Shoveling snow

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goldsguy
goldsguy Posts: 58
in Health and Weight Loss
I know it has to be considered as some sort of exercise. I've moved enough for it to be cardio and strength training

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  • renniekayblanco
    renniekayblanco Posts: 2
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    Its got to be worth more but I used the low cardio option in the data base for 10 min. for shoveling snow. For as much snow as I have shoveled, I should have burned a ton of calories
  • Mommabee
    Mommabee Posts: 103
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    My body sure feels like I've worked out!
  • lntbb
    lntbb Posts: 30
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    How about the gardening category. I agree, it has to be worth something we can count. I've spent at least an hour at it, and know that I'm as 'exercised' as when I walk 4.0 mph for 30 min.
  • birgithooker
    birgithooker Posts: 68
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    It is a workout and it burns major calories! I did a web search and came across this link.

    http://www.sparkpeople.com/resource/calories_burned.asp?exercise=85

    You can put in your weight and the minutes you worked out and it will calculate how many calories you burned. I just put in a generic 60 minutes to start. I have now added snow shoveling to My Exercises. Now when I shovel, I just choose it from my options and adjust the minutes to how long I actually shoveled. I know for me I burned over 300 calories yesterday shoveling snow from our driveway. And it snowed again last night. Normally, I wouldn't touch the snow. I would just wait for my husband to come home. Not anymore. It's a great way to burn off calories and it mixes up my workouts. Oh- and I put in for Cardio.
  • goldsguy
    goldsguy Posts: 58
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    my friends can't believe it when I say I make shoveling exercise instead of work. It changes your whole mindset
  • tattoodfreek
    tattoodfreek Posts: 520 Member
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    That's what I did too= went to spark and then created my own exercise in MFP with that burn and titled it shoveling snow. I just shoveled for an hour and 40 minutes and burned almost 900 cals!
  • McFatterton
    McFatterton Posts: 1,358 Member
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    I wore my HRM yesterday when I shoveled. 90 minutes of shoveling = 675 calories GONE! :happy:
  • MsT4u
    MsT4u Posts: 10
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    I calculated all my snow shoveling using www.caloriesperhour.com and saw a noticeable difference in my weekly weight in after a few hours of shoveling.
  • mhesterruns
    mhesterruns Posts: 49
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    I googled shoveling snow and found a website that calculated it. I too am sick of shoveling...just shoveled another 6 inches off the car and driveway. You enter your weight and how much time you spent.

    http://www.healthstatus.com/cgi-bin/calc/calculator.cgi
  • SammiAnne11
    SammiAnne11 Posts: 158 Member
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    Same here. I list it as cardio. I can tell you my legs and back get sore...we got more last night, already shoveled the walk(why we bought a double lot is beyond me!:laugh: ) and will go back out to clear off the on street parking.
    My husband thinks I'm nuts, becasue I will go do it without complaining anymore!!:happy:
  • MisdemeanorM
    MisdemeanorM Posts: 3,493 Member
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    It definitely counts as exercise! Anything that is not counted in your daily base rate is considered exercise - so if you usually work a desk job 10 hours a day, then one day run around the park with your kids, or do a lot of shopping and are walking a lot, or go gardening - that counts! Of course, if you have your lifestyle set to somewhat active, or active - you would not count it, because it is already accounted for in your cal estimation.

    I recommend a heart rate monitor for any activities that are out of your normal routine. Not necessarily permanently, but you can get an idea of exactly how many cals you burn walking at the grocery, gardening, even cleaning the house - vs just sitting in a chair, and keep that knowledge for later. I burned 800 playing the snow for an hour and a half the other weekend.

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