For Bartenders: My Thoughts on "Is Bartending An Exercise?"

howardmd1

Hey fellow bartenders!

So I was going to ask if I should add the hours I spend bartending as a cardio exercise, but instead of asking I realized I could figure it out for myself using my BodyBugg. I also searched on here and it seemed a few other people had the same question, so I thought I'd share my thoughts.

Here's the short version:

For 8 hours of bartending on a Friday night at a fairly busy bar, I burned 2142 calories, or roughly 4.5 calories a minute on average. On weekdays when it's slower, it's more like 4 cals/min.

Further explanation:

So should you count bartending as a physical activity? It's kind of up to you, but I do. The BodyBugg quantifies an "activity" as burning 3 times the calories you burn while resting. I average about 1.5 cals/min when I'm sleeping or just watching TV, so based on that, an "activity" for me would be anything at or over 4.5 cals/min (3 * 1.5 = 4.5).

I just created a cardio exercise for bartending on here under "My Exercises" with a 4 cals/min burn for slow/moderate bartending, and one for 4.5 cals/min for busy bartending.

For comparison's sake, when I play tennis, I burn around 7.5 cals/min according to my BodyBugg. I'm no pro or anything though, so it may be more for those of you who can actually play well.

All in all, it really doesn't matter for me because I work at a place that has 31 delicious craft beers on tap and specializes in wood-fired pizza, so I pretty much eat/drink my calories back at the end of the shift anyway, haha. At least beer has antioxidants.

Hope this helps any bartenders out there trying to lose weight!

-Matt

harley0269

if your standing , your burning! & if your moving around, your burning more.
you betcha you should log it!! i would!

LaMujerMasBonitaDelMundo

It depends on your profile settings but I suggest not logging it if you do it on a regular basis & instead just change your activity level from sedentary to lightly active.

avaloneternal

I am a barista (I too, have been called a bar star) and find it can be a real workout when it is busy!!

fredd500

This will only work if you have assumed your usual activity level is sedentary - i.e. you do nothing. It would be easier to tell MFP that your activity level is light or (more likely) moderate and allow that to determine how many additional calories you need per day.

I work 7 days a week. 5 of them are sat on my *kitten* at a desk. The 6th and 7th are mostly on my feet but I consider myself sedentary and just lap up the additional calorie burn on days 6 and 7 leading to nice weight losses at weigh in.

Of course this all assumes you eat back the calories you burn bar tending. If not, its a moot point anyway.

howardmd1

I took 22,000 steps bartending on Friday, which is like walking 11 miles (this obviously varies greatly, but it's an estimate), not to mention hauling cases of beer, moving, lifting, and changing many kegs, etc etc. In my book, it's beyond "lightly active". I feel like you should log at least SOMETHING when you bartend. Maybe not the full 4.5 cals/min, but perhaps a few miles of walking or something.

I do see what you're saying though - if I were to not log it, it wouldn't mean I didn't burn it, so I'd get extra calories. I really just use MFP to count calories consumed and leave it up to my BodyBugg to log exercise, then I use both to try to have a 1,000 calorie daily deficit. I was just posting my findings for other bartenders that want to know how much they're burning.

EliasManos

I am a Bartender for more than 15 years and in a potential question if this job should be considered as an activity; I say yes without second thought.
There have been nightclubs that I have worked, with ca. 3000-4000 people and there you do everything the same as literally running, aerobics, + the stress levels. As Barista also someone burns a lot as coffee has a lot of hand moves.
Brown Bar barmen should might though consider no more than half the activity of the nightclub barmen.

sydneysmom0605

I say yes!! I am sweaty, sore and exhausted after a 5 hour shift behind the bar, just like I am after an all in gym work out. So I am convinced that I burning a ton of calories. I know for a fact that I am burning way more than if I was sitting around on the couch. If you are moving, you are burning!!

DavPul

Tl;dr but the answer is no.

However, if you want to change your activity level to a substantially higher level then go right ahead. As always, use common sense and track your results. If the scale is sliding the wrong way, make adjustments no matter what your step counter/fitbit says.

SideSteel

Tl;dr but the answer is no.

However, if you want to change your activity level to a substantially higher level then go right ahead. As always, use common sense and track your results. If the scale is sliding the wrong way, make adjustments no matter what your step counter/fitbit says.

^ That's the answer I would have given.

Jynus

Seriously? the level of denial in here is getting absurd. This is NOT EXERCISE. This is called living normal life. Stand and walking is just that, standing and walking. It is NOT CARDIO. You're using an utterly different and MUCH MORE energy efficient method of using the muscles for these sorts of activities. So any HRM or bodybug type thing will be horribly inflated. Again because you're NOT doing exercise. And HRM's and bodybugs measure when you actually do exercise.

TLDR: you're an idiot of you log this.

vanguardfitness

I'd have to agree with the comments above me. I'd just increase your overall activity level. But personally I would not count this as exercise or a "workout".

amberlykay1014

No way! Change your activity level to moderately/highly active. It's not a workout.

fnfab319

Unless you've tended bar in a busy club on a packed weekend night, you really can't speak to the level of exercise (yes, exercise) this entails. There is lifting, moving, stretching, etc incorporated in this work, typically over 5-8 hours. And based on the level of business, can be consistent over this time. I think it should definitely be tracked and I appreciate the post detailing the calculation on this. Go Bartenders!

kikipunk

Hell yes you should. The nay sayers have obviously never bartended. I'm out of breath, exhausted to the point of nearly passing out and sore as all get out after my shifts. I did some calculations too and I burn a TON of calories at work. More than I would ever at the gym (granted I work some 10 hours). But I'm running up and down stairs, carrying heavy ice and cases of beer/water all day/night, and running around like a crazy person. That's not normal activity, that's excersise.

peleroja

I just use my fitbit and count it as steps taken. I do plenty of lifting (kegs, ice, cases of wine and liquor) and generally running around, but I don't think it burns enough calories above just walking to bother logging.

I work in a very busy bar with no bar back, but I just think of the extra little burn as a bonus.

jaiblevins

As a waiter, and bartender for more then 15 years, I DO consider it to be exercise. However, I do not log it. I feel it is covered by the moderately active lifestyle setting, and would simply cause me to consume more calories, because MFP tells me I have more available. But, to each their own. Just remember, as someone further up the line stated, if the scale is sliding the wrong way, then you need to change something!

sunglasses_and_ocean_waves

I was a bartender/waitress in college, and you really are active. It's a physically demanding job. Exercise? Not exactly. Active? Hell yes! Also, when you're tending bar/working in a restaurant, you're eating & drinking some major calories.

So while I was the thinnest I'd ever been during those years, I can't really say I looked or felt like an athlete.

dbmata

Tl;dr but the answer is no.

This.

I used to be a line cook, we moved a lot more than that, sweated, bled, and that's still not cardio.

Hershey_Girl

I work one night a week bartending. My shift can go as long as 9 or more hours and I am so sore after my shift. I am on my feet running back and forth behind the bar, lifting cases of beer to stock to the fridge, moving kegs, and I probably only get to sit for 10 minutes during that whole time.

If this website allows you to count "walking" as an exercise then why not count "running around slinging beers all night" as one too?

ElliottTN

On a related note. I'm a software programmer. As you would suspect, my words per minute typing is pretty intense. Sometimes I get pretty sweaty from the pressure and how intense it is.

Should I count this as an excercise? I plugged my Walmart purchased heart monitor and according to my calculations, I am roughly burning 15,000 calories an hour doing this activity. I am going to create a MFP excercise for it.