I do a lot of “around the house” work, such as building structures (currently working on a shed and chicken coop), chopping wood (with an axe), cutting and dragging trees and brush (we are currently clearing about 4-5 large trees on our property), etc. My question is how do you account for this in your workout plan. If bulking, do you eat a few hundred extra calories and if cutting do you consider this extra cardio? Sometimes I can choose when to do it, so is it better on off days? Or am I overthinking it and just shouldn’t count it. For example, I was working on my shed for five hours today, cutting and carrying lumber, roofing materials, tools, etc. I tried adding that into Cronometer and it said I burned an extra 1300 calories doing that. That just seems a bit much compared to what I felt my effort was. Any thoughts?
In most circumstances I’d say not to count it. If doing something overly burdensome like brick laying, roofing or heavy landscaping - I’d say you can allow yourself to eat more in both a bulk and cut. If it’s not that, id let it wash out unless you’re noticing a trend in the wrong path.
Right on. Also, I’m in Texas so when the work is outside and in the summer, it takes a different form. I’ll cross that bridge when I get there.
I personally don’t change anything. If it’s a normal, everyday thing then your body is likely already acclimated to the workload.
I’m in NY, so not nearly as intense of a summer as you likely have, but I did a lot of work on rubber roofs. It would get up to 110+ with high humidity. I found liquid IV, Gatorade zero and light lunches helped me out substantially in feeling like I’m not on deaths door.
Sorry, but what does NEAT stand for?
NEAT stands for Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis.
Basically, it’s energy used for anything that isn’t sleeping or exercise.
It includes things like walking, around the house work like you’re doing, and even small things like fidgeting and moving around during the day.
NEAT can contribute to fat loss because you’re burning more calories by moving more; however, I think most people aren’t doing enough to have it accounted for in their daily calorie intake. For example, I wouldn’t eat an extra 200 calories just because I fidgeted a lot during the day.
As @Andrewgen_Receptors said above, there’s probably no need to change anything unless you’re noticing trends in the wrong direction based on your goal.
Unless it’s your daily job, don’t sweat it. Just be aware it can have an impact on your lifting but its ok and the extra GPP is better for you overall.
I have some stories on hard manual labor and still making progress lifting…in retrospect, I made “progress” but here I am 20 years later and my body hates me.