Calories burned standing at work?

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Evermyre
Evermyre Posts: 43
in Fitness and Exercise
I have a part time job that I only work a couple time a week for a few hours each. At my regular job I spend a lot of time sitting, but at the part time job I stand most of the time that I am there. My question is what kind of a workout do I count this as? I tried to find standing in the exercise database, but there's nothing there. The closest thing I came up with was light cleaning, but don't know if that's right. I don't want to pu in the wrong thing and then not eat calories that I don't have. Any suggestions?

Replies

  • jillybeanruns
    jillybeanruns Posts: 1,420 Member
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    I wouldn't count it. Even if you had an HRM the calorie count for standing and walking around a bit wouldn't be accurate as they're not accurate for long extended activities where your heart rate doesn't get in the zone.

    If your a bit hungrier than usual on the days you work your part time job, have an extra snack. But really you're probably only burning no more than 200 extra calories for your shifts.
  • gates1064
    gates1064 Posts: 41 Member
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    I would agree with that.
  • emersoam
    emersoam Posts: 179
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    You would be surprised/disappointed to see how little calories are burned standing. It would increase your heart from around 30% to maybe...35%? (Of course, that estimate is based on my info but you get what I'm saying). My advice would be to either put in an extra 50 cals of exercise in OR better yet...just ignore it and realize that you are probably like everyone else who underestimates what they eat and/or how much they really exercise! :grumble:
  • iwannawearatutu
    iwannawearatutu Posts: 150 Member
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    Light cleaning is going to be too high a burn if you are just standing. If you are reaching, stretching, moving around a little, you *could* use that. But if it's really just standing in the same place, I would not count it at all. While it does burn more calories than sitting, that sort of thing is often accounted for in the part of your profile where you state your daily activity level. Plus, I tend to err of the side of caution when entering my exercise calories, so I am pleasantly surprised more often than I am disappointed when it come time for the scale.
  • hpsnickers1
    hpsnickers1 Posts: 2,783 Member
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    I wouldn't count it. Even if you had an HRM the calorie count for standing and walking around a bit wouldn't be accurate as they're not accurate for long extended activities where your heart rate doesn't get in the zone.

    If your a bit hungrier than usual on the days you work your part time job, have an extra snack. But really you're probably only burning no more than 200 extra calories for your shifts.

    I learned this is true. I wore my HRM for 3 hours at work. I move around and walked some but mostly sat. I burned almost 700 calories? I don't think so. I have a Timex and it's still not as accurate as I would like it to be but it's better than the pedometer I have and it does have a chest strap. I can enter my weight, my maximum heart rate and the zone I want to work out in. But that's it.
  • KendalBeee
    KendalBeee Posts: 2,269 Member
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    I wouldn't count it....but thats just my opinion
  • Mollydolly10
    Mollydolly10 Posts: 431 Member
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    I agree, don't count it - it is going to be so minimal
  • NatalieWinning
    NatalieWinning Posts: 999 Member
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    One thing you can do is switch up your activity level in MFP. That's the thing that will change your calories and recomend daily goals according to your "usual" activity, height, and weight. Factor that in, and you got it covered.
  • Evermyre
    Evermyre Posts: 43
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    Thanks everybody! I really wasn't sure if I should or not.

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