650+ calories for mowing the grass?

titletown
titletown Posts: 377 Member
edited September 27 in Fitness and Exercise
OK, I lost track of exact time, somewhere between 60 and 90 minutes, but I ran out of gas and had to go get more.

Doesn't 650 calories seem a bit high even for 90 minutes of pushing a mower around?

If it's true, I won't be paying the kids to do it anymore LOL
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Replies

  • recipe4success
    recipe4success Posts: 469 Member
    I would say yes. I find the calorie estimates on this site to be a bit high when I compare the estimates to what my HRM says. I would take what it says with a grain of salt and use your judgement :)
  • fteale
    fteale Posts: 5,310 Member
    I don't believe you burn more pushing a mower for 90 mins then you do running for an hour.
  • suzooz
    suzooz Posts: 720 Member
    The calorie count on MFP for mowing the grass might be a little high. (kinda like my grass right now!)

    I just bought a Body Bugg and was so excited to mow part of my lawn last night. If I had logged my hour through MFP, it would have been 450. With the Body Bugg, it was more like 256, which includes the "normal" calorie burn, too.

    I'm still going to mow the lawn, but perhaps I might not enjoy it as much. That, and I won't be able to eat as many calories back as I thought!
  • LauraLLee
    LauraLLee Posts: 210
    Actually I have found that they are about Mfp are about right or even a little low, compared to my heart rate monitor. They do it by your weight, time and activity. The calories will become less as you lose more weight.
  • titletown
    titletown Posts: 377 Member
    Yeah, I thought as much, so I cut the estimate in half, oh well.

    Guess I'll go out for a walk to make up for the lost calories ;)

    Worse case scenario, I'll have burned more than I thought, nothing wrong with that.
  • jlewis2896
    jlewis2896 Posts: 763 Member
    I wear my HRM and mow all the time. I am 5'1" and 149lbs. I don't have a self-propelled mower, and I burn around 750 calories for 100 minutes of mowing.

    It's an AWESOME workout. I run, so it takes a lot for me to get a calorie burn that high. :) I've been mowing my neighbor's lawn since I found out how nice the burn is, ha!!
  • eeeekie
    eeeekie Posts: 1,011 Member
    is this per your HRM or per mfp? MFP tends to be lower than HRMs so if it's per your HRM I'd say no. If it's MFP database then I'd say it might be lower than an HRM but it could be higher...just depends on how hard you were pushing lol
  • YMTaylor
    YMTaylor Posts: 230 Member
    Just my two cents, my treadmill says I burn an average of 800 calories per hour of running at 5mph based on my current weight so 650 for 60-90 minutes of pushing a lawn mower doesn't sound too crazy to me. :)
  • CriticalX
    CriticalX Posts: 212 Member
    i do bc ur loading ur muscle and walk...
  • LuckyLeprechaun
    LuckyLeprechaun Posts: 6,296 Member
    The calories will become less as you lose more weight.

    this surprised me when it occurred. My walk with my dogs has always been 91 calories, and then one day, it was 86. I was like, Where did my 5 calories go!? LOL One of my darling friends pointed out that means the plan is WORKING!!! Haha and then I felt much better:laugh:
  • alienblonde1
    alienblonde1 Posts: 749 Member
    I would say so. I sweat like crazy mowing the lawn. Maybe it depends on how level/smooth your yard is. If you have correct weight etc logged in on here I would think its close.
  • johnwhitent
    johnwhitent Posts: 648 Member
    All yards are not created equal! My yard is large, rough, on a steep grade, and full of obstacles. Parts are so steep that I cannot push up the slope but can’t come down due to a fence at the top so I cut across, fighting for footing and dropping as I go. I do not have a HRM, but I am confident that I am burning more calories push mowing than I do running or cycling for the same time. Might be way different for a city lot, but my yard is a full body workout!
  • chrisdavey
    chrisdavey Posts: 9,834 Member
    google eccentricless leg workouts. Fancy term bodybuilders use. Basically, just pushing a mower around haha.

    I love mowing my lawn haha.
  • titletown
    titletown Posts: 377 Member
    My yard is good sized, but pretty flat.

    I had sweats on as it was in the low 60's, but I did work up a pretty good lather, so maybe it isn't that far off after all.

    My mower is self-propelled, but that function does not work. Makes the mower much heavier than a normal one with the non working motor on that part of it.

    I'll still estimate on the low end to make sure I guess.

