Another Wisconsin winter is here again, and we all know what that means…. Snow to shovel, windows to scrap, and lots of shivering in the cold. Most people don’t look forward to these activities every winter, but I think that you might want to change your mind when It comes to these chores. Each one of these activities is actually a workout in disguise that you can take advantage of.

Let’s look and shoveling snow first. I for one hate doing this because it takes forever, you have to stand outside freezing, and you are exhausted when you are done. However, these are all reasons that we should love shoveling snow! Shoveling snow can be a long sustained workout that can take 1-2 hours to get done. And according to MyCaloriesBurned.com, You can burn upwards of 400 calories per hour!  By comparison, you burn around 600 calories per hour while running.

How about a more annoying task like scraping your windows? Most people would just go outside a little early and start their car to melt the Ice. Not only is that bad for the environment, but you are wasting gas and money.  If you just suck it up and scrap the windows yourself, you are actually getting in a good workout. While scrapping, you are engaging your shoulder and back muscles, as well as you core to generate force. By tightening your core while scraping, you will actually feel a pretty good burn.

Finally, something we all do when we are cold is shiver. Shivering is your body’s natural way of trying to generate heat by forcing your muscles to tighten.  According to Livestrong.com, you can burn nearly 400 calories an hour by just shivering. (Depending on body type, body temperature). That’s a lot of calories for being cold!

(DISCLAIMER: I am not supporting that you go sit outside or turn the heat off in your house to freeze your butt off for a workout! Hypothermia can be deadly so please take proper precautions when going out in the cold!)

So lets say you wake up one day, shovel the driveway for an hour, then you have to scrap your windows for 15 minutes, plus you are shivering from the cold the whole time, you could possibly burn above 800 calories!  Bet you didn’t think about that when you set out that morning!

Next time your are faced with these chores, try and think about the positives and maybe it will make everything seem to go faster!

Feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns!

Until Next Time , Stay happy and healthy!

Kevin Nelsen

Warhawk Fitness PR Team

NelsenKJ11@Uww.edu

http://www.mycaloriesburned.com/calories-burned-shoveling-snow/

http://www.livestrong.com/article/316126-the-calories-burned-from-shivering/