4th of July Weekend Workout Thread

-Matatora Courage is the price that life extracts for granting peace Most of the change we think we see in life is due to truths being in and out of favor.

Burn Calories Without Knowing It
How many calories does raking the yard, mopping the kitchen floor, or even playing a few games of billiards burn?
by Susan Woodward

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We all know that crunches, jogging and swimming help us retain an ideal body weight. But what about more mundane activities? How many calories does raking the yard, mopping the kitchen floor, or even playing a few games of billiards burn?

We’re conditioned to believe that only traditionally defined exercise matters, so many of us overlook the other, smaller chances we have to stay trim.

“If you just stay active, it will add up,” personal trainer Marjorie Geiser assures. “It may take a little while, but every choice you make to do something will make a difference.”

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The USDA agrees. Its new personalized health tool—“My Pyramid Tracker”—assesses whether an individual is getting her recommended dose of daily exercise by considering all her activities, not just the time she spends sweating in the gym.

Let’s look at some common things you can do throughout your day and see how they add up. The numbers many surprise you.

(Gender, age and body weight all influence the rate at which each of us uses calories. We’ll use a 130-pound, 35-year-old woman as our example throughout this article and call her “Karen.”)

Moving versus not moving
The good news is that the body is burning calories continuously. It needs energy to perform even the most basic functions required for life (you know, things such as breathing). When Karen simply sits for an hour, she burns 62 calories, or approximately one calorie per minute. It’s not a lot. And adding an activity such as reading or writing makes a non-discernible difference. But the moment Karen stands up and moves, her body begins to heat up. Literally.

Calorie calculations
It turns out that your own home offers plenty of opportunities to stay in motion. If Karen performs an hour of housework, she’ll burn 172 calories; spending 40 minutes washing and vacuuming her car burns another 177 calories.

Add 78 more calories when Karen rakes her lawn for 20 minutes or takes 30 minutes to cook dinner. Chopping wood for 20 minutes (come on, some of you still heat your homes with wood stoves!) calls for 120 calories.

One of the best ways to expend energy? Gardening. Karen utilizes an impressive 320 calories every hour—nearly double the number of calories average indoor housework burns.

Some words about sex
Ever heard the expression that a romp in bed is like jogging for seven miles? Well, a four-mile walk is more like it, but that’s nothing to scoff at.

For Karen, an hour of sexual intercourse requires about 250 calories. She can add 29 more calories for 20 minutes of foreplay. In total, that’s close to the 304 calories she’ll use if she walks the aforementioned four miles in an hour.

The moral of the story
So, pick up a broom and a trowel! In other words, choose movement over being sedentary as often as you can. You’ll see how quickly the calories tally—especially if you include a regular exercise routine into your lifestyle, too. Remember, the point is simple, you want to burn as many calories as you consume to maintain your ideal weight.

And you don’t just have to focus on chores to do that. Karen will use 94 calories playing guitar for half an hour. And what about shooting pool on a Friday night? Actually, not bad. An hour of pool will burn 148 calories. Just don’t blow it with the usual accompaniment of beer.

-Matatora Courage is the price that life extracts for granting peace Most of the change we think we see in life is due to truths being in and out of favor.

*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~* "It's all buena"

-Matatora Courage is the price that life extracts for granting peace Most of the change we think we see in life is due to truths being in and out of favor.

IrishEyes,AJP (GIA)