A 180-pound person who mows the lawn with a riding lawn mower burns between 200 and 220 calories per hour. Using a push lawn mower can help burn between 500 to 550 calories per hour.
Mowing Lawn Calculator
Calories burned with Daily Activities (weight: 175 lbs)
| Exercise | MET | 15m | 30m | 45m | 60m |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mowing the Lawn | 6.0 | 129 | 257 | 386 | 514 |
| Stairs | 8.8 | 189 | 377 | 566 | 754 |
| Standing | 2.5 | 54 | 107 | 161 | 214 |
| Gardening | 5.0 | 107 | 214 | 321 | 429 |
| Sleeping | 1.3 | 28 | 56 | 84 | 111 |
| Sitting | 1.3 | 28 | 56 | 84 | 111 |
| Raking | 4.0 | 86 | 171 | 257 | 343 |
| Resting | 1.3 | 28 | 56 | 84 | 111 |
| Walking a Dog | 3.0 | 64 | 129 | 193 | 257 |
Mowing the lawn and doing other types of yard work may not seem like great exercise, but you may be surprised at the amount of energy it takes to do these activities. In this article, we will discuss the different activities that are involved with mowing the lawn and how many calories you can expect to burn.
Mowing the lawn may seem like a boring chore that your mom or dad forced you to do growing up as a kid. However, all activities involving mowing the lawn and yard work can have some amazing benefits. Doing these activities regularly in conjunction with a strength training routine allows you to burn additional calories that you may have not thought to be possible.
While riding mowers and power push mowers are used by virtually every homeowner with a lawn today, these innovative solutions weren’t always the norm. In fact, the first ride-on lawn mower wasn’t invented until 1956. Today’s lawn mowing technology certainly makes the process easier, but it still requires plenty of effort.
How To Use The Calculator
Using the calculator to determine how many calories you’ll burn while mowing the lawn is easy and only requires a few steps. To calculate the number of calories that you’ll burn, just input your weight and the time that you’ve spent or plan to spend mowing the lawn.
Using the calculator step-by-step:
- Choose your unit of measurement (pounds or kilograms)
- Enter your weight in the corresponding unit of measurement
- Find the specific activity that you’re doing
- Select the amount of time that you’re doing the activity for
- Hit “CALCULATE“
How the Calculator Works
Our calculator uses MET values to give you an accurate estimate of how many calories you can expect to burn while mowing the lawn and doing other activities. The higher the MET value, the more calories you will burn.
What is a MET Value?
MET stands for metabolic equivalent of task, and MET values allow us to give you an estimated expenditure of energy for many different activities, such as mowing the lawn.
A MET value is a ratio between the working metabolic rate and the resting metabolic rate [1], which is the rate of energy that is used relative to the duration of time spent doing activities like mowing the lawn.
So a MET value of 1 is the equivalent of the amount of energy you expend while at rest, and a MET value of 3 means you are expending 3 times as much energy compared to being at rest.
Almost all activities that you can think of have MET values assigned to them. Some activities with MET values are common, and some are not so common. For example, there are MET values assigned to activities like painting, meditating, and hunting!
Most activities come with varying levels of intensity and have different MET values assigned to them. For instance, there are plenty of activities that you can do that are related to mowing the lawn. You can use a riding mower, hand mower, or a power mower that you push. All these activities have varying levels of effort that are required to perform the task of mowing the lawn.
MET values for the rock climbing are:
| Type of Activity | MET | Calories Burned |
|---|---|---|
| Watering lawn or garden, standing or walking | 1.5 | 107 |
| Riding mower | 2.5 | 179 |
| Walking, applying fertilizer or seeding a lawn, push applicator | 3 | 215 |
| Raking lawn or leaves, moderate effort | 3.8 | 272 |
| Raking lawn (Taylor code 600) | 4 | 286 |
| Sacking grass, leaves | 4 | 286 |
| Power mower, light or moderate effort | 4.5 | 322 |
| Walk, power mower, moderate or vigorous effort | 5 | 358 |
| General | 5.5 | 394 |
| Walk, hand mower | 6 | 430 |
Formula
The formula that our calculator uses to determine the number of calories burned per minute is (MET x bodyweight in Kg x 3.5) ÷ 200.
