Human Effort Levels - Energy and Heart Rates

Work effort levels, energy expenditure and associated heart rates

Human work effort levels and associated heart rates and energy expenditure are indicated in the table below.

Effort Level Typical Tasks Heart Rate Elevation
(beats per minute)
Body Energy Expenditure
(Watts)
Work Duration Restriction
(hours)
Light riding bicycle at 10 km/h, canning paint, raking leaves, making drawings, machining light objects, sewing by hand 0 - 35 70 - 175 none
Moderate building brick wall, cleaning boiler, planing softwood, sheet-metal working, soldering, using screwdrivers, walking on level 35 - 55 175 - 260 > 2
Heavy digging trenches, using sledge-hammer, stoking furnace, metal grinding, walking up 5% gradient 55 - 75 260 - 420 < 1 to 2
Very Heavy shoveling sand, using jackhammer, stacking concrete blocks, stone masonry, climbing normal stairs 75 - 90 420 - 700 < 1 to 2
Extremely Heavy sawing wood, climbing vertical ladder > 90 > 700 < 0.25 to 0.3

 

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