Yardwork is a great way to burn calories and get some physical activity. The exact number of calories you burn doing yardwork depends on several factors, including your weight, the intensity of the activites, and how long you do them for. Here’s a quick overview of how many calories you can expect to burn per hour doing various yardwork activities:
Mowing the lawn
Operating a push lawn mower: 300-400 calories per hour
Riding a lawn tractor: 200-300 calories per hour
Raking leaves
Light effort (occasional raking): 200-300 calories per hour
Moderate effort (steady raking): 300-400 calories per hour
Digging/shoveling
Light digging/shoveling: 300-400 calories per hour
Heavy digging (turning soil, deep holes): 400-500 calories per hour
Weeding
Hand weeding: 300-400 calories per hour
Trimming bushes/hedges
Using hand trimmers: 300-400 calories per hour
Using power trimmer: 200-300 calories per hour
Picking up debris
Light effort (occasional bending/lifting): 200-300 calories per hour
Moderate effort (steady clean up): 300-400 calories per hour
Planting
Digging holes and planting: 300-400 calories per hour
Spreading mulch
Shoveling and spreading mulch: 400-500 calories per hour
Washing exterior surfaces
Scrubbing/pressuring washing: 300-400 calories per hour
Factors that influence calorie burn
Several factors can influence the number of calories you burn doing yardwork, including:
- Your weight – Heavier people tend to burn more calories for the same activity
- Intensity – More vigorous activities like shoveling burn more calories than lighter ones like watering plants
- Length of time – The longer you do an activity, the more calories you’ll use
- Temperature/humidity – Working in hot, humid weather causes more sweating and burns extra calories
- Terrain – Working on hills/uneven ground burns more calories than flat yards
- Rest time – Taking breaks lowers overall calorie burn
- Efficency – Being efficient at the activity (having the right tools, pace, technique) can reduce calorie burn
Tips to burn the most calories doing yardwork
Here are some tips to maximize the calories you burn while doing yardwork:
- Do activities that engage multiple large muscle groups like shoveling, raking, or digging
- Use manual tools instead of power equipment whenever possible
- Work at a continuous moderate to vigorous effort
- Minimize rest time and keep moving between tasks
- Do yardwork for longer periods of time (at least 30-60 minutes)
- Add hills or uneven terrain to increase intensity
- Do yardwork when it’s hot and humid outside (if tolerable)
- Carry loads like bags of mulch or dirt to engage more muscles
- Do tasks that require bending, squatting, and reaching like weeding or trimming
Yardwork calorie burn by body weight
The number of calories you burn doing yardwork can vary widely depending on factors like the activity intensity and duration. But your body weight also plays a major role. Heavier people burn more calories performing the same physical activites.
Here’s an estimate of how many calories a person may burn per hour doing common yardwork activities based on their body weight:
| Activity (moderate effort) | 120 lbs | 150 lbs | 180 lbs | 210 lbs | 240 lbs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mowing lawn (push mower) | 210-280 | 240-320 | 270-360 | 300-400 | 330-440 |
| Raking leaves | 210-280 | 240-320 | 270-360 | 300-400 | 330-440 |
| Weeding | 210-280 | 240-320 | 270-360 | 300-400 | 330-440 |
| Spreading mulch | 280-350 | 320-400 | 360-450 | 400-500 | 440-550 |
As shown, a 120 lb person may burn around 210-280 calories per hour doing moderate yardwork like mowing, while a 240 lb person may burn 330-440 calories performing the same activity.
Daily or weekly calorie expenditure
Most people don’t do yardwork continuously for long periods of time. But if you add up all the mini-sessions across days or weeks, it can contribute significantly to calorie burn and weight management.
For example, if you spend 1 hour mowing, 30 minutes weeding, and 30 minutes trimming hedges in a day, that’s about:
- 360-480 calories burned for a 150 lb person
- 510-680 calories burned for a 210 lb person
Do an hour of yardwork daily for a week straight, and you could end up burning:
- 1,500-2,500 calories for a 120 lb person
- 2,500-4,000 calories for a 240 lb person
This demonstrates how yardwork can really add up over time, leading to significant calorie expenditure and associated health benefits like maintaining a healthy weight and reducing body fat.
Comparison to other exercise
How does calorie burn from yardwork compare to more traditional physical activities? Here’s an estimate:
| Activity | Calories burned (150 lb person) |
|---|---|
| Yardwork – raking/digging (moderate effort) | 240-320 per hour |
| Walking – 3.5 mph | 240-300 per hour |
| Jogging – 5 mph | 450-550 per hour |
| Elliptical – moderate effort | 300-450 per hour |
| Cycling – 12-14 mph | 400-500 per hour |
| Swimming – freestyle laps | 400-500 per hour |
As you can see, common yardwork activities like raking burn roughly the same number of calories as a moderate pace walk. More vigorous yardwork like shoveling is equivalent to jogging or cycling. So yardwork can stack up well against other forms of exercise.
Health benefits of yardwork
Beyond just burning calories, doing yardwork regularly provides many other important health benefits including:
- Improved cardiovascular fitness
- Increased muscle strength and endurance
- Reduced risk of obesity, diabetes, heart disease
- Lower blood pressure and cholesterol
- Decreased stress and improved mood
- Stronger bones and reduced osteoporosis risk
- Greater flexibility and balance
Yardwork also gets you outdoors breathing fresh air and exposes you to vitamin D from sunlight. And it provides a way to be active that many people find enjoyable.
Safety tips
To burn calories safely with yardwork, keep these tips in mind:
- Use proper form when lifting, bending, squatting
- Alternate between lighter and more strenuous tasks
- Stay hydrated and take breaks as needed
- Listen to your body and don’t overexert yourself
- Wear sunscreen, hats, protective clothing as warranted
- Look out for tripping hazards like rocks, branches
- Check areas for poison ivy, stinging insects, sharp objects before starting work
Conclusion
Yardwork can be an excellent form of exercise that burns a significant number of calories. Exact calorie expenditure depends on several variables, but you can expect to burn around 200-400 per hour with moderate yard activities. This can provide health benefits like supporting weight loss and cardiovascular fitness when done regularly.
Focus on working at a moderate intensity for longer periods and incorporate strenuous tasks like shoveling to maximize calorie burn. Yardwork stacks up well against other traditional exercise. But be sure to practice safety while enjoying the outdoors and getting fit!
