This Article  • References  • Full text PDF  • Send to a friend  • Save in My Folder  • Save to citation manager  • Permissions  Citing Articles  • Citation map  • Citing articles on HighWire  • Contact me when this article is cited  Related Content  • Similar articles in JAMA  Social Bookmarking   What's this?

Barry A. Franklin, PhD; Patrick Hogan, MA; Kim Bonzheim, MSA; Donovan Bakalyar, PhD; Edward Terrien, MD; Seymour Gordon, MD; Gerald C. Timmis, MD

JAMA. 1995;273(11):880-882.

Abstract
Objective.
—To assess the physiologic responses to manual (shoveling) vs automated (electric snow thrower) snow removal in healthy, untrained men.

Design.
—Observational, controlled trial.

Setting.
—A community-based, acute care, teaching-research hospital.

Participants.
—A volunteer sample of 10 apparently healthy untrained men (mean ±SD age = 32.4±2.1 years) met all eligibility criteria and completed the study.

Intervention.
—Each subject cleared two 10±2-cm-high, 15-m-long tracts of heavy, wet snow in the cold (2°C), using self-paced manual and automated methods, in random order, with 10- to 15-minute rest periods between each 10-minute bout of work.

Main Outcome Measures.
—Heart rate, blood pressure, oxygen uptake, and perceived exertion during snow removal were compared with values obtained during maximal arm-ergometer and treadmill tests.

Results.
—Mean heart rate during shoveling was 154 and 173 beats per minute at 2 and 10 minutes, respectively, corresponding to 86% and 97% of maximal heart rate. Relative heart rate (percentage of maximal heart rate) during shoveling was inversely related to aerobic fitness (r= —0.65; P=.05). The highest heart rate and perceived exertion responses during shoveling, arm-ergometer, and treadmill testing were comparable. Systolic blood pressure during snow shoveling (198±17 mm Hg) was significantly greater (P<.003) than during arm ergometry or automated snow removal and slightly greater than during maximal treadmill testing (181 ±25 mm Hg). Oxygen uptake during shoveling was similar to that for arm ergometry (5.7 vs 6.3 metabolic equivalents), but lower than for treadmill testing (9.3 metabolic equivalents). Cardiorespiratory and perceived exertion responses were reduced during automated snow removal.

Conclusion.
—Heavy snow shoveling elicits myocardial and aerobic demands that rival maximal treadmill and arm-ergometer testing in sedentary men. These responses may contribute to cardiovascular events reported after heavy snowfalls.

(JAMA. 1995;273:880-882)

Author Affiliations
From the Department of Medicine, Division of Cardiology (Cardiac Rehabilitation and Exercise Laboratories), William Beaumont Hospital, Royal Oak, Mich.

Footnotes
Presented in part at the 43rd Annual Scientific Session, American College of Cardiology, Atlanta, Ga, March 16, 1994, and the American College of Sports Medicine annual meeting, Indianapolis, Ind, June 4, 1994.

Reprint requests to Cardiac Rehabilitation and Exercise Laboratories, William Beaumont Hospital, Beaumont Rehabilitation and Health Center, 746 Purdy St, Birmingham, Ml 48009 (Dr Franklin).

CiteULike    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter     What's this?

THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES

The Risk in Exercise Training
Foster et al.
AMERICAN JOURNAL OF LIFESTYLE MEDICINE 2008;2:279-284.
ABSTRACT  

Exercise and Acute Cardiovascular Events: Placing the Risks Into Perspective: A Scientific Statement From the American Heart Association Council on Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Metabolism and the Council on Clinical Cardiology
In Collaboration With the American College of Spor et al.
Circulation 2007;115:2358-2368.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

AGT M235T and ACE ID polymorphisms and exercise blood pressure in the HERITAGE Family Study
Rankinen et al.
Am. J. Physiol. Heart Circ. Physiol. 2000;279:H368-H374.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT