In this guide
Why shoveling is harder on the heart than it looks
Clearing a driveway feels like ordinary chore-level effort. Measured, it is not. In research by Barry Franklin, Ph.D., FAHA, director of preventive cardiology and cardiac rehabilitation at Corewell Health East, “after only two minutes of snow shoveling, study participants’ heart rates exceeded 85% of maximal heart rate.” That is the territory of a cardiac stress test, reached in the time it takes to clear the first few feet.
Three things stack up at once, and the American Heart Association describes each of them:
- Cold constricts your blood vessels. “Breathing/exposure to cold air causes constriction of blood vessels throughout the body,” which raises blood pressure and narrows the arteries feeding the heart.
- It is arm work, not leg work. “The act of shoveling snow is mostly arm work” — and arm work is more taxing on the heart than using the big muscles in your legs.
- You hold your breath without noticing. While straining to lift a loaded shovel “you often unconsciously hold your breath, which causes big increases in heart rate and blood pressure.”
None of that is a reason for a fit, healthy person to panic about clearing their own driveway. It is the reason the activity is treated differently from a walk around the block.
What the research actually found
The largest study on this looked at Quebec. Published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal in 2017, Auger and colleagues examined 128,073 hospital admissions and 68,155 deaths from heart attack across thirteen years of winters, matched against snowfall records.
Two findings stand out. First, the effect showed up in men but not women — for women the association with snowfall was flat. Second, the risk was tied to the snowfall itself and the day after it, not to the days following; the authors found no association with snowfall two or three days earlier.
As the American Heart Association summarises that study, heavy snow of roughly seven to eight inches was associated with “16% higher odds of men being admitted to the hospital with a heart attack” and “a 34% increase in the chance of men dying from a heart attack.”
Scale, in Franklin’s estimate: “hundreds of people die during or just after snow removal in the U.S. each year.” Snow shoveling also appears in the AHA’s 2020 scientific statement on exercise-related cardiac events, among the activities that place extra stress on the heart in people unused to regular exercise.
The counterintuitive part
The Quebec study found the association held whether or not people already had cardiovascular conditions or risk factors. Being previously healthy is not the same as being safe, and it is not an argument for ignoring symptoms because you have never had a heart problem.
Who the AHA says should not shovel
The American Heart Association lists the risk factors that should make someone hand the job over: a sedentary lifestyle or obesity, current or former smoking, diabetes, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, and any history of heart attack or stroke.
For people in that group its position is not hedged. Franklin’s guidance is that people with those characteristics, and those who have had bypass surgery or coronary angioplasty, “simply should not be shoveling snow.” In the AHA’s January 2024 release he extends that to any conditions — not only the coldest days.
He also makes the point that fitness, not age alone, is what matters: “the impact is hardest on those people who are least fit.”
Why Buffalo snow raises the stakes
Two local factors make this more than a general-interest warning here.
The snow is often wet and heavy. Lake-effect snow forming over a relatively warm Lake Erie carries more water than the dry powder of a continental snowfall. A shovelful of it weighs considerably more, which is exactly the load that produces breath-holding and a blood pressure spike. Our guide to lake-effect snow in Buffalo explains why the bands behave the way they do.
The volume arrives fast. The National Weather Service describes lake-effect bands that drop two to three inches an hour or more. A storm that would be a twenty-minute job elsewhere becomes an hour or two of continuous exertion here, often repeated the next morning.
And the hardest single part of any Buffalo driveway is the ridge the town plow leaves across the apron: compacted, often part ice, and sitting at the end of the job when you are already tired.
Warning signs: stop immediately
The AHA’s list is specific. Stop shoveling at once if you experience:
- Chest pain or pressure
- Lightheadedness
- Heart palpitations or irregular heart rhythms
If the symptoms do not subside shortly after you stop shoveling or snow blowing, call 9-1-1. The AHA is explicit that this is not a wait-and-see situation, and that if you are unsure whether what you are feeling is a heart attack, it should be checked by a doctor rather than guessed at.
