Did you do any yardwork this weekend? If you did, good for you. You can count it as calorie burning exercise.

According to calorie-count.com, you burn 374 calories per hour walking behind a power mower. And, you can burn 408 calories an hour if you switch over to a hand mower. That’s more than you’ll burn walking 4 miles at a 15 minute mile pace (340 calories).

I never thought of yardwork as exercise until we moved to the country. Living in Atlanta, it took me all of 30 minutes to keep the yard looking nice. I was satisfied with a simple, non-electric lawnmower, some hand trimmers, a shovel and a rake.

Now, my “equipment barn” is stocked with a tractor (with backhoe, bush hog, grader and finishing mower attachments), a walk behind bush hog, more chainsaws and gas powered trimmers than I can count and my beloved stump grinder. My wife tells me that the 4-wheeler can’t be counted as a tool (she says it’s a toy), but I’m not buying it.

My project this weekend (and for the last 2 months) has been to clear as many stumps as possible out of a former 3 acre pine woods. My wife wants it to look “like a park.” So, needless to say, we’re talking about a lot of stumps.

So far I’ve ground down about 130 stumps and I have about 60 or 70 left to go. Weather cooperating, I’ll get it done next weekend. Here are some before and after shots. They’re not from the same angle, but you’ll get the idea.

So did you get your yard work done this weekend? You know, not only does it count as calorie burning exercise, it’s actually revitalizing. I love spending the days outside. I put in my earplugs, start up whatever machine I’m using and savor my time alone. Can’t hear the cell phone or the kids, so I get to be alone in my thoughts.

I use the time to appreciate the great things that I have in my life and plan for what I want to create in the future. Who would have ever thought that yardwork could be so valuable?