Get Stronger Mowing the Lawn!

Man, I really......really hate doing yard work. It isn't that the work it particularly difficult, it just takes time out of my weekend that I would rather be working on other things.

I actually have a somewhat embarrassing but awesome story. When I was in my 20s, shortly after being married in July 2000 I was out mowing our yard. We had a crappy cheap mower from Walmart because back then, that was all we could afford. So the mower died, as it usually did, and I had a fit of rage. I didn't want to be mowing anyway, and if I had to, I wanted it to work.

So I grabbed the mower by the handle and hammered it up and down, like you would do with a battle rope, all the while, shouting obscenities at it. I then spun a few times like a hammer throw, and chucked it across the yard......ok, maybe like 10 feet. So I walked around the house, came back over to it, kicked it twice and it started right up! Man I was really pissed off.

So now, my brother and I actually have an Apple Playlist called F.T.Y, which stands for F This Yard! And the cover art is a guy doing a hammer throw; plus we had T-shirts made through our small internet T shirt company called Dad Life Tees (shameless plug) with that same picture. If you want some cool shirts, check it out at www.dadlifetees.com

So how do I get stronger while mowing??

1. Push Mow. Yeah I know, some people do already, which is great. I have this one section of my yard that my zero turn mower can't get to, so I have a battery powered Worx mower that I use. But to ramp it up, I use a ruck sack. So I put on a back pack with around 35-40 lbs, and push mow. So I am amplifying the suck but doing this. It really is a decent workout.

1. Mowing intervals. What does that mean? Well, you could actually do this while push mowing or riding. When you get to the end of the row, drop and do 5 burpees and 5 push ups. Then when you get to the end of the next pass, do 10 air squats. You can pick and choose the exercises. If you have a pull up bar in your yard or something that could be used as one, make it a rule that each time you go by it, do 4-5 pull ups.

1. Hand bag your grass. I personally don't do this, but I am sure some people do. So instead of using a bagger, get out a shovel or a rake and spend some energy bagging your grass. The yard will look amazing and you have burned extra calories.

So next time you have that workout planned for Sunday but all your neighbors have already mowed, try one of the variations instead. You are essentially killing two birds with one stone.