Summer Time late poll.

[RoaringMad Mac]

Do you think Mowing a yard if you calculated it to mowing and doing yard work in about an hour and a half. Do you think this is a good cardio.

[RoaringMad Mac]

Here is the funny part of this poll,

For me at my weight mowing or doing lawn card burn over 1,000 calories in that time frame.

[RickB]

I'm saying yes, although it's not for me due to a riding mower and a self propelled push mower which my oldest son drives that one. But again, if it's a push mower that's not self propelled, it very well could be.

[JT_916]

i would have to say no, but i pay a lawn boy...

[SouthernIllinois]

i say no too... but i live in an apt. complex so my landlord does that for me... he looks like he sweats his ass off on his lil rider though

[The Loaf]

when i was a little kid, my aunt paid me like $3 to trim the edges of her lawn with a pair of scissors! that sucked

[omaha16859]

when i was a little kid, my aunt paid me like $3 to trim the edges of her lawn with a pair of scissors! that sucked

ROTFLMFAO

[RoaringMad Mac]

when i was a little kid, my aunt paid me like $3 to trim the edges of her lawn with a pair of scissors! that sucked


That is F'in hilarious.

Well to those that don't know you should try it.

I did it this morning instead of riding my bike and checked my heart rate throughout. It was well above 150 consistantly, and I never took any redline or anything but a small cup of coffee when I first woke up.

It is hard as hell for me to get my heart rate up to that on the bike. So I am definately a believer now. Until summer ends this I will use this two days a week at the end of the week. I will split up my yard work Doing like the front yard on Thursday and Friday morning doing the back yard. Of course Using the trimmer is done as well but there it is not easy also.

I could understand it not working on people who have relatively flat yards but with mine and some of you have seen my yard it is like walking on the side of a Mountain.

[angelo212]

Here is the funny part of this poll,

For me at my weight mowing or doing lawn card burn over 1,000 calories in that time frame.

If you burned that many calories in 1 and a half hours that is great cardio. As far as getting your heart rate up I'm not sure. I know you need to get your heart rate up to a certain amount example (130 beats a minute) to get the heart health benefits out of a cardiovascular workout. You are burning a suffiecent amount of calories though so I think it is just great.

[angelo212]

Also, I seen your yard. It loks really big and I just seen the rest of this thread so I see you are getting the heart healthy beats per minute routine with the yard work. Great job.

[The Loaf]

i think you just proved it to be good cardio, Mac. It will probably be a while before your body adapts and it becomes a cake walk for you, too. I think it will be really effective.

[RoaringMad Mac]

Yeah, what is good about that is by the time I adapt to it well, it will be time to quit mowing. I found out this morning it is going to take my back yard about 2 mowings a week. That works out really well. I mean Damn this morning my heart rate was out the freakin roof. When Fall and winter time comes I will concentrate on riding the bike. I will still hit the bit about two times a week.

[teenbodybuilder0102]

well yes you'll burn calories and loose a little weight but its mostly due to the heat of the day, unless you have a push mower. i would consider it a type of cardio

[RoaringMad Mac]

It is a push mower. I can't have a riding mower on my yard. It is to steep. It is kinda like walking on a stair stepper in the heat.

http://forum.illpumpyouup.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=214&d=1185721886

[The Loaf]

well yes you'll burn calories and loose a little weight but its mostly due to the heat of the day, unless you have a push mower. i would consider it a type of cardio

any weight lost to simply sweating will be made up for by drinking water. mac knows his stuff, so i'm sure he's already aware of that. you do make a good point, tbb, but the effort he's putting forth for that length of time will result in true weight loss.

[RoaringMad Mac]

Yeah, if it was a flat level yard like down the street then I would not think nothing of it. But it wears me completely out doing the entire thing. I am making sure my heart rate is getting a good workout.

It seems we fall into this trap of thinking cardio can only be done in certain ways. Running,walking, either either on treamill road, stair stepper, etc......

I believe anything that will keep that heart rate up and sustain it for at least 30 minutes is going to have the effect you are looking for. You just never hear in most muscle magazine an article with the Title.

"Effectivness of cardio doing yard work"

or
" Mowing your Yard will Mow the Fat off."

You just will not see these because it is considered chores and not something to supplement an exercise program

Some of the most effective workouts can be done with paint cans but you will never see an article about it.

[kickboy]

I think it is good conditioning for heat too. I spend so much time in air conditioned environments that some good ole sweaty work is good for me. I try to get outside as much as I can.

[RoaringMad Mac]

Come work out in the Iron Dungeon sometime. Ask Matt this past week has been a real test of endurance in this heat. No air conditioning. Nothing but heat inside a garage. The good lord sees fit to give us a breeze every once in awhile but none the less it has been hotter than Hades.

I think when Matt goes back to Auburn in the air conditioned student center gym he is going to not know where to be this week.

