what exercise should I put in for carrying my groceries home?

Obviously for the cardio part I can just put in that I walked a mile at a moderate pace, all that jazz, but the actual weight of carrying the bags & backpack for that time would probably count as weight training, right? but what would it be?

Replies

  • RockingWithLJ
    RockingWithLJ Posts: 243 Member
    Um... Walking with handweights? I honestly do not know the options... Still i wouldnt log anything for that
  • Redordeadhead
    Redordeadhead Posts: 1,188 Member
    I wouldn't log the extra weight for that, personally, but if you do, definitely not weight training. I think NorthCascades' suggestion would be a more accurate estimate.
  • LKArgh
    LKArgh Posts: 5,178 Member
    Does it involve walking across town carrying a large watermelon on each side? If yes, definitely log it as walking and add the weight you carry to your own weight. If it is walking 2 blocks with 2 bottles of milk, 10 tomatoes and a dozen eggs, do not bother logging anything.
  • yirara
    yirara Posts: 9,984 Member
    Chieflrg wrote: »
    I wouldn't concern too much with added calories in this instance.

    This isn't weight training, it's walking with more weight.

    A 200# man walks one mile is calculated to be 64 calories burned.
    A 210# man walks one mile is calculated to be 67 calories burned.

    So if you want to log it differently simply weigh the load and adjust the calorie burn.

    What this also demonstrates that as you lose weight your body needs less energy than with more weight.
    But what this also shows is that a change of 10lbs doesn't make such big difference, and even 100lbs doesn't.
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 49,024 Member
    yirara wrote: »
    Chieflrg wrote: »
    I wouldn't concern too much with added calories in this instance.

    This isn't weight training, it's walking with more weight.

    A 200# man walks one mile is calculated to be 64 calories burned.
    A 210# man walks one mile is calculated to be 67 calories burned.

    So if you want to log it differently simply weigh the load and adjust the calorie burn.

    What this also demonstrates that as you lose weight your body needs less energy than with more weight.
    But what this also shows is that a change of 10lbs doesn't make such big difference, and even 100lbs doesn't.
    Not in calorie burn, but 100lbs would make a hella of a difference on your joints!

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

    9285851.png

  • thelastnightingale
    thelastnightingale Posts: 725 Member
    I think if you want recognition for an activity like that, you would find it motivating to use a fitness tracker with a heart rate monitor. It calculates the calories you burn from 'everyday activities' as well as 'proper exercise' and can feed those into your diary.
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,454 Member
    I think if you want recognition for an activity like that, you would find it motivating to use a fitness tracker with a heart rate monitor. It calculates the calories you burn from 'everyday activities' as well as 'proper exercise' and can feed those into your diary.

    Still...the fitness tracker is just tracking your weight, not the additional weight of the groceries.
  • thelastnightingale
    thelastnightingale Posts: 725 Member
    @cmriverside If you have one with a heart rate monitor, it will pick up that you're working harder due to carrying a heavier weight.
  • M93KG
    M93KG Posts: 41 Member
    Carrying groceries as exercise? This is a joke, correct?
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 34,598 Member
    I think if you want recognition for an activity like that, you would find it motivating to use a fitness tracker with a heart rate monitor. It calculates the calories you burn from 'everyday activities' as well as 'proper exercise' and can feed those into your diary.

    Actually, "estimates" would be more accurate than "calculates".
    @cmriverside If you have one with a heart rate monitor, it will pick up that you're working harder due to carrying a heavier weight.

    Depends. I believe some models will go distance-based in whole or part, for outdoor walking. The weight difference is so small, I'm not sure it would register in heart rate, anyway - maybe depend on fitness level. HR for any given activity is variable from day to day anyway; I suspect the HR difference from 20 pounds (or whatever) of groceries might be lost in the noise of that variation.

    It sounds like you have a lot of faith in your tracker. If it's been pretty accurate for you, that's understandable. It implies that you're statistically average, or close. Not everyone is. Still a fun device, though, and potentially useful. 🙂

    It's worth considering, if you can afford one.
  • lorrpb
    lorrpb Posts: 11,463 Member
    I’d just count the steps.
  • RepswithRyan
    RepswithRyan Posts: 171 Member
    Um... Walking with handweights? I honestly do not know the options... Still i wouldnt log anything for that

    He could write farmer’s walk otherwise I would class it as rucking, haha.
  • M93KG
    M93KG Posts: 41 Member
    I train/exercise five times a week consisting of 75 to 90 minutes sessions. Four months ago, my family and I adopted two puppies who I walk two miles a day. Additionally, I have a part time job on my feet that adds another 1.5 to two miles a day, with a grand total of five miles on my feet for the days I work.

