How many calories does painting the house burn?

helenhelena
helenhelena Posts: 6
in Fitness and Exercise
We've recently renovated the house and I painted the lounge room and dining room all by myself. Worked from 7am - 9pm for 2 days straight and I can't even lift my arms or my head (painting ceiling) any more.

Tried to add it as exercise but it's not up there.

Help?

Replies

  • Jude_V
    Jude_V Posts: 72 Member
    Found this for you

    Does Housework Count as a Workout?

    The answer: Yes! There's a reason they call it housework. You can burn serious calories during a marathon cleaning session. Here are a few jobs that work major muscle groups, and how many calories you're burning by completing each task.

    Mopping floors - works = Shoulders, biceps burns = 112 calories/30 minutes

    Painting - works = Arms, core - burns =288 calories/60 minutes

    Gardening - works = Arms, back, legs - burns = 256 calories/60 minutes

    Cleaning gutters - works = Shoulders, upper back, arms, legs - burns = 320 calories/60 minutes
  • crimsontech
    crimsontech Posts: 234 Member
    LOL I was just painting tonight. I have just used whatever my FitBit says I burned, but I feel like it should be more because of all the muscle action.
  • SuffolkSally
    SuffolkSally Posts: 964 Member
    I work sometimes doing part time painting and decorating. After much research, I allow an extra 100-150 calories per hour as a reasonable estimate (my HRM shows higher burns, but they're not accurate for low intensity workouts).
  • Nicolee_2014
    Nicolee_2014 Posts: 1,572 Member
    I'm not entirely sure because I didn't have my HRM when I painted my house 2 years ago but I do know it kicked started my weight loss again. I would have thought that it would be in the database? Hmm..Interesting.

    Don't under estimate walking backwards & forwards, climbing up & down ladders & the constant strokes/rolling. Ugh! I have a love hate relationship with painting.

    Try something like this & then just add it as your own exercise? http://www.sparkpeople.com/resource/calories_burned.asp?exercise=121
  • Jude_V
    Jude_V Posts: 72 Member
    When I lift weights or do yoga with my Heart Rate Monitor on it hardly records any calories burned - can't remember exact figures but it's probably a quarter of what I burn while doing aerobics. I think housework, gardening and painting is probably more akin to yoga than step aerobics IYSWIM...

    The point being that the stop-start non-aerobic activities are building muscles not burning calories - although the muscles will help you burn more calories in the future....

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