If you are a professional artist who weighs 180 lbs and creates paintings, sketchings, drawings, and other artwork for hours every day, you can burn 150 calories an hour. If you are painting a house, you can burn around 280 to 420 calories per hour. Calories burned painting are more if you are painting the exteriors of your house. That's because you need to climb stairs, haul cans of paint, move between the trees and be in the sun. Painting on canvas burns the least calories because there is not much physical activity needed.
If you paint regularly, use our painting calories burned calculator to find out if and how this activity can help you stick to your calorie goals. The actual number of calories burned may, however, be more than what you get from our calculator. That's because it doesn’t count the number of calories you burn carrying the paints around, moving the furniture, and other tasks associated with painting.
Interested to know how our painting calories burned calculator works and what factors decide the result you achieve? Keep reading to discover several interesting details that may help you admire your work.
💡 Quick Tip: Although the paint we use is lead-free and much safer than what it used to be decades ago, its fine particles, odor, and fumes can cause allergies, rashes, asthma, and other breathing problems. Protect yourself using Full Face Organic Vapor, Chemical, & Particulate Respirator. These painting masks are designed to provide full-face protection so you don’t have to buy painting glasses separately.
Full Face Organic Vapor, Chemical, & Particulate Respirator
Painting Calories Burned Calculator
Our painting calories burned calculator formula
Our painting calories burned calculator is not a mere calorie meter. It uses a scientifically developed formula that uses the weight of a person and the intensity of activity to give you the most accurate result. The formula is-
Calories burned per minute = (MET x body weight in Kg x 3.5) ÷ 200
You can expect a high level of accuracy from our painting calories burned calculator. All you need to do is to enter your exact weight and select the type of painting you usually do. Based on that, our tool will auto-pick a MET value and help you figure out what to expect from your painting session.
📖 Related Article: Other than being an adventurous sport, roller skating is also a great calorie-burning activity. Find out if and how it can help you stay fit using our calories burned roller skating calculator.
MET value of painting
Metabolic Equivalent of a Task represents its intensity i.e. how difficult it is compared to sitting or sleeping. It represents the multiple of the energy that you spend doing extremely sedentary activities such as sitting idle.
The MET value of sitting or sleeping is 1 whereas the MET value of standing is 1.5 to 1.8. This means you burn 1.8 times more energy when you stand. The MET value of walking is 3 to 5 depending on your speed, so it helps you burn 3 to 5 times more energy. For running, the MET value is 9 to 14, which means this is a high-intensity exercise that can help you burn 9 to 14 times the energy you would spend sitting.
Now that you know what MET is, let's look at the approximate MET values of painting.
- Drawing or painting on canvas- 1.8
- Scraping paint or removing wallpaper inside the house- 3.3
- Painting the interior parts of the house, including rearranging furniture- 4.5
- Painting the exteriors of the house- 5
Using the MET values above, let's calculate how many calories you will burn if you weigh about 180 lbs.
If you are painting on canvas, you will burn-
(MET x body weight in Kg x 3.5) ÷ 200 = (1.8 x 81.6 x 3.5) ÷ 200= 2.6 calories per minute i.e. 154 calories per hour
Calories burned painting interiors while rearranging furniture would be-
(4.5 x 81.6 x 3.5) ÷ 200= 6.4 calories per minute i.e. 385 calories per hour
Calories burned painting the exterior areas of the house would be-
(5 x 81.6 x 3.5) ÷ 200= 7 calories per minute i.e. 428 calories an hour
💡 Quick Tip: If you are going to paint a vintage house or a house built around the 1970s or 1980s, make sure you do a lead test using SCITUS know, understand Lead Test Kit before beginning the work. If you detect lead, do not start your work unless you have proper protective equipment. Hire a professional painter because they have the necessary training and tools to do hazardous paint work.
SCITUS know, understand Lead Test Kit
Factors that affect the number of calories burned painting
The intensity of your activity
Just in case you haven’t figured out yet, the MET values of an activity are not fixed. They can vary widely depending on the intensity at which you are doing an activity. For example, running at a low pace can have a MET of 9 whereas running at a high pace could have a MET value of 14.
Similarly, the MET value of painting also varies depending on various factors such as rearranging the furniture, climbing a stool or ladder, carrying the paint cans, the level of extending and contracting your body, etc. If you are painting a canvas or a piece of furniture, you won’t have to do a lot of movements. The MET value for such activities could be pretty low i.e. around 1.8 to 2.5. You won’t burn a lot of calories painting canvas but you will obviously burn more calories than sitting.
Your weight
As obvious from our painting calories burned calculator formula, the more you weigh, the more calories you will burn per minute for any activity. That's because your body will have to burn more calories to move its heavy weight. This is the reason why obese people can lose weight pretty quickly and easily.
📖 Related Article: Shoveling snow can help you burn 480 calories an hour. It is a great full-body exercise. To find out more about how it can help you stay fit, read our detailed article on calories burned shoveling snow calculator.
Your metabolism
Young people have a faster metabolism, so they burn more calories than people in their 40s or 50s, even if the other factors remain the same. People with heart conditions, diabetes, diseases of liver and pancreas, etc. burn fewer calories than healthy individuals irrespective of their age. Women burn fewer calories than men. Our painting calories burned calculator only considers age and weight because that's what the formula requires. The actual number could vary slightly depending on your metabolism.
Painting calories burned calculator FAQs
Does painting help burn calories?
Every activity helps you burn calories. Even stretching your arms while sitting also helps burn more calories than simply sitting idly.
Painting on canvas is a low-intensity task but painting a home is a tough job and can help you burn as many calories as walking or doing jumping jacks at a moderate speed.
💡 Quick Tip: Small droplets of paint could be extremely toxic for your eyes and may cause severe eye infection and blindness. Use the right protective gear such as Supermore Anti-Fog Protective Safety Goggles to stay safe.
Supermore Anti-Fog Protective Safety Goggles
Does painting count as cardio?
Any work that elevates your heart rate and makes you sweat can be counted as cardio. So, painting a canvas, a piece of furniture or doing minor painting jobs such as fixing patches, etc. aren’t cardio workouts. But, painting an entire house where you need to climb up and down the ladder, carry painting supplies, move furniture, etc. can be counted as a form of cardio.
How many calories do you burn painting a canvas?
As I said above, painting a canvas has a MET value of 1.8. Using our painting calories burned calculator, I found that a 180 lbs person would burn around 150 calories an hour.
Is painting a house a workout?
Painting a house can help you burn almost the same number of calories that you would burn walking at a speed of 5 mph. So, yes, painting is a great workout. It engages almost all muscles of your body. If you are a professional painter, it may help you stay fit but if you want to build muscles and grow stronger day by day, it may not be enough. You should do strength training workouts at least twice a week.
Wrap up
Painting engages almost all your muscle groups and helps you burn a decent number of calories. Several other household chores burn almost the same or more number of calories such as mowing the lawn, shoveling snow, etc. So, if someday you do not want to hit the gym or do conventional exercises, you can climb the stairs, try roller skating, or go kayaking. Remember that anything that makes you feel exhausted is a great workout.
