With the weather starting to chill, the cozy confines of your local gym presents an ideal place to burn off those excess holiday calories. However, that doesn’t make it the only option to get your fitness fix this autumn and winter. As a matter of fact, you can get your burn on while performing a variety of necessary chores in the great outdoors.SEE ALSO:5 Tips for Cold Weather Training>>Sure, they may not be as rewarding as pushing the iron during a killer chest routine, but they will get your muscles working and calories burning — while at the same time fulfilling your obligations around the house. So if you need a little more motivation to get you through those bone-chilling chores during the next few months, you can at least go forward knowing that there is a silver lining.Here are 6 common cold weather chores that will burn the calories in bunches. Now get to work!
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Shovel Out
For those that experience the occasional deluge of snow, there’s no better way to burn calories and work your upper body while clearing your path and driveway. It may be cold, wet and unpleasant, but the hard work will pay off as this chore burns a good 400 to 500 calories per hour. For a big job, try to pace yourself by dividing the work into 15-minute increments. And to avoid throwing out your back, be sure to limber up with some stretches before digging in.SEE ALSO:3 Tips for Training in the Cold>>
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Chop Wood
Yeah you can head over to the nearest grocery store and pick up a few Duraflames, or you can man up and chop your own damn wood. This ax swinging, cardio-blast not only burns between 400 and 500 calories an hour, it also provides for one hell of a core-strengthening workout.SEE ALSO:How to Get Lumber-Jacked>>
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Load and Stack It
Now that you’ve chopped all that wood to keep your fireplace flickering for a few weeks, you’ll need to carry and stack it somewhere dry. Depending on the amount of your bounty and the distance of your lumber transfer and setup, you’ll be burning between 350 and 500 calories and working your major muscles from traps to calves—all while keeping your family cozy during the cold months. SEE ALSO:The Winter Warrior Workout>>
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Scrape Ice
Definitely not a chore anyone looks forward to, but this daily cold weather grind, can fire up your arms and delts while burning a few unwanted calories. According to the Farmers’ Almanac, scraping ice off windshields or other surfaces for thirty minutes nets the average built de-icer just over 100 calories. Whatever your technique to get the job done, just be sure to wear gloves to keep the feeling in your fingers.SEE ALSO:Bodybuilding Winter Nutrition Tips>>
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Rake Leaves
This common autumn chore is a great way to get in a solid workout while clearing your yard of all that tree debris. For an hour’s worth of raking you’ll knock off somewhere between 300-400 calories, while knocking out a good upper-body routine.
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Roof Work
With leaves clogging your gutters and snow sitting heavy on your shingles, the fall and winter seasons are prime times for hightailing it up to your roof for annual maintenance. It’s not sexy work, but scooping all that sludge out from your gutters will not only save you from future repair headaches, it will also net you up to 200 torched calories.Looking to burn even more? Then climb up on the roof after a heavy snowfall and bring your shovel. You’ll be protecting your home from some serious damage and churning out a total-body workout that burns about 250 calories an hour. Just make sure it’s stopped snowing and the roof is gently sloped. Otherwise, a snow-packed roof will be the least of your problems.
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Light It Up
Along with the payoff of an illuminated winter wonderland for the entire neighborhood to enjoy, the laborious task of putting up holiday lights on your home each year is surprisingly, heart-pumping chore. Depending on how much wattage you plan to sap from the city grid, it’s estimated you’ll burn about 130 calories per hour hoisting all that hardware and lighting up the ladder. Throw in putting a giant Santa and a few reindeer on the roof, and you’ve got yourself one heck of a holiday workout
With the weather starting to chill, the cozy confines of your local gym presents an ideal place to burn off those excess holiday calories. However, that doesn’t make it the only option to get your fitness fix this autumn and winter. As a matter of fact, you can get your burn on while performing a variety of necessary chores in the great outdoors.
Sure, they may not be as rewarding as pushing the iron during a killer chest routine, but they will get your muscles working and calories burning — while at the same time fulfilling your obligations around the house. So if you need a little more motivation to get you through those bone-chilling chores during the next few months, you can at least go forward knowing that there is a silver lining.
Here are 6 common cold weather chores that will burn the calories in bunches. Now get to work!
Shovel Out
For those that experience the occasional deluge of snow, there’s no better way to burn calories and work your upper body while clearing your path and driveway. It may be cold, wet and unpleasant, but the hard work will pay off as this chore burns a good 400 to 500 calories per hour. For a big job, try to pace yourself by dividing the work into 15-minute increments. And to avoid throwing out your back, be sure to limber up with some stretches before digging in.
Yeah you can head over to the nearest grocery store and pick up a few Duraflames, or you can man up and chop your own damn wood. This ax swinging, cardio-blast not only burns between 400 and 500 calories an hour, it also provides for one hell of a core-strengthening workout.
Now that you’ve chopped all that wood to keep your fireplace flickering for a few weeks, you’ll need to carry and stack it somewhere dry. Depending on the amount of your bounty and the distance of your lumber transfer and setup, you’ll be burning between 350 and 500 calories and working your major muscles from traps to calves—all while keeping your family cozy during the cold months.
Definitely not a chore anyone looks forward to, but this daily cold weather grind, can fire up your arms and delts while burning a few unwanted calories. According to the Farmers’ Almanac, scraping ice off windshields or other surfaces for thirty minutes nets the average built de-icer just over 100 calories. Whatever your technique to get the job done, just be sure to wear gloves to keep the feeling in your fingers.
This common autumn chore is a great way to get in a solid workout while clearing your yard of all that tree debris. For an hour’s worth of raking you’ll knock off somewhere between 300-400 calories, while knocking out a good upper-body routine.
Roof Work
With leaves clogging your gutters and snow sitting heavy on your shingles, the fall and winter seasons are prime times for hightailing it up to your roof for annual maintenance. It’s not sexy work, but scooping all that sludge out from your gutters will not only save you from future repair headaches, it will also net you up to 200 torched calories.
Looking to burn even more? Then climb up on the roof after a heavy snowfall and bring your shovel. You’ll be protecting your home from some serious damage and churning out a total-body workout that burns about 250 calories an hour. Just make sure it’s stopped snowing and the roof is gently sloped. Otherwise, a snow-packed roof will be the least of your problems.
Light It Up
Along with the payoff of an illuminated winter wonderland for the entire neighborhood to enjoy, the laborious task of putting up holiday lights on your home each year is surprisingly, heart-pumping chore. Depending on how much wattage you plan to sap from the city grid, it’s estimated you’ll burn about 130 calories per hour hoisting all that hardware and lighting up the ladder. Throw in putting a giant Santa and a few reindeer on the roof, and you’ve got yourself one heck of a holiday workout
