How Many Calories Do You Burn Doing Yard Work?

Man focusing on mowing lawn

Some people look forward to their yard work; others see it as a chore. If you’re more like the latter, maybe we can change your mind! What if we told you that you could swap out some gym time for time in the yard? Multi-task by burning calories doing yard work that is probably on your to-do list, anyway.

Calories Burned Doing Yard Work

Below are some common yard tasks that you’re probably already doing, along with the calories an average person (155 pounds) can burn for the task. If you weigh less, you will burn slightly fewer calories per hour, if you weigh more, you will burn slightly more calories per hour doing yard work.

Yard Task Calories
Watering Lawn 106
Lawn Mowing (riding) 176
Picking Up the Yard 204
Applying Fertilizer 281
Bagging Leaves 281
Raking Leaves 288
Pulling Weeds 317
Lawn Mowing (power) 324
Laying Sod 340
Lawn Mowing (push) 387
Spreading Grass Seed 400
Spreading Mulch 576
Digging in the Yard 598
Chopping/Splitting Wood 774

Other Health Benefits of Yard Work

Working out isn’t solely about the calories burned. Similarly to your efforts at the gym, the health benefits of yard work go beyond calories, as well. Checking off yard tasks may also help you work toward similar goals that you would achieve in your gym workouts, such as:

  • Get in low impact cardio
  • Build strong bones and joints
  • Reduce stress
  • Increase flexibility

Multi-Task During Yard Work

Soak up some sun for a good source of vitamin D, while you get a workout in for the day. Grab your sunscreen and some water, and burn those calories while you check off your yard to-dos. Overall, you’ll get some good exercise, your yard will look great and, thanks to your multi-tasking, you’ve saved time to enjoy that beautiful yard you’ve worked hard on.

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