Yard work beats a trip to the gym

Don’t worry if you can’t make a trip to the gym because of yard work. Yard work burns calories and uses your abs, strengthens your arms, and is a killer workout for your legs. Yard work provides a great workout, burns lots of calories, and increases muscle strength and definition. So mow, rake, and plant. You will get a great workout and a sense of accomplishment at the same time.

The internet exercise site Exrx has an excellent guide to calculate the calories burned during yard work.  Calculating the calories burned in one hour doing heavy yard work (based on body weight and number of minutes):

Weight 125 pounds = 425 calories
Weight 155 pounds = 527 calories
Weight 200 pounds = 680 calories

Heavy yard work burns 3.4 calories a minute (choose any weight above; divide the calories burned for one hour (60 minutes) by the weight. If you want to see your results instantly, look into a fitness tracker. The fitness tracker lets you monitor your heart rate and view the calories burned as you work.

So what is heavy yard work?

Lawn mowing

Mowing the lawn is like walking on a treadmill. If you have a hilly yard, the workout is even better. Mowing uses the major muscles in the upper body and legs. If you use a bagger on the mower, the trunk and arms benefit from bag removal and emptying. If you rake and bag the mown grass, you receive the same benefits as raking the yard.

Rake and clean the yard

In the early spring, raking up leaves and debris is like a workout on a rowing machine. Raking uses the entire upper body, including the chest, pectoral, shoulder, and back muscles. Picking up leaves and debris works the quads, the hips, and the buttocks.

Digging

Digging with a shovel or a spade is equivalent to lifting weights. The digging action uses the quadriceps, hamstrings, calf muscles, the buttocks, biceps, and triceps. Maintaining balance as you exert the muscles provides a palates workout for the trunk.

Weeding and planting

Planting and weeding is equivalent to a cross trainer, with the added benefits of arm, shoulder, and back muscles as you pull up deeply rooted growth. Planting and weeding use the back, shoulder, and arm muscles, as well as the buttocks and thigh muscles. Whether you kneel or squat to weed and plant, your trunk muscles are engaged to maintain balance.

Fun fact: If you are carrying and spreading bags of mulch or topsoil, the additional weight and activity can burn 7 calories a minute.