Walking at work, heart rate and exercise

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snake_man_32
snake_man_32 Posts: 31 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Hello! My question is about walking and work and how that factors into activity level.

I work part-time in retail, getting about 20-30 hours per week. I work 6- to 8-hour shifts in which I walk about 25,000-27,000 steps (about 7-9 miles IIRC).

Even though I'm walking a lot I notice my heart rate doesn't get as high as when I ride the exercise bike or get on the elliptical. This means that I wouldn't count the walking I do as work "exercise", right? But wouldn't it still impact how many calories I could consume?

Also, for those who work jobs that require lots of walking, do you do cardio on your off days? Or do you do cardio before you work or after you work? When do you do you your resistance training?

Thanks!

Replies

  • NorthCascades
    NorthCascades Posts: 10,970 Member
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    Heart rate isn't an indicator of calories burned. And you burn calories by moving whether you consider it as exercise or not. For walking, the number of calories you burn is about 1/3 your weight in pounds, per mile.
  • snake_man_32
    snake_man_32 Posts: 31 Member
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    Ok thanks for the answers!
  • NorthCascades
    NorthCascades Posts: 10,970 Member
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    lx1x wrote: »
    The higher the HR on your activities = more calories you burn.

    So if I want to lose weight, I should stop walking for an hour a day, and sit on the couch drinking coffee and watching horror movies instead?
  • lx1x
    lx1x Posts: 38,311 Member
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    NorthCascades wrote: »
    lx1x wrote: »
    The higher the HR on your activities = more calories you burn.

    So if I want to lose weight, I should stop walking for an hour a day, and sit on the couch drinking coffee and watching horror movies instead?

    So you telling me your heart rate increase while sitting rather than walking?

    Please reread what I posted.

  • pierinifitness
    pierinifitness Posts: 2,231 Member
    edited May 2019
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    My resting HR dipped to 38 bpm and stayed in high 30’s this morning while I was relaxing on a rest day reading the Confessions of St. Augustine. I owed calories. I’m normally in mid to high 40’s RHR. Will try the scary movie my next “science experiment.”

    And, contrary to what I previously believed, a strong cup of coffee has no appreciable spike-effect on my RHR. Everyone is different so it’s best to seek and know.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 32,099 Member
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    NorthCascades wrote: »
    lx1x wrote: »
    The higher the HR on your activities = more calories you burn.

    So if I want to lose weight, I should stop walking for an hour a day, and sit on the couch drinking coffee and watching horror movies instead?

    I posted what I did before reading this. High five, @NorthCascades!
    lx1x wrote: »
    Watching scary movie does make your heart rate increase.. 10-20 bpm..not as much physical activity. It does burn extra calories.. than you watching boring movies. All the movies I've seen.. don't know about you guys.. I havent been scared the whole movie or more than 5min.

    Seasoned atheletes can have a different HR than who are just starting same activity.. reason why I said "my number". (Based on observation using fitbit and calculator)

    You guys are over thinking what I posted.

    The op mentioned he doesnt see any change in his hr. That means he already used to what's hes doing. It may or may not burn more calories to him vs than he physically do cardio excercises or something more challenging like his bike riding.

    Now if I do what he does.. 20k+ steps a day.. I'll burn more calories at the end the day when I do daily, 10k per day (desk job).

    Underthinking also happens, sometimes. The post below is oh-so-right:
    sijomial wrote: »
    lx1x wrote: »
    Calories burn does matter when your HR increases.

    There are divided in categories/activity.

    Resting
    Normal (between rest and fat burn )
    moderate/fat burn (med to fast walking)
    Cardio (jogging)
    Peak (running at faster rate)

    The higher the HR on your activities = more calories you burn.

    My number based on my HR per 15 min activity.

    Resting (60bpm) 40
    Fat (100bpm) 130
    Cardio (120bpm) 175
    Peak (140) 220

    Google cal burn heart rate calculator ..

    (Of course some do have faster BPM than others to begin based on their health)

    Ymmv

    You would be a very impressive athlete to be burning at a rate of 880cal/hr at a lowly 140bpm.

    Sorry but your confidence in Google search results is misplaced.
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
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    snake_man_32 wrote: »
    Hello! My question is about walking and work and how that factors into activity level.

    I work part-time in retail, getting about 20-30 hours per week. I work 6- to 8-hour shifts in which I walk about 25,000-27,000 steps (about 7-9 miles IIRC).

    Even though I'm walking a lot I notice my heart rate doesn't get as high as when I ride the exercise bike or get on the elliptical. This means that I wouldn't count the walking I do as work "exercise", right? But wouldn't it still impact how many calories I could consume?

