With age and maturity comes a long list of responsibilities, and weekly chores are high on the list. Fortunately, some of your burdens provide advantages. For instance, mowing your lawn helps you reach your 30-minute-per-day exercise minimum while simultaneously providing fresh air, stress reduction and beautifying your home.
Exercise
Two separate studies confirmed that push-mowing your lawn can count toward your cardiovascular exercise goals, with research more recently published July 2005 in "European Journal of Applied Physiology." However, the studies showed a great deal of variety in the amount of energy expenditure of participants, so you will want to keep your pace fairly quick to meet the moderate-intensity guidelines set by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Gauge this intensity by breaking a sweat, increasing your heart rate and trying to talk -- if you are able to speak, but unable to sing, you are exercising at moderate intensity, notes the CDC.
Calories
The number of calories you burn during exercise varies according to your age, gender, intensity and weight. Harvard Medical School approximates the number of calories you are able to burn mowing your lawn by weight. If you are a 125-lb. person, you can burn 165 calories in 30 minutes of lawn mowing. A 155-lb. person can burn 205 calories. And a 185-lb. person can burn 200 calories with 30 minutes of mowing the lawn. You can burn similar calories dancing, golfing or taking a low-impact aerobic class.
Fat Burning
In order to burn the most fat during exercise, you need your heart rate to reach between 60 to 70 percent of its maximum. Figure your heart's maximum rate by subtracting 220 from your age. If you are 20, your maximum heart rate is 200 and your fat burning zone is between 120 and 140. According to fitness coach Zach Hunt, this will burn 85 percent of the calories during your workout as fat. If you burned 200 calories, 170 calories from fat were burned. Check your heart rate while push-mowing the lawn and pace yourself accordingly.
Additional Benefits
While burning calories and fat, push-mowing the lawn provides additional health benefits. Professor of horticulture and landscape architecture Virginia Lohr lead research on the effects that plants have on people. The results showed that people experienced less stress and greater productivity when plants were present. Additionally, a study done on the benefits of exercise in nature showed people experience reduced mental illness and increased sense of well-being, according to the American Chemical Society. Exercise, calorie burning, fat loss, fresh air and a beautiful yard are all inspiring reasons to mow the lawn.
References
- "European Journal of Applied Physiology"; The Energy Cost of Household and Garden Activities; S M Gunn, et al.; July 2005
- "European Journal of Applied Physiology and Occupational Physiology"; Responses of People with Coronary Artery Disease to Common Lawn-Care Tasks; L M Sheldahl, et al.; 1996
- Harvard Health Medical Publications: Calories Burned in 30 Minutes for People of Three Different Weights
- Spokane Fitness Coach: What is Your Fat Burning Heart Rate?; Zach Hunt, B.S., NSCA-CPT; May 2009
- Human Issues in Horticulture Research: Impact of Interior Plants on Human Stress and Productivity
- American Chemical Society: In the Green of Health; May 2010
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