Snow Shoveling - Exercise or Health Risk

nicsflyingcircus

kshama2001 wrote: »

psychod787 wrote: »

I lived in south Florida for 7 years. I'll take a Massachusetts winter over a FL summer every time!

The second picture got me hard. I am a Canadian (born and raised central Alberta) living in Alabama.

I went to the grocery store yesterday in flip flops and shorts and a t-shirt. It was 59 degrees. There were plenty of people in puffy coats, UGG style boots and even some toques (a beanie or knitted hat). Long pants and sleeves everywhere. The only other person I saw in shorts had clearly stopped on his way home from the gym

AnnPT77

nicsflyingcircus wrote: »

kshama2001 wrote: »

psychod787 wrote: »

I lived in south Florida for 7 years. I'll take a Massachusetts winter over a FL summer every time!

The second picture got me hard. I am a Canadian (born and raised central Alberta) living in Alabama.

I went to the grocery store yesterday in flip flops and shorts and a t-shirt. It was 59 degrees. There were plenty of people in puffy coats, UGG style boots and even some toques (a beanie or knitted hat). Long pants and sleeves everywhere. The only other person I saw in shorts had clearly stopped on his way home from the gym

Indeed. I'm only from upper tier US, but once went to a work conference in Florida in December. It got "cold" . . . all the way down to 50F! I was astounded to see a groundskeeper at the hotel working in a flower bed, all bundled up . . . including earmuffs.

Even here, where I live near a university town, it's reasonably common to see students out sunbathing in halter tops and shorts when it hits a sunny 50F in Spring . . . but breaking out their puffy down coats when it hits 50F again in the Fall.

It's all about what you're accustomed to.

ythannah

nicsflyingcircus wrote: »

ythannah wrote: »

kshama2001 wrote: »

I got some Sorrel boots like these when I was winter camping in upstate New York and have never fallen in them:

https://smile.amazon.com/Sorel-Bear-Extreme-Black-Quartz/dp/B00HQO8Q1I/



Those are rated to -60 degrees - I think mine are "only" rated to -40 degrees. When I was winter camping, I slept in the inserts.

I have a pair in that style, also the -40 rating, but in a horrible colour called "mulberry" that is somewhere between burgundy and purple... which explains why I got them on clearance. They're ugly but they've lasted over 20 years so a good investment.

Growing up in central Alberta, I wore boots like this to school in the winter through all of elementary and most of junior high. High school I rode a bus (VS walking) and got way too "cool" for that.

Mine were always white though. We'd take them off in the entryway and put them on boot racks and then out on our sneakers for inside wear. Everyone's had to be labeled because like 80% of us were in some brand/iteration of this kind of boot.

We were just reminiscing about white Sorels the other day. I'm not sure whose bright idea it was to make a winter boot in white, they got filthy so fast.

I was also too cool for boots in high school (northern Ontario). I walked to school in white Sparkx runners and froze my feet so many times. For some reason we also wore jean jackets on all but the coldest days.

nicsflyingcircus

ythannah wrote: »

nicsflyingcircus wrote: »

ythannah wrote: »

kshama2001 wrote: »

I got some Sorrel boots like these when I was winter camping in upstate New York and have never fallen in them:

https://smile.amazon.com/Sorel-Bear-Extreme-Black-Quartz/dp/B00HQO8Q1I/



Those are rated to -60 degrees - I think mine are "only" rated to -40 degrees. When I was winter camping, I slept in the inserts.

I have a pair in that style, also the -40 rating, but in a horrible colour called "mulberry" that is somewhere between burgundy and purple... which explains why I got them on clearance. They're ugly but they've lasted over 20 years so a good investment.

Growing up in central Alberta, I wore boots like this to school in the winter through all of elementary and most of junior high. High school I rode a bus (VS walking) and got way too "cool" for that.

Mine were always white though. We'd take them off in the entryway and put them on boot racks and then out on our sneakers for inside wear. Everyone's had to be labeled because like 80% of us were in some brand/iteration of this kind of boot.

We were just reminiscing about white Sorels the other day. I'm not sure whose bright idea it was to make a winter boot in white, they got filthy so fast.

I was also too cool for boots in high school (northern Ontario). I walked to school in white Sparkx runners and froze my feet so many times. For some reason we also wore jean jackets on all but the coldest days.

