For a change from your usual exercise routine, grab a rake and spend an hour in your yard. Raking leaves gives you the opportunity to burn calories while breathing fresh air, enjoying seasonal changes and completing an outdoor chore.
Activity
If seasonal school events and holidays interfere with structured fitness activities, raking and bagging leaves can provide a moderate-intensity workout. To elevate your heart rate and burn more calories, rake with longer, faster strokes.
Calories
A 150-lb. person burns 146 calories raking leaves for 30 minutes, according to CaloriesPerHour.com. Raking for one hour would burn 292 calories. In comparison, a 200-lb. person would burn 195 calories in 30 minutes of raking, and 390 calories in an hour. An online activity calculator can help you determine how many calories you would burn per your body weight.
Benefits
The rhythmic activity of raking can help reduce stress as you burn calories. Raking and other moderate-intensity activities can help control your weight, lower your blood pressure and prevent heart disease. The National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute recommends 30 minutes of moderate activity most days of the week.
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