Weight loss in the winter – Do a little service
Moving snow the old fashioned way is a great exercise. Minute for minute it is one of the best winter exercises you can do – and it can be a great service as well.
On average here are the calories burned per minute shoveling snow. These are just averages that I could find on the net.
| Activity | weight: 105-115 | weight: 127-137 | weight: 160-170 | weight: 180-200 |
| light snow | 7.9 | 9.1 | 10.8 | 12.5 |
| heavy snow | 13.8 | 15.7 | 18.5 | 20.5 |
In some ways a comparison is more effecting than thinking of actual calories. Shoveling heavy snow is the most strenuous winter activity that I could find in calories burned per minute. Shoveling light snow was bested only by cross country skiing, downhill skiing, running 8 mph, and full court basketball.
On Saturday I spent about 3 hours shoveling around my neighborhood. It felt good to get out and do a little service. And at the end of the day (I had worked out to a movie as well that morning) I burned off over 7500 calories by these calculations! Not too shabby. I commented to Janille that I could feel myself getting skinner as the hours moved on. It was kind of funny, but I did feel like my clothes got loser as I went:)
Anyway, this is not something everyone should do. There are a ton of medical concerns that need to be taken into account. Not the least of which is the heart and back.
It is estimated that you are 3x more likely to have a heart attack while shoveling snow than just your normal risk factor. There are several reasons for this. The strenuous nature of the exercise is one, but the cold is another major factor. Cold constricts the blood vessels making it harder for the blog to pump as you engage in hard activities – hello heart attack.
It is also easy to get dehydrated. You will sweat a lot, but you may not notice that you have stopped sweating because your clothes will keep the moisture close to your body. So you feel hydrated when you really are not.
So if you have a heart condition be very careful – maybe even get a snow blower until you get your heath under control.
If you do not have a heart condition – well – go out and do a little service. It will be great for your heart and your soul.
Be Healthy – Enjoy Life!
Matthew Stearmer
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Comments
You must not do it very often:) Just kidding.
Seriously it is the best thing out there. I try to go as fast as I can
so I can really get the heart rate up. It works great!
Matt Stearmer
Great idea Matt. But unfortunately we don't get enough snow here. I wonder if you can get the same results from sweeping sidewalks.
Sweeping will not give you the lifting resistance of snow which is one of
things that makes it such a great exercise, but it will certainly be
helpful, and you get blessing for service – so good all around:)
Matthew Stearmer
Matt,
What a great!!!! IDEA!!!! Moreover, there are plenty of people who need help. My driveway is available. The address is…. (Just kidding). My boys and I will be doing some calorie loss.
Rob.
Have fun in the snow! I know that it is working on a foot down here.
Be Healthy – Enjoy Life!
Matthew Stearmer
I'm excited to say I just finished clearing about 9″ of snow on my walkways.
Now that I have read your article, I fully expect 6 pack abs in the morning. 
Cheers, Dave Sherwin
Matt
Very interesting article. As you know, I am in Sunny Florida where it does not snow. I will have to find other ways of burning calories.
Dad has wondered how to figure how to convert the snow he shovels to pounds. I will share it with him.
Hi There!
This might be helpful
Ken Hellevang from the University of North Dakota says, “The weight of snow
varies greatly. Light fluffy snow may only weigh about seven pounds per
cubic foot. More average snow may weigh 15 pounds per cubic foot and drifted
compacted snow may weigh 20 pounds or more…”
Source: http://www.ag.ndsu.nodak.edu/coping/snowload.htm
Be Healthy – Enjoy Life!
Matt Stearmer
This is a nice article which give a lot of idea about the weight loss during the winter season where we can't out for reducing our body weight .By reading this article we can also get a lot of information about how to make weight loss of our body rather then thinking of winters.
Winter is coming up this is the good tome to provide the tips what and how ? How much safety you need to be at the time f winter which gives the good message for the users try to provide some tips for this kind of articles
That is awesome . I dident know you could lose weight shoveling snow .