Snow Shoveling - Exercise or Health Risk

kshama2001 wrote: »

psychod787 wrote: »

I lived in south Florida for 7 years. I'll take a Massachusetts winter over a FL summer every time!

nicsflyingcircus wrote: »

ythannah wrote: »

kshama2001 wrote: »

I got some Sorrel boots like these when I was winter camping in upstate New York and have never fallen in them:

https://smile.amazon.com/Sorel-Bear-Extreme-Black-Quartz/dp/B00HQO8Q1I/



Those are rated to -60 degrees - I think mine are "only" rated to -40 degrees. When I was winter camping, I slept in the inserts.

I have a pair in that style, also the -40 rating, but in a horrible colour called "mulberry" that is somewhere between burgundy and purple... which explains why I got them on clearance. They're ugly but they've lasted over 20 years so a good investment.

Growing up in central Alberta, I wore boots like this to school in the winter through all of elementary and most of junior high. High school I rode a bus (VS walking) and got way too "cool" for that.

Mine were always white though. We'd take them off in the entryway and put them on boot racks and then out on our sneakers for inside wear. Everyone's had to be labeled because like 80% of us were in some brand/iteration of this kind of boot.

tbright1965 wrote: »

I remember one of the biggest recent arguments my wife and I got into was over a snow storm last winter and weight of the snow I removed from the driveway.

I remember it was about a 12" snowfall and did some back of the envelope calculations of the area in front of the three car garage. I knew our Mercury Grand Marquis was just under 18' long and I could probably park 2 of them nose to tail on drive from the house to the street. Three cars wide with one 8' and one 16' door put the width as there was space between the doors at 25' wide was a reasonable estimate. So on the order of 36'x25'.

So 1000 square feet was a reasonable estimate once you added the sidewalk to the front door and the sidewalk in front of the house. Since it was about a foot deep, 1000 cubic feet of snow to move. As snow is about 20# a cubic foot, therefore, about 10 tons of snow was moved by hand.

She was like there is no way you moved 10 tons of snow.

Showed her my back of the envelope calculations and that's when the fight broke out

Here is a photo, not of last year, but a few years ago, after the job.

Of course, I'm in shorts, and a t-shirt, standing outside admiring my effort.



It does help give some idea of the area needed to be cleared.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RRh0QiXyZSk

GiddyupTim wrote: »

Has anyone treated this seriously yet?
If not, allow me to be the sobersides in this discussion:
Yes, shoveling snow does appear to be a cause of heart attacks.
Why? Sedentary people go out with a shovel and snow is heavy. So the activity can raise your heart rate fast.
In addition, snow shoveling uses your arms, which for most people is a more taxing form of exercise than, say, walking.
Also, cold weather causes blood vessels to constrict. This raises blood pressure, which is not good for someone with risk factors for a heart attack. Cold causes the release of proteins related to physical stress and these proteins makes one more prone to blood clotting.
So, it is not a myth that people head out to shovel snow and their spouse finds them face down in the driveway a few hours later.
Here's the thing, though. Studies have found, as definitely as you can find this kind of thing, that the risk is related to how heavy and how much snow there is. Big, wet snowstorms are worse.
Taken altogether, the message here is: If you are not a marathoner/body builder/Crossfitter/et cetera, be careful, go slow, take breathers and breaks.
Sorry to be a wet blanket.
I now return you to your regularly scheduled banter.
PS Snowblowers may not be the answer, especially if you are particularly out of shape. They can be heavy and call for a lot of pushing and straining.