Shoveling snow
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alf2234
Posts: 3 Member
Anyone know how much calories you burn doing snow shoveling?
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Replies
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400 per hour? Bless your heart!0
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Depends on the snow. If it's light, not that much, but when it's heavy and icy.. let's just say your muscles will feel it the next day too!2
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I was wondering this too. We just had a bit o ver a foot of snow and I shovelled out 4 driveways yesterday. To my kids' delight, the snow piles are well over 6 feet tall. But today I can barely lift my arms. Lol1
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I think the MFP fitness database actually has an entry for shoveling snow. So I'd just use that.3
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Harvard Medical School has it as 180 cals/half hour for a 125 lb person, 223 for a 155 lb person, and 266 for a 180 lb person. However, it does not differentiate between men and women, and I would log that much for only vigorous sustained shoveling.1
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Could be anywhere from 1 to 80 gajillion.
Sorry, not trying to be snarky, but there are soooooo many variables that it's impossible to say. How often do you do it? If it's rare like it is here in NY, then I wouldn't worry about logging it, but I'd probably treat it as a buffer and give myself a little (emphasis on "little") leeway with my eating/logging that day. If it's more frequent, or if you simply prefer to be more thorough/complete with your logging, you could use MFP's entry, or pick some reasonable estimate like 3-5 cals per minute.0 -
There are online calculators you can use to get an estimate.
I burn between 110 - 125 calories per 15 minutes depending on the amount and weight of the snow.
The heavy, wet dense snow provides more of a burn obviously.
It's a great workout. With the storm today I will probably get out about 3 times to shovel.
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Many variables. Along with those mentioned above, wind and temperature can also impact the energy drain. The energy difference between moving snow at 20 degrees F and at -20 is huge.1
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Hard to say. If I have a big bunch to do, I wear my heart rate monitor for a more personalized estimate (not perfect, personalized).
Earlier this week, shoveling around 4-5" of fairly fluffy snow, with some tire-track ice and a little snowplow slush, in a probably 1200-1500 square foot area, took 95 minutes at good, steady but very gradually declining (
) vigor. HRM said 458 calories. HRM thinks I weigh 120 pounds (still up some off-season/holiday weight, haven't reset it).
You people from warmer climates, thinking "snow shoveling is not steady state cardio"? I've been using a HRM for over 10 years to monitor regular athletic training. My internal RPE meter is good, and I have decent subjective ability to distinguish strain (or heat, dehydration, etc.) from work as contributors to my HR variation. Snow shoveling's *baby-feline* close enough to steady state cardio.
The MFP database default estimates a little higher than my HRM for snow shoveling, but it's not on a whole other planet. If you go about the task steadily and with vigor, it's probably close enough for government work.5 -
Thanks everyone. I know there’s a lot of variables but you have given me some good information.0
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Hard to say. If I have a big bunch to do, I wear my heart rate monitor for a more personalized estimate (not perfect, personalized).
Earlier this week, shoveling around 4-5" of fairly fluffy snow, with some tire-track ice and a little snowplow slush, in a probably 1200-1500 square foot area, took 95 minutes at good, steady but very gradually declining ( ) vigor. HRM said 458 calories. HRM thinks I weigh 120 pounds (still up some off-season/holiday weight, haven't reset it).
You people from warmer climates, thinking "snow shoveling is not steady state cardio"? I've been using a HRM for over 10 years to monitor regular athletic training. My internal RPE meter is good, and I have decent subjective ability to distinguish strain (or heat, dehydration, etc.) from work as contributors to my HR variation. Snow shoveling's *baby-feline* close enough to steady state cardio.
The MFP database default estimates a little higher than my HRM for snow shoveling, but it's not on a whole other planet. If you go about the task steadily and with vigor, it's probably close enough for government work.
Afterthought/P.S. When I had more time, I checked the MFP database's estimate. It was 82 calories higher than my HRM for the 95 minutes - 17%. Not enough for me to care about in the grand scheme of things, especially for an occasional activity.3 -
I think the MFP fitness database actually has an entry for shoveling snow. So I'd just use that.
Yes, and I've shoveled so darn much of it this winter I have burned a gazillion calories. If I shovel for 90 minutes and work up a really good sweat I believe the entry. Today it was really light fluff (5 degress F), lots of it, but easy to shovel do all I did was get cold and didn't sweat or even get my heart rate up at all.0 -
I shoveled 5-6 " of fluffy snow in 15F temps, plus some boulders thrown up by the plow - probably 40 minutes. I didn't work up a sweat, and Apple Watch didn't recognize it as exercise at all.0
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I have one, I can't get it started...but I like the exercise so it's a blessing it wont' work.1 -
LOL I actually really enjoy shoveling snow. It is beautiful out there as long as your car isn't stuck in a drift.
But my arms are still pretty tender... in a good way.
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Nah. Body fat is a renewable resource.4
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