Cleaning Stalls, Calories? Strength or Cardiovascular?

Midnight444

I just spent 2 hours cleaning 3 stalls. Would love to hear is anyone else puts cleaning stalls down as exercise and how many calories are burned for how long and is it Cardiovascular or Strength Training... I go kind of slow because I haven't yet build my strength back up yet... I was thinking of putting down 2 hours of slow walking 2 mph... Any ideas? Thanks :flowerforyou:

emmy3111

I've mucked stalls. I would definitely say to put it as something higher than a "slow walk"... although, I also prefer to underestimate calories burned than overestimate...

deecullimore

I put it down as general gardening - it's shovelling and sweeping and pushing a wheelbarrow.

Plates559

I don't count being a normal human being as a work out.

pastryari

I don't count being a normal human being as a work out.

As harsh as that may sound, I agree.

l_nelson20

I don't count being a normal human being as a work out.

It depends on how you set your base activity. If you use sedentary for your base calories, then something like this is a workout. If you have an active base, then not so much.

I would log it as gardening

LorinaLynn

I don't count being a normal human being as a work out.

How many normal human beings do you know who regularly shovel horse poop?

Agree with the suggestion for gardening/yard work.

ggcat

I don't count being a normal human being as a work out.

As harsh as that may sound, I agree.

This...

livigabihuni

I have a friend that logs it as shoveling snow...

javamonster

Well, it's all relative. I muck 7-10 stalls in two hours, give or take. I've got a BodyMedia FIT and comparing a day where I do stalls compared to one I don't, I burn about 500 more calories, at my weight. Before I got my BMF and was logging on here I just had my activity level set as active to account for that, as for me it was pretty much a daily activity. If yours is set at sendentary, and you are just starting this activity, then I would log it, personally.

This site might help, noting that these figures are for a 150lb, 5'8 human:

http://www.equisearch.com/horses_riding_training/training/general/countingcalories_122006/

I'd like some of you normal human beings to come muck stalls at my place for a couple of weeks. :flowerforyou: Then tell me you don't burn calories. Want great-looking arms? Do barn work! :happy:

jeepguy69

If you're just shoveling poop, I would agree about using gardening. If you're going slow, scooping and scrubbing urine-soaked shavings, then I would log 20 minutes of each hour as "shoveling snow" because that stuff gets heavy.

llamalland

Gardening is a good place to start. After becoming familiar with the energy output of various MFP listed exercises, I was able to equate my daily farm activities (being on the business end of shovels, rakes, wheel barrows, trudging thru mud carrying hay, handling livestock of all sorts -my own and clients- etc), to those "cals per hour" and created my own exercise called "Assorted Farm Chores". Gave me a clearer picture of my activity instead of calling it something it's not....

As for those who don't agree to counting regular activities as exercise, it all depends on how you've identified your personal activity level.....

Pebble321

Shovelling *kitten* is not "normal" in my book.

OP: have you set your daily activity level to include looking after your horses?
If you have, don't add anything.

If you add your exercise separately (ie. use MFP in the way it is designed) then find another activity that seems similar to you and enter that instead.

Don't worry too much - all the numbers we use are estimates, so pick something that makes sense to you and try if for a month or two. After that you have a better idea of how things are working for you and you can make changes if needed.

InTheInbetween

I don't count being a normal human being as a work out.

How many normal human beings do you know who regularly shovel horse poop?

Agree with the suggestion for gardening/yard work.

^^This.

InTheInbetween

If mucking stalls is not a daily activity for you then absolutely count it. I've mucked since I was 10 years old and it most definitely is a work out if you're "mucking" properly. Really not sure where the "normal human being" comment came from . . . kinda unnecessary.

javamonster

If mucking stalls is not a daily activity for you then absolutely count it. I've mucked since I was 10 years old and it most definitely is a work out if you're "mucking" properly. Really not sure where the "normal human being" comment came from . . . kinda unnecessary.

Well riding horses isn't exercise either, dontcha know? The horse does all the work, right? :flowerforyou: (please forgive my sarcasm!)

fypspirit

Many people don't know what cleaning stalls is all about. It isn't just shoveling and push a wheelbarrow it is a workout!!!! Poop is heavy then taking it and dumping it, usually having to make more than one trip then refilling the stall with shavings there is a lot of work involved.

