're closer to the operating table but fitness level rules the day no matter what you're doing.2
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psychod787 wrote: »I live in Florida... so unnecessary... is that an option.. lol
you still have to mow though. :-P4 -
So it seems to be snowing. Probably won't stick (not cold enough) but I am going to blame this thread.3
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nighthawk584 wrote: »Considering last year at this time I was around 80 lbs heavier, snow shoveling should be a breeze and my ticker shouldn't be in so much stress this year! Now watch, I slip and fall and break my neck! Living is a risk.
Sometimes I think it would be easier with more weight to throw into it.1 -
nighthawk584 wrote: »Considering last year at this time I was around 80 lbs heavier, snow shoveling should be a breeze and my ticker shouldn't be in so much stress this year! Now watch, I slip and fall and break my neck! Living is a risk.
Sometimes I think it would be easier with more weight to throw into it.
haha! I am not gaining back the 80 to test that theory again! besides, I have a snow blower if it gets too bad!
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If you have heart disease, you should probably just let someone else shovel the snow. Cold weather, in general, puts more pressure on the heart. Adding strenuous snow shoveling on top is a disaster waiting to happen. My latest edition of the Harvard Heart Letter just had a pretty convicing case for avoiding it.
If you're young and healthy - go for it!1 -
Never tell me the odds.6
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