In a world where we are encouraged to keep fit, and not a week goes past that we aren’t advised to eat more of one food group to avoid a terrible fate later in life; we’ve done a bit of work; and set out to answer: Can working on your car be better than a trip to the gym?!
Here’s where it starts; I know I need to do more exercise, I have a gym membership that I pay for, but in a busy working week I would much rather spend my precious spare time working on my old Volkswagen, than building up a sweat at my local leisure centre!
Sometimes neither wins and I just watch TV and make some dinner! What would be great is some facts and figures; can I justify the additional work on the car, or is it at the expense of my health?!
Fortunately, we’ve got a few health freaks here at VW Heritage. Sales Director, Barney finds a triathlon a ‘fun thing to do’, and has just the piece of kit to tell me what I needed to know.
He ‘wired up’ our resident technician, Benjamin, for an hour whilst he was doing a clutch change on a vehicle in the workshop, and measured the number of calories burnt. We could then compare it to an equivalent hour of exercise, and hopefully draw the conclusion we’re all hoping for!
The hour spent in the workshop burnt 367 calories; Barney checked this with his other half, Jo, who’s a Personal Trainer in Brighton, and discovered it was ju
st a bit more than a 60 minute brisk walk (300 calories). Not bad for a one off job, but I’m unlikely to change a clutch 3 times every week! As a further comparison, an hours worth of running (at 6mph) would burn 600 calories, and an hours’ worth of PT with Jo would use a whopping 900!
So, it looks like I might have to keep going to the gym to keep my slightly portly figure somewhat in check! Maybe supplementing my workout with a spot of spannering at the weekend, which would kill two birds with one stone!
We would be interested to ‘wire up’ some more people in the motor trade to extend our research, if you are local and keen to help, get in touch!
Andy
The opinions expressed here are the personal opinions of the author and do not necessarily represent the views and opinions of VW Heritage.
I haven’t been to gym but as a mechanic myself, working in a busy auto repair shop helps me maintain my figure.