Painting the room = # calories burned?

1_up
1_up Posts: 1,414 Member
edited November 12 in Fitness and Exercise
I plan on painting today after work. That will involve tapping off, cleaning the brushes/trays, cutting in, rolling etc. I went to the site listed below and it says for 3 hours of painting (I'll be painting 4 hours) that I'd burn 1381 calories. That seems a little high to me, so I figured I'd put this out there to see what everyone else thinks.



http://www.caloriecontrol.org/healthy-weight-tool-kit/lighten-up-and-get-moving

This is the disclaimer:

"Note: Figures are based on moderate (as opposed to vigorous) activity. A heavier person burns more calories, so the same amount of physical activity can actually burn the same number of calories but more quickly. But remember, exercising harder and faster only increases the calories expended slightly. To burn more calories it is better to exercise for a longer time. "

Replies

  • JWeaser
    JWeaser Posts: 302
    I would be interested in seeing the responses on this. I have several rooms I need to paint. lol I could wear my HRM but man, talk about a pain while painting.
  • arhzon
    arhzon Posts: 150
    I got 370 lbs per hour, which seems pretty reasonable, since there is a lot of climbing and ducking, crouching, reaching, etc. I figure, I burn about 500-600 calories in an hour just walking at a brisk pace on a treadmill, so 370 doing painting seems reasonable. I plugged in at 162 lbs.
  • arhzon
    arhzon Posts: 150
    Another thought, though... if you stop for a 20 minute lemonade break or something, THAT shouldn't count into your "painting" time. ;-)
  • suzi67
    suzi67 Posts: 162 Member
    I pretty much halved the calorie burn just to be on the safe side when I did the painting at my place.
  • 1_up
    1_up Posts: 1,414 Member
    370/hr does seem fair. haha I counted the lemonade breaks, since I only put 3 hours instead of 4 :D
  • 1_up
    1_up Posts: 1,414 Member
    http://www.fitday.com/webfit/exerciseinfopage.html gave me 274 calories a hour

    http://www.fitnessmagazine.com/workout/tips/expert-advice/how-many-calories-do-you-burn-with-household-chores/ gave 288 a hour.

    http://www.healthstatus.com/calculate/cbc gave 480/hr

    That last link lists boxing, Calisthenics etc. Pretty helpful in a pinch.
  • leynak
    leynak Posts: 963 Member
    This isn't on topic but I just looked at the site you posted & found it amusing that if I brush my teeth for 30 minutes I should burn 110 calories :laugh: for an hour of painting it gave me 442- seems like a lot
  • Jennyisbusy
    Jennyisbusy Posts: 1,294 Member
    It sounds a little high, maybe if they only figure in the actual roller pushing part of the activity. I looked at raking and ping pong rates and they all seem somewhat similar to painting.

    I wonder what action would be similar to taping? maybe light cleaning?
  • 1_up
    1_up Posts: 1,414 Member
    Going to go with 275 calories a hour to be on the safe side.
  • veruto
    veruto Posts: 1
    How would you enter this to count calories? I painted for an hour today and want to add but can't find it listed in the exercises.
  • margannmks
    margannmks Posts: 424 Member
    Ive been painting sanding scrapping 5+ hours a day the last 2 weekends i dont count it at all. Just like i dont count shampooing ,cutting,blowdrying,sweeping hair all day at my salon,its just part of my day.
  • jvicenty76
    jvicenty76 Posts: 6 Member
    @veruto just create an exercise under cardio and call it painting, I had to do that with my walk at home and hip hop ab exercises because that is not listed in the preset exercises
  • Unknown
    Unknown
    This content has been removed.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    I'd personally just chalk it up to deserving a couple beers afterwards...or during, depending on your preference.
  • habit365
    habit365 Posts: 174
    What I like to do for iffy things is compare my exertion to something that I know the calorie burn on, like walking for an hour at a decent pace. Something like painting I would give myself maybe 200 calories an hour and be quite stingy about how many hours I count. If I spend all day painting my TDEE is definitely a lot higher than a day I sit at the computer and my sedentary calorie goal is fairly low, so I need to eat some of the calories back for things like this or I start to feel bad/binge/etc. YMMV.
  • dbmata
    dbmata Posts: 12,950 Member
    1_up wrote: »
    I plan on painting today after work. That will involve tapping off, cleaning the brushes/trays, cutting in, rolling etc. I went to the site listed below and it says for 3 hours of painting (I'll be painting 4 hours) that I'd burn 1381 calories. That seems a little high to me, so I figured I'd put this out there to see what everyone else thinks.



    http://www.caloriecontrol.org/healthy-weight-tool-kit/lighten-up-and-get-moving

    This is the disclaimer:

    "Note: Figures are based on moderate (as opposed to vigorous) activity. A heavier person burns more calories, so the same amount of physical activity can actually burn the same number of calories but more quickly. But remember, exercising harder and faster only increases the calories expended slightly. To burn more calories it is better to exercise for a longer time. "
    Seems reasonable, log it.
  • Shytownqt
    Shytownqt Posts: 1 Member
    I weigh 131 and toning I will be painting tomorrow I will track my calorie burn
  • RuNaRoUnDaFiEld
    RuNaRoUnDaFiEld Posts: 5,864 Member
    I'm in agreement with the people who just wouldn't count it.
  • Packerjohn
    Packerjohn Posts: 4,855 Member
    arhzon wrote: »
    Another thought, though... if you stop for a 20 minute lemonade break or something, THAT shouldn't count into your "painting" time. ;-)

    If you drink full sugar lemonade, you wiped out any calorie burn from the painting.
  • Tacklewasher
    Tacklewasher Posts: 7,122 Member
    edited May 2017
    Call it 200 an hour and enjoy the lemonade it gives you. Unless you are real heavy. I tilled a garden for about 7 hours yesterday and my watch gave me 1700. Probably a bit light as it's harder than painting.
  • dkelley1324
    dkelley1324 Posts: 1 Member
    I was told painting walls is equivalent to walking at 4 miles per hour. I count it.
  • DX2JX2
    DX2JX2 Posts: 1,921 Member
    edited July 2017
    dkelley1324 wrote: »
    I was told painting walls is equivalent to walking at 4 miles per hour. I count it.

    For how long? Walking at 4mph is pretty tough and it's a decent good burn. 30 minutes at that speed is probably something like 250-300 calories depending on your weight. Walking at 4mph feels pretty close to running if you do it for more than 10 minutes.

    I've painted lots of rooms and can easily say that if you're taking your time and doing a good job of it, it is nowhere near the same exertion. I agree with the above...call painting something like 50 - 100 an hour if you must (or don't count it at all) and take any excess as gravy on your weight loss.
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