Moving: It’s a Workout

Packing up and moving an entire house is a time consuming process. People often feel pressured to put their other hobbies and interests on hold in order to dedicate more time to the move. However, cutting out a few trips to the gym shouldn’t hurt because the good news is that the activities associated with relocation burn a significant number of calories.

America is heading into moving season – most of the 43 million Americans who will relocate this year will do so between May and September. Consider the calories they will be burning.

According to www.caloriesperhour.com, a 140-pound person burns per hour:

• 222 calories packing and unpacking boxes
• 381 calories moving furniture
• 191 calories moving household items
• 572 calories moving boxes/furniture up stairs

So, just how many hours does it take to move? That depends on whether you do it yourself or hire a professional. For context, it takes about 70-80 boxes to pack and move a 1,500-square-foot home, and about 150-160 boxes to pack and move a 2,500-square-foot home.

It takes an experienced, professional packer about one hour to pack eight to 10 boxes, so the average person could probably pack five to seven boxes per hour. That’s at least 10 hours of packing for a 1,500-square-foot home, for a total calorie expenditure of 2,220! And, packing for a 2,500-square-foot home would burn at least 4,662 calories. If you’re moving the boxes and furniture yourself, you can expect to burn even more calories.