Calories burned during gardening
Half an hour of active gardening — weeding, planting, cultivating — burns roughly 140–190 kcal for a 70 kg person, as a range because light pottering sits low while digging and turning soil runs higher. The bending and lifting do more than they seem to. Enter your own weight and time below.
Enter your weight and how long you moved — the estimate comes back as a range, the same way our diary does it.
| Weight | 15 min | 30 min | 45 min | 60 min |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 50 kg | 50–68 | 100–136 | 151–204 | 201–272 |
| 60 kg | 60–82 | 120–163 | 181–245 | 241–326 |
| 70 kg | 70–95 | 141–190 | 211–285 | 281–380 |
| 80 kg | 80–109 | 161–217 | 241–326 | 321–435 |
| 90 kg | 90–122 | 181–245 | 271–367 | 361–489 |
| 100 kg | 100–136 | 201–272 | 301–408 | 402–543 |
| 110 kg | 110–149 | 221–299 | 331–448 | 442–598 |
Each cell is a range (±15%). Read down for your weight, across for your time. These are population estimates, not a measurement of you.
| Intensity | 30 min | 60 min |
|---|---|---|
| Gardening, general · 2 MET | 62–85 | 125–169 |
| Weeding / cultivating · 4.5 MET | 141–190 | 281–380 |
| Digging / turning soil · 5 MET | 156–211 | 312–423 |
A 30-minute session at 70 kg — the pace changes the cost far more than a few kilos do.
Energy cost from the 2024 Adult Compendium of Physical Activities (Herrmann, Willis, Ainsworth et al.). kcal = MET × 3.5 × weight(kg) ÷ 200 × minutes; we show it as a band because a MET is a population average. Why a range, not one number →
How many calories does gardening burn?
It depends on your weight, how long you keep it up and — a lot — your pace and fitness, so there is no single true number. The table and the calculator give a range for your weight and time. Two people of the same weight can differ by 15–25% at the same activity.
Why show a range instead of one number?
Because a MET value is a population average. Your real burn shifts with fitness, technique, terrain and how hard you actually went. A single "347 kcal" reads as precise when it isn't — the honest answer is a band, and that is what we show.
Do calories burned mean I can eat that much back?
No. This is an estimate of energy spent, not calories you have to "earn" or a licence to eat more. Movement is worth doing for its own sake. If you track a day's balance, use the range — never treat the top of it as exact.
Where do the numbers come from?
MET values from the 2024 Adult Compendium of Physical Activities, a public reference cited by researchers. We apply the standard MET formula and widen it into a ±15% band (±25% for strength work, which a MET barely captures).