I would put a little of both there us weight when lifting and the cardio for the rest. Hope that helps!!

Jynus

I don't count being a normal human being as a work out.

It depends on how you set your base activity. If you use sedentary for your base calories, then something like this is a workout. If you have an active base, then not so much.

I would log it as gardening

it might make you feel better about yourself, but biologically this is not true. Sitting on your *kitten*, much like walking a slow walk, doing basic cleaning, typing up this post, or doing ANYTHING thats not part of your daily activity thats low impact are NOT exercise. Your body has energy systems based upon the activity you do. Things like living life basically use your fatty acid energy system to make energy. Takes care of the basics, but is NOT exercise to your body.

What is exercise to your body is getting the heart rate up and using your cardiovacular energy system to power the muscles.

TLDR: low impact activities that use your fatty acid energy system ARE NOT exercise

higher impact activities that use your cardiovascular energy system ARE exercise.

Just cause you feel better about yourself for doing something out of the ordinary for you, does NOT mean you're actually doing something useful like exercise. sorry, life is cruel.

LorinaLynn

What is exercise to your body is getting the heart rate up and using your cardiovacular energy system to power the muscles.

And shoveling equine fecal matter does exactly that. It's not exactly scooping a cat box.

whatascene

I don't know if I'd count it, honestly, and if you do, underestimate your calories. I see people on here trying to scrap whatever extra calories they can by cleaning the house and whatever. Let the normal chores be an extra bonus for you at the end if it aids in losing weight because that's such a hard one to call on calories. I even see on here when someone goes dancing they put in the whole 4 hours they were out, when half that time they were probably sitting. Remember that as well. Don't try to scrape up those extra calories if you can help it- it will be worth it in the long run to just count your workouts because I see it's not working for those people who scrape up those extra cals. This week I moved 2 people from one apt to another in 2 days- that was the biggest workout I got in forever (running up and down 3 flights of stairs for 4 hours), but I didn't count it because there is not a good way to tell how much I was actually burning.

- btw, I've done farm work before, and I know it's a great workout, I just don't know if one can accurately count it on this website without it overeastimating. Maybe raise your activity level.

Jynus

What is exercise to your body is getting the heart rate up and using your cardiovacular energy system to power the muscles.

And shoveling equine fecal matter does exactly that. It's not exactly scooping a cat box.

debatable dependent upon intensity. But yes, it is very likely.

quietcoral

Even though it may not be enough to increase heart rate and improve cardiovascular fitness, she would still be burning more calories than her normal (especially if she put down sedentary as her activity level), so I think it is perfectly fine to log as exercise.

Today, I mowed the lawn and pulled weeds/did yard work and even though I doubt my heart rate got too high I am very exhausted because I was doing this activity for almost 3 hours and it was hard work! And I logged it! I did however reduce the calorie burn because I do believe MFP overestimates the calories burned. Mostly I log it so I know what I did day to day because I want to keep track of my exercise. I never eat back all my exericse calories and only eat back maybe 100-200 calories if I am really hungry.

Debutante55

Shovelling *kitten* is not "normal" in my book.

Oh YES it is.... it's totally "normal" around my farm and is a twice-daily activity.

I usually log about 45 calories for every 10 minutes spent mucking. On the days when I give the barn a really good clean-up I log some hours for "curling" -- the only sport I could find in MFP that duplicates the intense sweeping motion.

I guess I could log some weight-lifting hours too for hauling hay, straw, tack and buckets but I don't bother... that's just bonus activity, like wrestling with the occasional hot horse.

misundrztood

If it is not a regular chore for you then add it. You know how much effort you put into it. Did you break a sweat? Where you breathing harder than normal? I personally log it when I do because it is not a regular activity. We dont have stall mates yet so we have to scrub down the limestone daily. I use shoveling snow but I only log the actual time I was shoveling. I dont log walking back and forth to the compost heap because its just walking. Its really up to you and how much of a workout it was to you. Hope this helps. Give your pony a squeeze for me:)

javamonster

What is exercise to your body is getting the heart rate up and using your cardiovacular energy system to power the muscles.