[The Loaf]

I believe anything that will keep that heart rate up and sustain it for at least 30 minutes is going to have the effect you are looking for. You just never hear in most muscle magazine

this deserved being repeated. we do fall into the trap of only relying on a small menu of choices, but in reality, there are so many effective ways to train.

my dad used to be a professional boxer. He used to always say, "People talk about cross-training, but boxers were cross-training for years, we just didn't call it that." Running on train tracks, running in the forest, chopping wood, climbing a rope, etc.

I think using lawnmowing as cardio is a great idea for two reasons, Mac. One, it's going to be effective. Two, and this is my favorite part, in a few months when you show progress pics and people ask "how did you do that?" your answer is going to include mowing the lawn.

Determination and intensity produce results. You're proof of that.

[RickB]

this deserved being repeated. we do fall into the trap of only relying on a small menu of choices, but in reality, there are so many effective ways to train.



Yeah, like I tell my wife...it's good when I take too long. It's the most fun cardio I can think of! :D;)

[The Loaf]

hahahaha! that's awesome. you both get a workout, everybody wins

[kickboy]

I have a confession that I need to make. I am a huge Chuck Liddell fan, I know in the past (prior to his loss to Rampage) that it may have sounded like I didn’t care for him when in fact it is the way UFC does things that I don’t care for and the only thing I have to say about Chuck is that he is human too and can be beat like everyone else (maybe not as easy as most) but still human.
The reason I bring this up is that I have been following some of his training methods which include running with a wheel barrow full of concrete blocks swinging a sledge hammer and tossing concrete blocks. It is actually helping in all aspects of my weightlifting and endurance but the big pay off is punching power. When you approach yard work like Mac is talking about keeping your heart rate in the training zone you work many muscle fibers that can get missed in a traditional weight lifting session. The other benefit for me was an ugly building disappeared from my back yard and a new one appeared.
I think it will make you tough if done with some common sense, if you are not used to it you can blister hands and wear a back out quick but with some build up time it will knock the sissy off this computer man’s hands. LOL
I got several blisters and one wasp sting but I saved some blocks for running the wheel barrow, put a new handle in my sledge hammer after I broke it and got an old tire to swing at now that all my blocks are gone.

[nj4mwc]

Look at anybody who gets a landscaping job in the summertime, they almost always loose wieght over the course of doing nothing but hours a day worth of landscaping. I have several friends who with out even being aware of have lost tons of weight over the course of summer landscaping type jobs.

[Leigh]

When I get home, I'm selling the SO's beloved riding mower to buy a reel push mower for just that reason - plus, it just looks better. If mowing your lawn isn't tough enough, get a pair of aerating shoes - had me calling on Jesus, and I'm not one for religion. Got funny looks doing it in a swimsuit, but I figured if I was gonna be out there forever - may as well get somewhat of a tan.

I'm with Kickboy - it just feels good to do something different sometimes-variety is a necessity for me, and you do work a ton of stuff you didn't remember you had (til you try to get out of bed the next day). I used to help run a construction business, and during downtime in the office, I'd go help the laborers with some manual demo work. There's just something about swinging a hammer that's bigger than you are, tearing stuff up, and being destructive - huge stress reliever.

[Luke Whippo]

i mow the lawn AFTER any lifting or cardio, for instance, after say sprints, or a 25+set of squats, I will right away mow the lawn (unless the squats have me on the floor for the first 10mins) (squats are the only thing thats done that one).

I use a old fashion push mower (no gas). I don't consider it cardio, I call it recovery and cool down.

My neighbor asked to borrow my mower one day, he's about my age (late 20's?) when he was done, he was huffing and puffing, I was laughing LOL!!!

I also had to open some toy jar for them one day, he's like "I don't want to sound like a pus, but can you"? actually I struggled pretty good with that jar to be honest.

[Luke Whippo]

for the last few weekends I have been digging up roots in my backyard that I have not really taken care of for over 7years, they have devopled into trees, I have been cutting them ( handsawing) to the ground, but now I'm finally digging them up, I have NO experiance in this, so it took me 3hours to dig up 3-massive roots (my neighbors seemed impressed), but now that I know how to go about it (I had to experiment with the shovel), I had a damn good heartrate going for steady hours at a time.

I have another HUGE area I have to do still, this heat wave is holding me up, but once the weather gets to normal, I'm looking forward to this, and I'm going to attack this with the shovel, along with pulling out most of it with my hands/body, thats also a good way to do it.

note, I'm treating this like a workout (makeing things harder on myself) but in no way replace this for a workout, it does not matter if I'm recovering from a previous workout (like haveing sore legs or back) it's still gonna "go down" that way!!!!

[RoaringMad Mac]

Well, summer is almost over, getting out on the road and walking is the thing now.

[JT_916]

Well, summer is almost over, getting out on the road and walking is the thing now.

almost over?? dude its been over for awhile.. if its still summer where you live im going to have to move there, I hate the cold weather.

[RoaringMad Mac]

It is still in the 80's here LOL.

[JT_916]

It is still in the 80's here LOL.

wow! its hasnt been above about 70 here for like 3 weeks and its only getting colder...