If you are a gardener or simply a garden lover who enjoys pulling weeds, digging holes, or doing any yard activity, you may wonder, “How many calories does this gardening session actually burn?” This calculator will help you find out.
Whether you grow flowers, vegetables, fruits, or any other plants, your body uses energy during daily maintenance tasks like watering and cleaning — this energy burned is measured as calories.
Keep reading! We will explain everything step by step in this article.
To put it simply, gardening calories refer to the total energy your body burns while you are engaged in gardening activities.
In gardening, activities like weeding, planting, digging, mowing, watering, trimming, lifting, carrying, bending, or pulling all burn calories, more than most people expect.
We use the widely accepted ACSM formula along with METs (Metabolic Equivalent of Task), which show how intense each activity is.
Look at the following equation used to estimate kcal per minute:
Calories burned per minute = (MET × 3.5 × weight in kg) ÷ 200Then multiply kcal per minute by total minutes to obtain total calories burned:
Total calories = kcal/min × total duration (minutes)Each intensity level has a different MET value. Here’s a table showing activities and their corresponding METs:
| Task | MET |
|---|---|
| Watering plants | 2.5–3.0 |
| Light raking | 3.5 |
| General gardening | 4.0–5.0 |
| Weeding | 4.5 |
| Planting trees | 4.5–5.0 |
| Mowing (push mower) | 5.5–6.0 |
| Raking vigorously | 6.0 |
| Shoveling dirt | 7.0–8.0 |
| Digging | 7.5–8.0 |
| Carrying heavy loads | 8.0–9.0 |
Examples make things easier. Let’s go through one so you can clearly understand the calculation steps:
Step 1: Gather required details:
Suppose you were planting at moderate intensity for 30 minutes, and your body weight is 75 kg.
75 kg30 minutesModerate (4.5 MET based on above table)Step 2: Obtain kcal/min:
Let's use the equation to estimate calories per minute:
Calories burned per minute = (MET × 3.5 × weight in kg) ÷ 200= (4.5 × 3.5 × 75) ÷ 200Calories burned per minute = 5.51 kcal/minStep 3: Compute the total calories:
In this final step, multiply the calories per minute by the total minutes, to get total calories burned
Total calories = 5.51 kcal/min × total minutesTotal calories = 247.95 kcalSo a 30-minute moderate intensity gardening session burns around 248 calories.
Wondering why gardening burns significant calories? It's considered a full-body workout because it involves movements like lifting, bending, squatting, walking, and other activities that can burn 200 to 400+ calories per hour depending on intensity, activity type, and your weight.
In yard work, calories burned depend on the activity, your weight, and the intensity. Here are typical ranges:
300–450 kcal per hour250–300 kcal per hour350–500 kcal per hour400–600 kcal per hour400–650 kcal per hourYes, gardening counts as exercise because many gardening tasks combine aerobic activity with strength-building movements, and they are considered moderate-intensity activities.