Housework and gardening calories:
the energy of everyday chores

Chores are real activity

An hour of general house cleaning burns about 231 kcal for a 70 kg person. An hour of gardening burns about 266 kcal, and an hour of digging in the garden about 350 kcal, which matches a brisk walk of the same length. The energy is real even though none of it looks like a workout.

Researchers group this under non-exercise activity: everything you do that is not sleeping, eating or deliberate exercise. For people with desk jobs, chores, walking around the house and standing can make up a notable share of the day's total. It is one reason two people of the same size can have quite different energy needs.

Below are the MET values for common household tasks, an example of a weekend chore session, and the limits of treating a vacuum as a gym.

The formula and the MET values

Worked example: a Saturday morning of chores

A 60 kg person spends 90 minutes on general cleaning and then 60 minutes gardening. The cleaning is rated at 3.3 MET and the gardening at 3.8 MET.

That 525 kcal is a little more than an hour of moderate cycling at 8.0 MET for this person, which would be 480 kcal. Net of resting energy, (3.3 − 1) × 60 × 1.5 + (3.8 − 1) × 60 × 1 = 207 + 168 = 375 kcal of extra energy.

Why chores add up over a week

The big advantage of chores is that they are frequent. A daily 30 minutes of general cleaning at 70 kg is 3.3 × 70 × 0.5 = 115.5 kcal a day, or about 809 kcal a week of extra movement with no gym visit.

The comparison is useful for people who find formal exercise difficult. Replacing 30 minutes of sitting with light household activity is a practical, sustainable step, and it fits around work and family. It builds a habit of moving through the day.

Gardening in more detail

Gardening is a mixed activity. Light work such as watering, sowing and weeding sits near 3 MET, general gardening near 3.8, and heavy work such as digging, hauling soil or chopping wood at 5 MET or higher. A morning in the garden often alternates between all three.

• Digging, spading and composting at 5.0 MET burn about 233 kcal in 40 minutes for 70 kg.
• Raking at 4.0 MET burns about 187 kcal in 40 minutes for 70 kg.
• Weeding, with a lot of squatting and kneeling, is lighter but works the legs and back.
• Mowing with a push mower is heavier than with a powered one, and a walk-behind is heavier than a ride-on.

Gardening also involves sun, so hydration and sun protection matter, and lifting should be done with the legs rather than the back. Short breaks reduce muscle soreness.

Making chores count for more

Cleaning at 3.3 MET and 70 kg burns about 3.85 kcal a minute. To burn 100 kcal you need roughly 26 minutes of general cleaning, 37 minutes of light dusting at 2.3 MET or 17 minutes of digging at 5.0 MET. Seen this way, the task type matters as much as the duration.

A few changes raise the effort without turning a chore into a workout. Move at a steady pace rather than pausing between rooms, take stairs instead of carrying things up in one go, and use the whole arm and legs when mopping and sweeping rather than only the wrist. Put music on and keep the rhythm going.

• Combine tasks in one session so that the pace stays up and the resting time is short.
• Garden in bursts of 20 to 30 minutes, then switch jobs to avoid overusing one muscle group.
• Carry laundry baskets and shopping with a straight back, bending at the knees.
• Stand up and stretch after long periods of kneeling or bending.

None of this turns chores into a replacement for training, but it does turn a sedentary weekend into an active one. For many people, that is the easiest place to find extra daily movement.

Chores also come with a health message beyond calories. Tasks that involve lifting, bending and reaching keep joints moving and maintain functional strength, which matters in later life when everyday jobs begin to feel harder. Many studies on older adults link regular light activity with better mobility and independence. So treat the 231 kcal an hour of cleaning as one benefit among several, and do not skip the jobs that you can do with energy.

Limits of the chore estimates

Chores are the least reliable activities for MET estimates, because the task is varied and the pace is personal. A slow tidy might be 2.5 MET and a deep clean with scrubbing 4 MET or more. Heart-rate trackers often undercount because wrist movement is limited while holding a mop.

• Breaks: stopping to rearrange things or answer a message means it is not continuous work.
• Carrying: moving laundry baskets, groceries or furniture adds load beyond the base value.
• Bending and reaching: low-level tasks like scrubbing floors push the figure up.
• Heat: working in a warm garden raises heart rate but not necessarily energy cost.

A cautious approach is to use the lower end of the MET range for a casual job and the upper end for a vigorous one. Take care with back strain, and see a doctor if chores cause chest pain or unusual breathlessness.