I’ve always heard/been told to be careful while shoveling snow, that you’re more likely to have a heart attack. Why would I be more likely then as opposed to exerting myself during normal temperatures?
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It’s not an issue unless you already have heart disease/are at high risk for heart attack.
It’s the combination of cold weather and unaccustomed strenuous exercise.
Cold causes blood vessels to constrict, increasing blood pressure.
Shoveling snow is pretty hard aerobic work, which increases your heart rate and blood pressure further.
Both of those increase the acute risk that a small clot or similar will break loose from somewhere and get lodged in one of the (already partially-occluded, because you have heart disease) blood vessels that supply the heart muscle, leading to myocardial infarction, aka “heart attack.”
Edit: and I want to clarify the “unaccustomed” piece, too. It’s extra strenuous for people who may be otherwise pretty sedentary – if your heart is already out of shape because it doesn’t get exercise, it has to work far harder than that of someone doing a similar task who *is* in some kind of shape.
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