Do you consider yardwork an exercise?

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ereilly311
ereilly311 Posts: 244 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I know it is listed in the exercise category, but how many people actually think of it as exercise? I never did, but the past two days and all of the weeding and vine pulling/cutting I have done and how much I have sweat and how much my legs hurt I think I definitely consider it to be now!

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  • BrianSharpe
    BrianSharpe Posts: 9,248 Member
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    Cutting the grass & raking leaves......probably not. Digging up garden beds, carrying bags of soil, etc.....I probably would.
  • davisrl0
    davisrl0 Posts: 93 Member
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    Well I have ZERO interest in anything related to yard work.....but the (very) few times in my life I've done something like that, it was hard work! So absolutely YES....I'd consider it exercise!
  • ereilly311
    ereilly311 Posts: 244 Member
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    Yeah I have absolutely no interest in it either. I haven't worked the past two months (I work for a school and don't get paid summers), so my mom is paying my student loans for the summer and in turn I have to be her yard work slave, ugh!
  • junodog1
    junodog1 Posts: 4,792 Member
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    Cutting the grass & raking leaves......probably not. Digging up garden beds, carrying bags of soil, etc.....I probably would.

    Cutting the grass would depend on the method. When I'm on the riding mower no, when on the walk behind, yes. But I'd probably log it as some level of walking.

    Raking leaves? I disagree. I think that's some hard work. I mostly rake live oak leaves and that's a long tiring job. Not as bad a laying a new irrigation pipe and digging / filling in the ditch. But right up there with cutting branches and hauling.

    Count your yard work!
  • grobekg
    grobekg Posts: 12 Member
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    Cutting the grass & raking leaves......probably not. Digging up garden beds, carrying bags of soil, etc.....I probably would.

    Cutting the grass would depend on the method. When I'm on the riding mower no, when on the walk behind, yes. But I'd probably log it as some level of walking.

    Raking leaves? I disagree. I think that's some hard work. I mostly rake live oak leaves and that's a long tiring job. Not as bad a laying a new irrigation pipe and digging / filling in the ditch. But right up there with cutting branches and hauling.

    Count your yard work!

    I agree with counting yard work. I use a fitbit tracker and was surprised at the number of steps and calorie burn that it registered the first time I wore it while mowing (push mower) and raking.
  • Rhea30
    Rhea30 Posts: 625 Member
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    Yes! It works me out harder then my exercise does. I don't think I have logged it though, even though I should. Honestly I think it wears me out to where I don't remember or want to log LOL.
  • KendraLoveless
    KendraLoveless Posts: 51
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    heck yes!
  • prairiedawg2014
    prairiedawg2014 Posts: 367
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    i always count yardwork as excercise because its not what is considered normal everyday activity. and yes....it is hard work.
    i even count cutting grass on my riding mower cuz i have 12 acres to cut and its so bumpy and shakes the hell outa my body lol.
    thats gotta be good for burning cals.
  • childofArtemis24
    childofArtemis24 Posts: 334
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    heck yes ! I trimmed to large bushes outside and spent 2 hours doing it! I was completely covered in sweat! Plus me and my husband are in the process of buying a house with 7 1/2 acres of mostly woods. I have my yard work cut out for like the next 5 years of my life lol!
  • ThorneDust
    ThorneDust Posts: 189 Member
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    I wear my HRM while mowing and weed eating and I burn a large number of calories. I also have an extremely hilly yard and a crappy push mower that I have to wrestle to get it to turn.
  • Chipmunk222
    Chipmunk222 Posts: 240 Member
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    I just asked this question to one of my friends on MFP who logs riding mower as exercise, I don't know how it would be considered to be any different from driving a vehicle, better than being sedentary (sitting on the couch doing nothing) but how would you log it?

    I am either driving a vehicle or driving a mower every day, all day, have never counted it as exercise and have no idea how to figure that into the equation, or if it should be.
  • lovinmyselfagain
    lovinmyselfagain Posts: 307 Member
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    I do. Mowing the grass, trimming the bushes, weeding, raking, all of it. If I'm out there for a couple of hours or more that's a lot of energy expended and I usually feel it the next day. Definitely count it. When I was working in my yard several times a week AND doing formal exercise I was losing 3-4 lbs a week. When it got really hot, I stopped with the yard work and weight loss now is around 2lbs a week. I need to get back to it-for the additional weight loss and my backyard is a mini jungle :). Yard work can be hard work-give yourself credit!
  • ereilly311
    ereilly311 Posts: 244 Member
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    I wear my HRM while mowing and weed eating and I burn a large number of calories. I also have an extremely hilly yard and a crappy push mower that I have to wrestle to get it to turn.

    That's what killed my legs, all of the weeding I did was on a hill so I was constantly bracing myself for balance and bending over, getting back up and so on.
  • Stephanie_Autry
    Stephanie_Autry Posts: 228 Member
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    If you're using a push mower, then yes I consider that a great workout. Also, I sweat tons when I'm gardening or pulling weeds. Raking leaves... not so much, trimming hedges (old fashion not electric) is great for my arms!
  • nbeth901
    nbeth901 Posts: 35 Member
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    I think there is no right or wrong answer to this. I weed eated the yard today and afterwards I could not feel my arms. I also sweated quite a bit. :)

    I think it varies from each person and what level of fitness they are at. I guess I am at the lowest end of the pole. I just about died doing that!
  • cybelenoire
    cybelenoire Posts: 36 Member
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    We have St. Augustine grass, which is uber-thick, and it's been super tall with all the rain we've had. It takes about 2 hours to cut the entire yard (front and back) without stopping. You better believe I count every minute I spend pushing a lawn mower. Also when we weed flower beds, prepare flower beds (ever operate a tiller??), trim tree limbs and drag them to the road for pick up by the city, weed eat, etc. We have a fairly large yard so it's a long weekend of work when we get out there.

    I also count when I clean house with my mom. Trust me, we don't just walk around with feather dusters. We scrub bathrooms, move stoves and refrigerators and clean behind them, flip mattresses (every three months), vacuum a pretty big house, mop it, climb on step ladders to dust door and window frames, ceiling fans and shelves. It takes two days to clean our entire house thoroughly. And my mom is a slave driver. :)
  • lmelangley
    lmelangley Posts: 1,039 Member
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    For me, it depends. If you have your MFP profile set to sedentary, definitely. Anything else and I wouldn't count it. But, that's just me.
  • Sailorwind
    Sailorwind Posts: 158 Member
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    I'd log it. But I also log when I go on vigorous house cleaning kicks where I scrub and polish and lift and carry things for hours at a time without a break. My theory is if it makes you sweaty, out of breath and sore the next day, you should probably log it as it's got to have burned some calories.

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