Raking Leaves Calories Burned Calculator

Raking leaves burns about 236 calories per hour. That’s the extra energy used by a typical adult weighing around 165 lb (≈75 kg) compared with resting. Enter your weight and the time spent raking in the calculator to estimate your own calories burned.

How to Use This Calculator

This calculator estimates calories burned from common yard work using your body weight and the time spent working.

• Choose an activity: Select raking leaves, bagging leaves, raking & bagging, or leaf blowing.
• Enter your weight: Higher body weight results in more calories burned for the same time.
• Enter minutes worked: Leave 60 minutes for an hourly estimate or enter your actual time.
• View calories burned: The number shown is the extra energy used compared with resting.

The estimate assumes steady yard work on a typical residential property. Faster pacing or heavier effort will increase calories, while breaks or light effort will reduce them.

Related: Leaf Blower vs Rake Calories Burned Calculator

What the Results Mean

Raking leaves is good for the lawn (allowing air and light to reach the grass) and good for your body as well. Compared to just sitting around, an hour of steady raking burns about 236 calories for a typical 165 lb adult.

But it is actually a bit easier than walking at a steady pace. A 165 lb person walking a mile in about 20 minutes burns roughly 92 calories, while raking for the same 20-minute period burns about 79 calories. Walking uses the large muscles of the legs continuously, whereas raking spreads the effort across the arms, shoulders, and back, which lowers the total energy demand.

Long cleanups make the biggest difference. Thirty minutes burns about 118 calories, while two hours reaches about 472 calories for the same person. Raking and bagging produces similar totals because most of the energy use comes from gathering and moving around the yard rather than lifting the bags themselves.

Related: How Many Calories Do You Burn Walking a Mile? (Calculator)

Calories Burned Raking Leaves (Common Questions)

Calories burned raking leaves for 30 minutes

Raking leaves for 30 minutes burns about 118 calories for a typical 165 lb adult. A lighter 130 lb person burns about 93 calories, while a 200 lb person burns about 143 calories.

Half an hour of raking is similar to a short walk, but it can feel harder because your arms, back, and legs are all working at once.

Calories burned raking leaves for 1 hour

Raking leaves for one hour burns about 236 calories for a 165 lb adult. A 130 lb person burns about 186 calories, and a 200 lb person burns about 286 calories.

The repeated pulling motion, bending, and walking across the yard make it a steady moderate-intensity activity rather than light movement.

Calories burned raking leaves for 2 hours

Raking leaves for two hours burns about 472 calories for a 165 lb adult. A 130 lb person burns about 371 calories, and a 200 lb person burns about 572 calories.

Long fall cleanups often become a real workout simply because the activity continues without long breaks.

Calories burned raking and bagging leaves

Raking and bagging leaves burns almost the same calories as raking alone. Most of the energy comes from the continuous pulling and walking while gathering leaves, and lifting bags usually happens in short bursts.

A typical session of raking and bagging will still be close to 236 calories per hour for a 165 lb adult.

Calories burned raking the lawn

Raking a lawn burns about 236 calories per hour for a 165 lb adult under normal conditions. Wet leaves, slopes, or dense piles can raise the effort, while light dry leaves can reduce it.

Time spent working matters most, because steady movement over a full hour adds up.

How many calories do you burn raking?

A 165 lb adult burns about 236 calories per hour while raking leaves. Heavier individuals burn more and lighter individuals burn less, because moving more body mass requires more energy.

The total becomes meaningful because yard work is often done continuously for an hour or longer.

Is raking leaves good exercise?

Raking leaves counts as moderate physical activity because it combines steady movement with repeated upper-body pulling. It engages the shoulders, back, core, and legs while keeping you on your feet and moving.

An hour or more of raking can be a legitimate workout, even if it does not feel like a formal exercise session.

How the Calculator Works

This calculator uses metabolic equivalent (MET) values from the Adult Compendium of Physical Activities. The Compendium assigns an energy cost to everyday movements so activities like raking, lifting, and walking can be compared on the same scale.

We apply the listed values for hand raking and leaf blowing, then scale them to your body weight and the number of minutes worked. The result estimates the extra calories you burn above simply sitting for the same amount of time.

The numbers are estimates, not a personal measurement. Wet leaves, heavy bags, slopes, fast pacing, or cold weather can push the calories higher, while slow, stop-and-start yard work will bring them down.