Phil’s ‘Yard Work Boot Camp’ Can Help You Lose The Quarantine-15
According to a new survey, the average homeowner spends an average of 165 hours per year fixing up their home and yard. Many of the 2,000 people surveyed didn’t recognize yard work as exercise, but it can actually burn off a lot of calories.
Mowing your lawn can burn more than 4,000 calories per year, as long as you’re not using a riding mower. Carrying bags of soil can burn off another 3,000 calories. Planting shrubs and seeds can knock off 2,600 calories per year. Weeding can help you drop more than 6,000 calories! And just watering the garden can burn nearly 4,000 calories over the course of a year.
This got me thinking. Since gyms are still closed, would people sign up and pay for a yard work-based fitness boot camp? If so, I have a some ideas for exercises that could A) help you lose the “Quarantine-15,” and B) make my landscaping look better. Here are a few examples:
- Low Mow & Tow – Cut the grass in my front and backyard nice and low. Then tow the grass clippings to the composter.
- Hedge Hurdle – Trim my hedges to a height that you can safely jump over.
- Synchronized Raking – You and a partner start raking at opposite ends of the yard until you meet in the middle with your leaf piles.
- 50-Meter Leaf Bag Drag – Stuff a bag with leaves. Haul it to the curb. Repeat.
Many boot camps charge more than $100 per month. I won’t even charge you half of that! You get exercise, my yard looks better, it’s a win-win.
Phil Harris/WKQC