    Yeah, the more weight you lose, the less calories you burn doing the same exercise, that's for sure. You are carrying around that much less weight for the entire time, makes sense to me for sure.
  • Brandicaloriecountess
    Brandicaloriecountess Posts: 2,126 Member
    I do not count any calories for any thing I would normally do. I only count activities that I specifically do for fitness/weight loss. I don't count cleaning the house because I clean to have a clean house. I do count swimming bc if I wasn't counting calories I wouldn't get in the pool I'd sunbathe lol.
  • titletown
    titletown Posts: 377 Member
    I don't normally mow the lawn, my kids do ;)

    It was so nice out today and my legs were a bit sore from my first couple days jogging, I thought I'd fit something a bit less strenuous in for the day and give my legs a rest.
  • kelsully
    kelsully Posts: 1,008 Member
    I don't believe you burn more pushing a mower for 90 mins then you do running for an hour.

    Depends...that would be way too high for me...and I can run 7 mi in an hour thus burning about 650 cals in an hour...the reason 650 would be too high for me is because I have a small flat yard...about a mile away from me there are some big *kitten* yeards that have huge hills...if I mowed there for 90 minutes...like I meant I really meant business I could hit 650 in 90 minutes.
  • msheldon88
    msheldon88 Posts: 71 Member
    I wear a HR monitor while mowing and I burn more than it says on my fitness pal.
  • XFitMojoMom
    XFitMojoMom Posts: 3,255 Member
    I wore my HRM today and for 1 hour it was 368 calories... but I forgot to put the mower in a higher gear and I really fought to push the bloody thing around, and the grass was pretty long.
  • trink68
    trink68 Posts: 48 Member
    that could depend on what your lawn is like.Lots of hills and your using a push mower....then you certainly can burn a ton of calories.I dont believe for a second its as many as MFP says.But I have actually researched this.Pretty much every fitness site says the same thing.Roughly 3-400 an hour using a push mower.I dont know why and am very skeptical.But even WebMD talks about it...just saying
  • michellekicks
    michellekicks Posts: 3,624 Member
    If I add things like gardening or lawn mowing, I just add in half the time.
  • hdsqrl
    hdsqrl Posts: 420 Member
    Okay, never let it be said that mowing can't be considered exercise, especially if you're pushing a mower. I just did 50 minutes of mowing and while we have a gas mower that's self-propelled, our yard is big and a little hilly and has tons of landscaping you have to work around. My HRM reports 475 calories, average HR of 151 and max HR of 164. I'm drenched and my legs are shaking...possibly because I'm also doing the 30DS and had completed that about 30 minutes prior to hitting the lawn.

    I'd say I've earned a little treat for myself today! :D
  • msdavis79
    msdavis79 Posts: 7
    I Second that, I substitute my cardio for my lawn once a week and I am completely spent by the end of it. Which includes a 2 hour free weight session right after. I burn about 1100-1200 calories that day easily.
  • samf36
    samf36 Posts: 369 Member
    It takes me 90 mins and some areas are so steep I can hardly mow now that my self propel option has died. I get such a workout. I could hardly move last night after mowing.
  • threnners
    threnners Posts: 175 Member
    If you're attempting my yard, it may well be that many.
  • hooperkay
    hooperkay Posts: 463 Member
    Are you sweating and feel tired? Then go with it. Push mowers are a pain and hard to use. I'd say yes.

    I'd give you 1000 to do mine :happy:
  • mewaybright
    mewaybright Posts: 240 Member
    OK, I lost track of exact time, somewhere between 60 and 90 minutes, but I ran out of gas and had to go get more.

    Doesn't 650 calories seem a bit high even for 90 minutes of pushing a mower around?

    If it's true, I won't be paying the kids to do it anymore LOL

    haha if you cut my yard it is spot on... my yard (front and back) is a hill... so you are not just mowing but you are climbing a hill and pushing a mower in front of you...
  • RPFORD23237
    RPFORD23237 Posts: 6 Member
    If I mow my lawn for 90 minutes, It tells me that I burned 790 calories. I also walked 4 miles in the mowing process giving me 479 calories burned. Should I be combining these two totals for 1269 calorie burned? Or do I need to pick one or the other?
  • hdsqrl
    hdsqrl Posts: 420 Member
    If you did both, you should claim both.
  • ashleychaka
    ashleychaka Posts: 1
    I can't get the Myfitnesspal app to match anything relating mowing so I can plug it in. What do you guys put?
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