Calculate calories burned pulling weeds from your weight and weeding time, using typical MET values for hand weeding, gardening or weed eating.

Typical MET values from the 2024 Adult Compendium of Physical Activities.

Area cleared
Optional. Adds clearing pace and calories per 100 square units.

Related Calculators

Calories Burned Pulling Weeds Formula

Use the following formula to calculate calories burned pulling weeds:

Calories Burned = Weight (lb) × Minutes × Pace Factor

Variables:

  • Weight (lb) = your body weight in pounds
  • Minutes = total time spent pulling weeds
  • Pace Factor = 0.0357 for pulling weeds by hand (4.5 MET), 0.0302 for general gardening (3.8 MET), and 0.0262 for weed eating with a string trimmer (3.3 MET)

The calculator starts with pulling weeds by hand (0.0357).

30-Minute Pulling Weeds Calorie Guide

For 30 minutes of general gardening (3.8 MET), a 120-pound person burns about 109 calories, a 150-pound person burns about 136 calories, a 180-pound person burns about 163 calories, and a 200-pound person burns about 181 calories.

What Affects Calories Burned Pulling Weeds?

  • Body weight: Heavier body weight increases calories burned over the same amount of time.
  • Pace: Slow cleanup weeding burns less than continuous pulling at a steady or fast pace.
  • Yard conditions: Thick roots, hard soil, squatting, bending, and carrying piles of weeds all increase the workload.

How to Calculate Calories Burned Pulling Weeds

  1. Enter your weight in pounds.
  2. Enter the number of minutes you spent pulling weeds.
  3. If needed, choose a different activity or enter a custom MET.
  4. Click Calculate to see your calories burned.

Example

A 150-pound person weeding for 30 minutes at the general gardening rate (3.8 MET) would burn:

Calories Burned = 150 × 30 × 0.0302 = 135.9

Rounded to the nearest whole number, that equals 136 calories.