    Trick question: Since adding the daily miles walking with my dog against the background of steps and exercise I already revive, which of these miles do I count as exercise?

    Answer: None.
  • NorthCascades
    NorthCascades Posts: 10,968 Member
    @cmriverside If you have one with a heart rate monitor, it will pick up that you're working harder due to carrying a heavier weight.

    Are you saying the fitness tracker knows how much your groceries weigh from your heart rate, so it can calculate your calories accurately?

    Or that it can tell if your heart rate is elevated because you're carrying groceries vs stressing about something you have to do later?
  • thelastnightingale
    thelastnightingale Posts: 725 Member
    edited August 2020
    Or that it can tell if your heart rate is elevated because you're carrying groceries vs stressing about something you have to do later?

    I'm saying that if you're genuinely huffing and puffing due to carrying heavy groceries as opposed to easily strolling along, your fitness tracker will pick that up. If you're not actually working any harder, then it won't. But the estimate adjustment you get from your tracker is going to be more accurate than picking a random exercise from the MFP library.

    @AnnPT77 Apologies, I assumed the estimate was implied. I should have been clearer. I'm fairly confident I weigh, log and calculate to the best of my ability, but human error (and technological error) will always creep into anyone's diary. I just think picking a random exercise from the library is definitely going to be wrong, whereas the calorie burn from a HR monitor is better tailored guess.

    I set my activity level at coma patient sedentary and have a very low allowance, so if I waddle a bit, I do get extra calories for movement, given I wear my fitness tracker all the time. Heck, I'd probably get extra calories for carrying groceries...

    With some people on this thread, if all they did was carry groceries, they'd probably end up with a negative calorie adjustment, given they clearly have an active activity level. However, if your baseline activity level is very low (and you've told MFP that), and marching home with heavy groceries is unusual for you, yes, you'd get extra for that.

    (How much extra is a different question - we might all be arguing the toss in this thread over a single digit amount!)

    Edited to add: perhaps just think of it as 'counting steps plus.' I mean, my fitness tracker measures my steps the same, but it can tell when I'm working hard (because I'm running) and when I'm not working at all (because I'm ambling along). If I was struggling with groceries, it would be somewhere in between. I don't get the same adjustment for a walk as I do for a run (over the same distance).
  • yirara
    yirara Posts: 9,984 Member
    @cmriverside If you have one with a heart rate monitor, it will pick up that you're working harder due to carrying a heavier weight.

    True, but it's just a guess. And if TO is not very fit then the tracker might overestimate by quite a lot.
  • Shropshire1959
    Shropshire1959 Posts: 982 Member
    lac7117 wrote: »
    Obviously for the cardio part I can just put in that I walked a mile at a moderate pace, all that jazz, but the actual weight of carrying the bags & backpack for that time would probably count as weight training, right? but what would it be?

    Why bother?
  • netitheyeti
    netitheyeti Posts: 539 Member
    edited August 2020
    M93KG wrote: »
    I train/exercise five times a week consisting of 75 to 90 minutes sessions. Four months ago, my family and I adopted two puppies who I walk two miles a day. Additionally, I have a part time job on my feet that adds another 1.5 to two miles a day, with a grand total of five miles on my feet for the days I work.

    Trick question: Since adding the daily miles walking with my dog against the background of steps and exercise I already revive, which of these miles do I count as exercise?

    Answer: None.

    See this would depend for me, personally.
    Do I log my 1.5 mile walk to the shop/bakery and back? No, I count it as my normal daily activity, and I personally wouldn't count walking home with groceries as exercise... but if I go for longer walks or start walking noticeably more than usual, then I usually log it (I wouldn't log 1-2 miles, but I'd certainly log if it was more because it would put me above my norm/"sedentary" setting) - not doing it is how I, for a while, ended up dropping weight faster than intended, I wasn't paying attention to how much I was walking - I had myself set to sedentary but was actually closer to lightly/moderately active most days of the week. In terms of numbers, walking and other non-exercise activity put me from what was meant to be a deficit of maybe 200-300 to what in reality worked out to be between 600-700 kcal below maintenance (disclaimer: am a short woman with a normal BMI, a few hundred kcal is a lot to me)
  • SnifterPug
    SnifterPug Posts: 746 Member
    M93KG wrote: »
    SMH at those who disagree. Call me old fashioned, but I am under the crazy idea that exercise is intended to create an adaptation in an organism by introducing applicable stress response. But heck if we can count carrying groceries as exercise, then every time I do the dishes is exercise too. And people wonder why they fail.

    With ya. Though pre-Covid when our gym did not prevent free movement I used to love doing suitcase carries with a heavy kettlebell. When I got funny looks I would tell people I was doing shopping practice.