Car washing - How many calories do you burn

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Jakz2508
Jakz2508 Posts: 2
in Fitness and Exercise
Having just spent an hour hand washing and drying my car, I have no idea how many calories I may have burned. Anyone got any idea?
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Replies

  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,082 Member
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    I would say don't get into the habit of trying to affix a calorie burn to everything you do. Especially chores. Use the extra calories when you perform a planned, aerobic/conditioning activity.

    And, if you insist on logging it, it all depends on how vigorous your movement was and how much you weigh - your gender - height.

    Don't log it is my advice.
  • kbmnurse
    kbmnurse Posts: 2,484 Member
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    Really?
  • Lysander666
    Lysander666 Posts: 275 Member
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    Maybe you burned a couple of calories typing the OP?
  • Jakz2508
    Jakz2508 Posts: 2
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    Good point cmriverside. I've had a pretty good workout today anyway, so will disregard the car cleaning. Going to lie in a darkened room now!
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,811 Member
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    3.141592653589793238462643

    Seriously though - probably not enough to worry about.
  • cmichelle615
    cmichelle615 Posts: 1 Member
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    I disagree with everyone here. I burn 300 calories when I clean my house with light to moderate effort for an hour, so why couldn't it be for a car wash too? I don't know about you, but when I'm done washing my car I am sweating profusely from all of the squating, bending, stretching, not to mention all in the blazing sun.
    I checked a few other websites and the average seems to be about 250-300 calories per hour burned while washing a car. I say go for it. My doctor is always reminding me that "everything counts" and the point is to be active.
  • WendyL525
    WendyL525 Posts: 14 Member
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    Absolutely count those calories. To wash, dry, vac, clean the inside....u r absolutely burning calories and every one of them count! I just put 150 for the hour I spent. I count cleaning the house too, that's grueling work at times and is equal to a work out.

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  • Joannesmith2818
    Joannesmith2818 Posts: 438 Member
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    When i wash my car a work up a right sweat. I defo log it.....back then i was eating 1200 cals and had entered sedentary and from all the people saying STARVATION etc I figured any extra cals burnt should be eaten otherwise I would be netting below 1200 cals. Now that I eat more cals its not such a problem.....but just saying mixed messages people.
  • devonutopia
    devonutopia Posts: 1
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    I spent 8 hours polishing a massive Audi yesterday - This involved a wash, dry, decontamination, two stage machine polish - the most exercise came from removing polish with a cloth, and also removing the layer of wax too - the machine polishing isn't the easiest. Over the 8 hours I decided to log it as a 2mph leisurely walk of 3 hours - so 6 miles. I felt that's more or less what I had done after the 8 hours of car cleaning was up.
  • rdrlh2a
    rdrlh2a Posts: 2 Member
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    Seems to me for someone who, like me, is seriously out of shape and overweight, any extra activity is a good thing and if it helps to keep you motivated to add it, then it is a good thing. As i begin this website and am exercise program, I am happy to have a little more energy to do any extra chore and if it helps me have more energy for tomorrow woo hoo...so for me, I record it.
  • awerewka
    awerewka Posts: 151 Member
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    I log shovelling snow so why not log washing a car? I wore my HRM when I did it just to see and I burned over 150 cals in 18 minutes....shovelling snow really is a work out. But the amount and weight of snow makes a big difference. I wouldn't bother logging it if it were just a light dust of snow. But this was a major snow storm and I had to shovel at home and then again 10 min later at work. I didn't log any extra for the snow at work...just to be conservative on the cal burn.

    So if a site said for example 200 cals for vigorous car cleaning ... I would log half of that and no more.
  • Warchortle
    Warchortle Posts: 2,197 Member
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    Absolutely count those calories. To wash, dry, vac, clean the inside....u r absolutely burning calories and every one of them count! I just put 150 for the hour I spent. I count cleaning the house too, that's grueling work at times and is equal to a work out.

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    Uh... I'm not going to try to estimate how many calories it took for me to type this post.
  • awerewka
    awerewka Posts: 151 Member
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    Typing a post vs an hour of actual movement for someone who may have set herself as sedentary?

    Common people....get your heads out of your *kitten* and be a little more supportive.
  • fast_eddie_72
    fast_eddie_72 Posts: 719 Member
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    Typing a post vs an hour of actual movement for someone who may have set herself as sedentary?

    Common people....get your heads out of your *kitten* and be a little more supportive.

    I didn't read it as unsupportive. Sorry, I wouldn't log it either. I think anything that gets you moving and doing is awesome. I just wouldn't log something that likely burned so few calories.
  • pinkraynedropjacki
    pinkraynedropjacki Posts: 3,027 Member
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    I disagree with everyone here. I burn 300 calories when I clean my house with light to moderate effort for an hour, so why couldn't it be for a car wash too? I don't know about you, but when I'm done washing my car I am sweating profusely from all of the squating, bending, stretching, not to mention all in the blazing sun.
    I checked a few other websites and the average seems to be about 250-300 calories per hour burned while washing a car. I say go for it. My doctor is always reminding me that "everything counts" and the point is to be active.


    Sweating does not indicate a workout. I'm currently sweating & not doing anything.... it's hot. I sweat in my sleep. So please do not measure a workout in sweat terms.

    Also 300 cals an hour for light cleaning??? I doubt that very much. I do a 40 min high aerobic workout & will be lucky to burn 350 cals so I doubt very much indeed that 300 cals for an hour of light cleaning will do that.

    Rule 1 though.... don't measure sweat.... it means nothing in terms of a workout.

    After that... don't log every little thing as a workout....
  • awerewka
    awerewka Posts: 151 Member
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    Yah I would not count an exercise by sweating.

    i just shovelled vigorously for 15 min burning 105 cals and not one drop of sweat...froze my *kitten* off.

    Not planning on logging that one since I am headed to the gym in an hour anyways.
  • 970Mikaela1
    970Mikaela1 Posts: 2,013 Member
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    You're supposed to wash them?
  • usmcmp
    usmcmp Posts: 21,220 Member
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    I don't log things I normally did while I was fat. I cleaned the house for hours and washed the car without ever getting in shape. That's part of what I view as my regular activity level. I am sedentary during the week (desk job) but weekends are active with cleaning, so I set my activity level to light.
  • knra_grl
    knra_grl Posts: 1,568 Member
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    If you washing the car is something you would not normally do (maybe your husband or kids do it normally?) and you feel the need to log it - log it.

    Personally I don't log anything that I would do on a day to day basis like housework, yard work, etc. If I was building a deck which I don't normally do, I don't think I would log it but I might eat more that day.

    Some people consider their daily steps tracked on fitbit exercise - sorry I would have made those daily steps anyway it's not included in my exercise.

    Whatever works for one person doesn't work for another - I guess it's all about personal choice.
  • pinkraynedropjacki
    pinkraynedropjacki Posts: 3,027 Member
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    I don't log things I normally did while I was fat. I cleaned the house for hours and washed the car without ever getting in shape. That's part of what I view as my regular activity level. I am sedentary during the week (desk job) but weekends are active with cleaning, so I set my activity level to light.

    You ate when you were fat so you should not log eating.
    Some people consider their daily steps tracked on fitbit exercise - sorry I would have made those daily steps anyway it's not included in my exercise.

    I walked when I was fat, I still walk now... I log it. I never did walk a marathon each day though, but I still walk. Anything not sitting down is exercise..... you don't have to log it...but walking is considered exercise. I would normally have walked to work... does not mean it's not exercise.

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