I think there are some people that do next to no cardio and lift weights that would take exception to this comment. I always thought that was exercise.

Jynus

Even though it may not be enough to increase heart rate and improve cardiovascular fitness, she would still be burning more calories than her normal (especially if she put down sedentary as her activity level), so I think it is perfectly fine to log as exercise.

Today, I mowed the lawn and pulled weeds/did yard work and even though I doubt my heart rate got too high I am very exhausted because I was doing this activity for almost 3 hours and it was hard work! And I logged it!

to pick on you specifically, did you account for your BMR when logging this 'exercise'?? This is the main beef I have. People will do housework and see they burned say 700 calories in 3 hours of work, so log 700 calories.

guess what, your BMR is 360 calories from doing nothing, and another 180 just from the act of standing up. Meaning of the 700 they burned, 540 would have been burned anyway just by living their everyday life. Meaning the actual calorie burn from their activity is ***160 calories*** from exercise... Ya, the body can be that efficient when using the fatty acid energy system. there isn't too much difference from walking compared to standing. This is why I say it's quite stupid marking down what amounts to every day activities. The burn is far less than people think because it fails to take into account the HUGE amount of calories that are burned just from doing nothing.

quietcoral

Even though it may not be enough to increase heart rate and improve cardiovascular fitness, she would still be burning more calories than her normal (especially if she put down sedentary as her activity level), so I think it is perfectly fine to log as exercise.

Today, I mowed the lawn and pulled weeds/did yard work and even though I doubt my heart rate got too high I am very exhausted because I was doing this activity for almost 3 hours and it was hard work! And I logged it!

to pick on you specifically, did you account for your BMR when logging this 'exercise'?? This is the main beef I have. People will do housework and see they burned say 700 calories in 3 hours of work, so log 700 calories.

guess what, your BMR is 360 calories from doing nothing, and another 180 just from the act of standing up. Meaning of the 700 they burned, 540 would have been burned anyway just by living their everyday life. Meaning the actual calorie burn from their activity is ***160 calories*** from exercise... Ya, the body can be that efficient when using the fatty acid energy system. there isn't too much difference from walking compared to standing. This is why I say it's quite stupid marking down what amounts to every day activities. The burn is far less than people think because it fails to take into account the HUGE amount of calories that are burned just from doing nothing.

Yeah I do realize that even if I had been doing nothing I probably would have burned half of those calories anyway. I just log to keep track of exercise and I like to know what I did day to day and it's nice to see approximately how many calories that I burned doing that. I know it's technically not all extra calories but when you run 6 miles and burn 600 calories doing so, you really only burned 500 extra calories since you prob would have burned the other 100 calories watching TV or whatever. So, I do get what you are saying....

SaintOnEarth

Wow, so people come on the forums to bash others for wanting to put something as a workout. I think people should be able to put anything they want as a workout and not be harassed by others. I hope you figured out what to put it into MFP as

breezy62037

Amen sister!! Mucking is hard work!!

breezy62037

Well, it's all relative. I muck 7-10 stalls in two hours, give or take. I've got a BodyMedia FIT and comparing a day where I do stalls compared to one I don't, I burn about 500 more calories, at my weight. Before I got my BMF and was logging on here I just had my activity level set as active to account for that, as for me it was pretty much a daily activity. If yours is set at sendentary, and you are just starting this activity, then I would log it, personally.

This site might help, noting that these figures are for a 150lb, 5'8 human:

http://www.equisearch.com/horses_riding_training/training/general/countingcalories_122006/

I'd like some of you normal human beings to come muck stalls at my place for a couple of weeks. :flowerforyou: Then tell me you don't burn calories. Want great-looking arms? Do barn work! :happy:

Amen sister!! Mucking is hard work!!

hippy2skippy

If you're just shoveling poop, I would agree about using gardening. If you're going slow, scooping and scrubbing urine-soaked shavings, then I would log 20 minutes of each hour as "shoveling snow" because that stuff gets heavy.

In our barn, wet shavings can definitely get heavy, you're right! I log it as gardening as well, though I think now I'm going to use shoveling snow on days where I do harder work cause that's more like the effort that goes into it sometimes.

Thanks for the tip!

Roxanne