If you do shovel, do it this way
Push rather than lift
The AHA’s first technique recommendation. Pushing or sweeping snow sideways avoids the lift-and-throw motion that drives the blood pressure spike. Lifting is what makes it strenuous, not moving snow as such.
Smaller loads, more often
A smaller shovel forces smaller loads. Clearing four inches twice is easier on the heart than clearing eight inches once, which is an argument for going out during a long band rather than waiting for it to finish.
Start gradually and pace yourself
Treat it as exercise, because it is. Warm up, go slower than feels necessary at the start, and take breaks before you need them rather than after.
Use a snow blower if you have one
The AHA notes that using a snow blower raises heart rate less than shoveling does. It still asks for caution — and never clear a clog with your hands, which is its own category of injury covered in our guide to DIY snow removal mistakes.
No alcohol before or straight after
Also AHA guidance. And take extra care in wind, which makes the cold harder on the body than the thermometer suggests.
When to hand it over
There is no prize for clearing your own driveway. If you are in one of the groups above, the honest answer is that someone else should be doing it — a family member, a neighbour, or a contractor.
If that is a contractor, book before the season rather than during a storm. Routes fill in October, and the households that struggle most in January are usually the ones calling for the first time in January. Two things worth setting up at the same time: driveway markers before the ground freezes, and a clear understanding of who clears the public sidewalk — which, under the rules in several Erie County municipalities, is the property owner.
Redefine runs snow plowing and removal across 20 Erie County towns with 24/7 storm dispatch, covering driveways, aprons, walks and steps. Details of how visits work are on the residential snow removal page.
FAQ
Is shoveling snow actually bad for your heart?
For most healthy people it is strenuous exercise rather than a danger. The risk rises sharply for people with heart disease or its risk factors, because cold air, arm work and breath-holding raise heart rate and blood pressure at the same time. Research cited by the American Heart Association found heart rates exceeding 85% of maximum after only two minutes of shoveling.
Who should not shovel snow at all?
The American Heart Association points to people with a sedentary lifestyle or obesity, current or former smokers, and people with diabetes, high cholesterol, high blood pressure or a history of heart attack or stroke. It says people with those characteristics, and anyone who has had bypass surgery or coronary angioplasty, should not be shoveling snow.
What are the warning signs I should stop?
Chest pain or pressure, lightheadedness, heart palpitations or irregular heart rhythms. Stop immediately, and call 9-1-1 if the symptoms do not subside shortly after you stop shoveling or snow blowing.
Does a snow blower remove the risk?
It reduces the cardiac load — the AHA notes a snow blower raises heart rate less than shoveling — but it does not remove it, and the AHA still advises caution. Snow blowers also carry their own injury risk, particularly when clearing a clogged chute by hand.
Is the risk higher after a big snowfall?
The Quebec study published in CMAJ in 2017 found the association was with snowfall on the day of the heart attack and the day before, not with snowfall two or three days earlier. As the AHA summarises it, around seven to eight inches of snow was associated with 16% higher odds of men being admitted with a heart attack and a 34% increase in the chance of dying from one. The study found no such association among women.
What is the safest way to shovel if I have to?
Push or sweep the snow rather than lifting and throwing it, use a smaller shovel so each load is lighter, clear in stages during a long snowfall rather than all at once afterwards, start gradually, take breaks, and avoid alcohol before or straight after.
Sources. American Heart Association, “Snow shoveling, cold temperatures combine for perfect storm of heart health hazards” (11 January 2024) and “Snow shoveling can be hazardous to your heart” (15 December 2022), both quoting Barry Franklin, Ph.D., FAHA; the American Heart Association’s 2020 scientific statement Exercise-Related Acute Cardiovascular Events and Potential Deleterious Adaptations Following Long-Term Exercise Training; Auger N. et al., “Association between quantity and duration of snowfall and risk of myocardial infarction”, CMAJ 2017;189(6):E235–E242; National Weather Service lake-effect snow guidance. Read 9 October 2026. This is general information, not medical advice. If you have a heart condition or any of the risk factors described here, speak to your doctor about what winter work is safe for you.
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