New study: Yard work can burn off excess pounds put on during coronavirus lockdowns
NEW YORK -- According to new research, homeowners burn a significant amount of calories every year simply by doing yard work and other DIY projects around the house.
It turns out, maintaining the lawn and garden might be the perfect way to work off weight put on while stuck at home during the coronavirus pandemic.
On average, homeowners burn more than 80,000 calories a year by working in the garden and performing DIY tasks around the house, Southwest News Service reports.
According to a new study, many people don’t view yard work as exercise, but the number of calories burned doing it is enough to offset eating over 300 Big Macs.
The study, conducted by OnePoll on behalf of Draper Tools, surveyed 2,000 homeowners and found that they spent an average of 165 hours a year maintaining or fixing up their homes.
Simple actions like pulling weeds, pruning, and watering a garden can burn thousands of calories a year, as long as they’re done consistently. Mowing the lawn alone can burn over 4,100 calories.
For serious gardeners, harvesting fruits and vegetables from their gardens don’t just provide them with healthy food, it also helps them burn off over 3,100 calories, according to the study.
Gardening typically requires heavy objects to be moved or carried around, such as bags of compost or soil, which helps burn more calories.
Of course, burning calories also takes time.
According to the study, homeowners spend nearly 700 minutes a year watering their gardens and over 700 minutes mowing lawns. Weeding takes nearly 650 minutes but also burns over 6,300 calories.