I also remember huddling outside in the depths of winter in the designated smoking area at my high school (hooray 90's, we were all underage to smoke) in jeans and maybe a sweatshirt or plaid shirt

CSARdiver

tbright1965 wrote: »

I remember one of the biggest recent arguments my wife and I got into was over a snow storm last winter and weight of the snow I removed from the driveway.

I remember it was about a 12" snowfall and did some back of the envelope calculations of the area in front of the three car garage. I knew our Mercury Grand Marquis was just under 18' long and I could probably park 2 of them nose to tail on drive from the house to the street. Three cars wide with one 8' and one 16' door put the width as there was space between the doors at 25' wide was a reasonable estimate. So on the order of 36'x25'.

So 1000 square feet was a reasonable estimate once you added the sidewalk to the front door and the sidewalk in front of the house. Since it was about a foot deep, 1000 cubic feet of snow to move. As snow is about 20# a cubic foot, therefore, about 10 tons of snow was moved by hand.

She was like there is no way you moved 10 tons of snow.

Showed her my back of the envelope calculations and that's when the fight broke out

Here is a photo, not of last year, but a few years ago, after the job.

Of course, I'm in shorts, and a t-shirt, standing outside admiring my effort.



It does help give some idea of the area needed to be cleared.

I'm hoping that this was playing in the background:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RRh0QiXyZSk

that_porsche_guy

The Australian equivalent of snow shoveling must surely be pulling out weeds.

Bari_Tone

My "driveway" is about 450 feet long...I use the solar method of snow removal and 4WD vehicles.

If we get drifts in the odd central Missouri winter where we think we are in Minne-SO-da, I call in a plow.

So to answer the OP's question...it depends on the HP of the shovel.

GiddyupTim

Has anyone treated this seriously yet?
If not, allow me to be the sobersides in this discussion:
Yes, shoveling snow does appear to be a cause of heart attacks.
Why? Sedentary people go out with a shovel and snow is heavy. So the activity can raise your heart rate fast.
In addition, snow shoveling uses your arms, which for most people is a more taxing form of exercise than, say, walking.
Also, cold weather causes blood vessels to constrict. This raises blood pressure, which is not good for someone with risk factors for a heart attack. Cold causes the release of proteins related to physical stress and these proteins makes one more prone to blood clotting.
So, it is not a myth that people head out to shovel snow and their spouse finds them face down in the driveway a few hours later.
Here's the thing, though. Studies have found, as definitely as you can find this kind of thing, that the risk is related to how heavy and how much snow there is. Big, wet snowstorms are worse.
Taken altogether, the message here is: If you are not a marathoner/body builder/Crossfitter/et cetera, be careful, go slow, take breathers and breaks.
Sorry to be a wet blanket.
I now return you to your regularly scheduled banter.
PS Snowblowers may not be the answer, especially if you are particularly out of shape. They can be heavy and call for a lot of pushing and straining.

kshama2001

GiddyupTim wrote: »

Has anyone treated this seriously yet?
If not, allow me to be the sobersides in this discussion:
Yes, shoveling snow does appear to be a cause of heart attacks.
Why? Sedentary people go out with a shovel and snow is heavy. So the activity can raise your heart rate fast.
In addition, snow shoveling uses your arms, which for most people is a more taxing form of exercise than, say, walking.
Also, cold weather causes blood vessels to constrict. This raises blood pressure, which is not good for someone with risk factors for a heart attack. Cold causes the release of proteins related to physical stress and these proteins makes one more prone to blood clotting.
So, it is not a myth that people head out to shovel snow and their spouse finds them face down in the driveway a few hours later.
Here's the thing, though. Studies have found, as definitely as you can find this kind of thing, that the risk is related to how heavy and how much snow there is. Big, wet snowstorms are worse.
Taken altogether, the message here is: If you are not a marathoner/body builder/Crossfitter/et cetera, be careful, go slow, take breathers and breaks.
Sorry to be a wet blanket.
I now return you to your regularly scheduled banter.
PS Snowblowers may not be the answer, especially if you are particularly out of shape. They can be heavy and call for a lot of pushing and straining.

Yes, most of the first 3 pages were serious. That was plenty for me

wiigelec

It’s only serious when it’s 🌨