By Lexi Roach, Editor
Shoveling snow this winter? It can burn up to 230 calories. Snowball fights? That burns 160 calories. Snow angels? 107 calories. Building a snowman? That burns of 143 calories and is a fun activity after a cold snowfall.
According to experts at the Harvard Medical School, shoveling snow is roughly comparable to weight lifting. They say that a 155-pound person will burn 223 calories in 30 minutes of shoveling snow, compared to a person lifting weights for 30 minutes who burns 112 calories.
It takes 3,500 calories to burn a pound, so counting calories and doing hard working activities is a must to burn those extra, unwanted pounds.
Preparing to do strenuous activities is essential to not hurting people or pulling a muscle. It also will make people more flexible if they stretch consistently every day. Doing yoga for just 30 minutes burns 238 calories and increases flexibility while relaxing.
“A prepared body tends to function more efficiently,” explains Jude Sullivan, an exercise physiologist at University of Wisconsin Medical Center. She works to help rehabilitate patients who injure themselves shoveling.
“A few minutes of warm-up before shoveling can go a long way toward preventing muscle injuries, as well as reduce the soreness one may experience hours later,” Sullivan said.
It is always best to dress warmly in the winter rather than risk being underdressed and being cold, or worse, diagnosed with hypothermia. Hypothermia is a very dangerous sickness that involves having an abnormally low body temperature, which makes a person’s body lose s heat more rapidly than it is able to produce it. This makes the body lose energy, resulting in slow movements and being unable to think clearly.
More helpful tips from Harvard Medical School include always wear a hat and glove to prevent body heat loss and dress in layers so when feeling warm, there’s the option of shedding a layer.
Keeping warm will also help increase the amount of calories burned, because in order for the body to sweat, it must over-heat, which causes the loss of calories.
Skiing, snowboarding and cross-country skiing are also very good ways of exercising in the winter and are a great way to burn a lot of calories. Cross-country skiing burns 387 calories for just a half hour of fun.
“[Snowboarding] helps me stay pretty fit in the winter, but snowboarding is more fun than anything, and it’s really enjoyable to do,” senior Joey Cozzi said.
Any type of physical activity during the winter will keep a person in shape while doing fun winter activities.
“I think weight lifting helps because it makes you stronger,” David said. “I eat apples, bananas and oranges [to stay healthy in the winter].”