Examples
A person weighing 180 pounds will burn approximately 216 calories per hour from mowing the lawn on a riding mower. This activity has a MET of 2.5, which means that it burns over two times as many calories as you do at rest.
This is what the formula for calculating the calories burned while mowing the lawn will look like for a 180-pound individual at a MET value of 2.5.
- Calories burned (per minute) = (body weight in kg x MET x 5) ÷ 200
- Calories burned (per minute) = ( 81.6 x 5 x 3.5 ) ÷ 200
- Calories burned (per minute) = 6 calories x 60
- Calories burned (per hour) = 216 calories per hour
As we mentioned, another popular form of mowing the lawn is with a power mower. These mowers are either electric or gas-powered but still require you to walk across the yard in order to mow the entire lawn. Since there is a great deal of walking required with a power mower, this activity has a MET value of 4.5.
- Calories burned (per minute) = (body weight in kg x MET x 5) ÷ 200
- Calories burned (per minute) = ( 81.6 x 5 x 3.5 ) ÷ 200
- Calories burned (per minute) = 4 calories x 60
- Calories burned (per hour) = 384 calories per hour
The Surprising Benefits of Mowing the Lawn
Mowing the lawn (and doing yard work in general) can be a very strenuous activity at times. Landscaping activities are often performed outside in the sun and can cause you to produce a great deal of sweat at times. No matter what type of yard work you’re doing, they all require you to be active, which can help burn a ton of calories.
Mowing the lawn requires constant movement as you’re pushing the mower and making turns, which means this is a great low-impact cardio activity. Doing regular cardio will help to burn calories and lose body fat over time if you stay in a caloric deficit.
Other activities that go along with mowing the lawn such as sacking the grass, watering the lawn, and applying fertilizer will help to burn additional calories as well.
FAQs
Is mowing the lawn good exercise?
Just like many other types of yard work, mowing the lawn has the potential to be a great workout depending on your drive and motivation. Pushing the lawn mower as opposed to purchasing a riding mower will provide additional benefits that you may not otherwise get with a riding mower.
What muscles do you use when mowing the lawn?
Believe it or not, pushing the lawnmower and cutting the grass engages lots of muscles in the body. First, the trapezius and serratus anterior are your back muscles that pushing the mower uses most often. Of course, you need a strong lower body and core in order to push the mower across the entire yard during each session.
Does mowing the lawn and yard work build muscle?
Many yard work activities have the potential to build muscle when practiced frequently. As you know by now, pushing the lawnmower will help to build your back muscles and upper body while toning your core and lower body. Between balancing, twisting back and forth, and making turns and other movements, you use and strengthen your muscles a lot more than you would think.
The Bottom Line
While mowing the lawn typically isn’t the most fun or enjoyable activity in the world, it’s a necessary chore that many men, women, and kids do in the nice weather to make their yard look the best it can be. On a hot summer day, you can expect to burn hundreds of calories while doing any type of yard work, including mowing the lawn.
Use this calculator to get an idea of how many calories you can expect to burn while mowing the lawn, and be sure to check out all the other calculators that we have to offer at Fitness Volt!
References:
- Jetté, M., Sidney, K., & Blümchen, G. (1990). Metabolic equivalents (METS) in exercise testing, exercise prescription, and evaluation of functional capacity. Clinical cardiology, 13(8), 555–565. https://doi.org/10.1002/clc.4960130809
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Thank you for this fitness calculator. I have always been in the dark on calories burned per given event. This was wonderful stats for me.
We’re glad you found our calculators helpful!