By, Mindy Ward, Excerpt from DRIVE Magazine Article
Who needs a fancy gym and monthly membership fee when you have the luxury of barn time and chores at your fingertips? Getting in a substantial amount of calorie-burning, muscle-building exercises is simple when you have calves to blow/brush, pigs to walk, and sheep and goats to work. Indeed, some of the fittest people around are young livestock enthusiasts. Mindy Ward, fitness guru, helps us break down the calories burned in some day-to-day chores.
Assumptions:
Height – 5’8″
Weight – 150 lbs.
*smaller frame/weight will burn slightly fewer calories while a larger frame/weight will burn slightly more.
EXERCISE |
TIME SPENT |
CALORIES BURNED |
Vigorously Brushing/Blowing Cattle |
10 minutes |
46 |
Briskly Walking Livestock |
10 minutes |
46 |
Clean and Bed Pens |
10 minutes |
80 |
Push 50-pound load in wheelbarrow. |
10 minutes |
63 |
Sweep Barn, Rake Stalls |
10 minutes |
46 |
Unload/stack 100-pound hay bales |
10 minutes |
125 |
Unload/stack 50-pound straw bales |
10 minutes |
90 |
Lift 20 pounds (feed/water) |
10 minutes |
51 |
Shearing Sheep |
10 minutes |
64 |
Milking by machine |
10 minutes |
16 |
Driving Tractor/Farming |
10 minutes |
26 |
Shoveling Grain |
10 minutes |
58 |