    Also, for those who work jobs that require lots of walking, do you do cardio on your off days? Or do you do cardio before you work or after you work? When do you do you your resistance training?

    Thanks!

    If you are using a Fitbit or Garmin or few of the others that correctly sync with MFP (not Apple or Samsung directly) - then you don't have to worry about the calorie aspect.
    What device are you using with steps and HR?

    The tracker figured out the extra you burn from the extra activity, even if not exercise level to you. MFP corrects itself from that supplied info.
    That does correctly effect your eating level.

    No you really wouldn't count it as exercise - though it's obviously better than sedentary lifestyle. Your ability to keep improving your body from it has likely leveled out.

    When I worked at UPS ages ago, which is a whole lot more than walking, I'd do resistance training when I woke up in my morning, then I'd have 4 hrs to recover before work. Same with cardio at the time.
    I'd have done intense cardio like sprints afterwards since that is short workout - but being 3 am didn't really feel like it ever.
  • snake_man_32
    snake_man_32 Posts: 31 Member
    edited May 2019
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    heybales wrote: »
    snake_man_32 wrote: »
    Hello! My question is about walking and work and how that factors into activity level.

    I work part-time in retail, getting about 20-30 hours per week. I work 6- to 8-hour shifts in which I walk about 25,000-27,000 steps (about 7-9 miles IIRC).

    Even though I'm walking a lot I notice my heart rate doesn't get as high as when I ride the exercise bike or get on the elliptical. This means that I wouldn't count the walking I do as work "exercise", right? But wouldn't it still impact how many calories I could consume?

    Also, for those who work jobs that require lots of walking, do you do cardio on your off days? Or do you do cardio before you work or after you work? When do you do you your resistance training?

    Thanks!

    If you are using a Fitbit or Garmin or few of the others that correctly sync with MFP (not Apple or Samsung directly) - then you don't have to worry about the calorie aspect.
    What device are you using with steps and HR?

    The tracker figured out the extra you burn from the extra activity, even if not exercise level to you. MFP corrects itself from that supplied info.
    That does correctly effect your eating level.

    Sorry for the late reply. I linked MyFitnessPal with the iPhone Health app, which tracks my steps per day. I now get anywhere from 16,000-26,000 steps depending on what I do at my part-time job. On these days, and with the negative adjustments turned on, MyFitnessPal suggests about 2,730-2,930 calories. This is taking into account a 500-calorie deficit to lose one pound per week.
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
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    snake_man_32 wrote: »
    heybales wrote: »
    snake_man_32 wrote: »
    Hello! My question is about walking and work and how that factors into activity level.

    I work part-time in retail, getting about 20-30 hours per week. I work 6- to 8-hour shifts in which I walk about 25,000-27,000 steps (about 7-9 miles IIRC).

    Even though I'm walking a lot I notice my heart rate doesn't get as high as when I ride the exercise bike or get on the elliptical. This means that I wouldn't count the walking I do as work "exercise", right? But wouldn't it still impact how many calories I could consume?

    Also, for those who work jobs that require lots of walking, do you do cardio on your off days? Or do you do cardio before you work or after you work? When do you do you your resistance training?

    Thanks!

    If you are using a Fitbit or Garmin or few of the others that correctly sync with MFP (not Apple or Samsung directly) - then you don't have to worry about the calorie aspect.
    What device are you using with steps and HR?

    The tracker figured out the extra you burn from the extra activity, even if not exercise level to you. MFP corrects itself from that supplied info.
    That does correctly effect your eating level.

    Sorry for the late reply. I linked MyFitnessPal with the iPhone Health app, which tracks my steps per day. I now get anywhere from 16,000-26,000 steps depending on what I do at my part-time job. On these days, and with the negative adjustments turned on, MyFitnessPal suggests about 2,730-2,930 calories. This is taking into account a 500-calorie deficit to lose one pound per week.

    You are not getting correct figures from MFP because Apple sends incorrect figures.

    MFP API says when the figure for Total Calories Burned and timestamp is sent by tracker account - it means exactly what it says - total at that point, including all activity and exercise.

    Apple sends a sedentary figure to that point that contains nothing extra, and any workouts. They do NOT send the daily activity calories above sedentary that includes exercise.

    With that issue - MFP is causing an opposite effect the more active you are or more exercise you log.

    You'll need to unlink accounts directly if you want to follow any of the advice in this topic and many others.

    There are a couple apps that present the info correctly to MFP as expected as almost all other trackers do - and sync with the iHealth account to get them.

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