All the best features, news, tips and great deals to help you live a better life through technology

Contact me with news and offers from other Future brandsReceive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsors

Thank you for signing up to T3. You will receive a verification email shortly.

There was a problem. Please refresh the page and try again.

By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.

Ever wondered which garden chore burns the most calories? Surprisingly enough, it's not sitting in your sun lounger looking at the fruit trees growing, but there is no need to hang down from trees with a chainsaw in your hand either in order to burn some calories. Feel free to do home bodyweight workouts or full body HIIT workouts if you want to get fit sooner but gardening can also burn a surprisingly large amount of calories by mowing the lawn and raking garden debris, as it turns out.

Which garden chore burns the most calories? You CAN get fit with gardening

Cardio-type workouts, like running and cycling, has long been the most popular option to get fit and stay fit and became even more popular since the lockdown started, especially in the UK and Germany where outdoor workout rules have been a bit looser. Going outside the house for run, however, means you can get contracted with the dreaded c-virus and also, that lawn probably really needs mowing too so by doing garden chores, you can kill two birds with one stone: tidy up the garden and get fit while doing so.

Mowing the lawn: up to 350 calories per hour

Who would've thought that pushing the lawnmower can burn so many calories? Anyone who knows that doing it requires your glutes, your core, your back and arms to work together in unison. Who needs deadlifts when you mowing the lawn can provide you with a one-move full body workout?

Want to burn even more calories? Switch your electric lawnmower to a manual one and burn an extra 100 calories per hour.

Raking and bagging garden waste: up to 450 calories per hour

After you finished mowing that lawn, you'd better rake all that cut grass into a neat pile and bag it up for collection on Thursday. Or whenever the pensioners on the street put their bags out, they always know the exact date somehow.

This garden activity will be especially popular after summer when the leaves start to fall but we're sure you can find some more things to rake in the meanwhile.

Shovelling and digging (moderate effort): up to 500 calories per hour

Shovelling is not easy, we know that for sure. But even moderate effort shovelling, as in moving dirt around or spreading tree bark, can burn quite a lot of calories: up to 500 calories in fact. Be careful and keep your back straight so you won't hurt your lower back. Or, you know, you can just do this 3-exercise abs and core workout, but shovelling is probably easier and burns more calories too.

Landscaping: up to 600 calories per hour

Landscaping your garden can burn as many calories as riding a bike at a moderate speed and if that doesn't blow your mind then nothing will. Moving rocks around, digging up the soil, and uprooting trees is hard work, no wonder landscaping people are so buff.