For a better workout, put down the leaf blower. Grab a rake

I’m starting to hear commercials for pumpkin spice coffee and Octoberfest beer, which can mean only one thing. Fall is coming. Do you have your rake ready? And I do mean rake, not a leaf blower. This post is about how to turn the annual ritual of cleaning up the yard into a raking workout. And not just a one-and-done workout. I’ll share tips on how to be inefficient with raking leaves, so you’ll get multiple workouts as the season progresses. 

Throughout the summer months, mowing the lawn is one of my prized sources of physical activity, a workout about once a week. Once fall arrives, however, the grass grows more slowly and a layer of maple leaves overtakes our yard. 

My previous approach to raking leaves was to wait until the end of the season, about mid-November, to rake. My habit was to be as efficient as possible because if you rake too early, new leaves will simply take the place of old ones. According to my old thinking, it made more sense to hold off on raking until the end of the season after the vast majority of leaves had fallen.  

Key to the raking workout: Embrace inefficiency

But a few years ago, I began to recognize raking for the great workout that it is. From a fitness tracker standpoint, raking generates about 50% more steps for me than mowing the lawn. And I noticed raking involved not only my lower body but upper, too. So I asked myself: Why not rake leaves more often?

Regardless of how inefficient raking early in the season is, it’s still more efficient than going on a walk or run (unless you’re plogging). It’s certainly more efficient than spinning the wheels of a stationary bike. After all, you are removing some leaves from your lawn, never mind the yet-to-drop leaves or those that will blow into your lawn from your neighbors’. Whatever you lose in raking efficiency, you gain in physical activity that benefits your health.

Let your trees determine your raking workout schedule

With that said, there are ways to be inefficient at raking but not so inefficient that you feel foolish. To get the most out of raking leaves, I recommend closely observing the times when your trees tend to shed their leaves, a process known as abscission. At our home, we have mostly maples, which readily drop their leaves. However, other types of deciduous trees sometimes hold onto them.  

To be sure, I’m no botanist, but what I’ve noticed over the years is that our maple trees generally lose their leaves in waves—and typically on the day after a hard frost (so long as the hard frost doesn’t come on the heels of warmer-than-usual weather). During a normal year, I’ll discover a fresh blanket of leaves on the ground four or five times.

This fresh blanket acts as my “trigger.” I’ll spend a week—sometimes just 15 minutes a day—raking. Those leaves then go into paper yard bags (Tip: Roll the tops of the bags inward so the bags don’t collapse as you fill them.) until the end of November when our municipality sends trucks to vacuum up leaves pushed to the curb.

Invest in a high-quality rake

Finally, for those inspired to do raking workouts this fall, I encourage you to invest in some high-quality equipment. There is nothing more irritating than having to constantly remove leaves stuck in rake teeth. That’s why I use a type of rake that minimizes this annoyance. It’s called a dual-tine rake. The unique design will allow you to spend more time raking and less time removing leaves from the rake teeth.

If you’re the type who believes raking should be a one-and-done activity, this activity probably isn’t for you! However, if you’re like me and are searching for ways to add movement to your day, raking is a great opportunity. During the fall months, it can be part of your strategy to keep moving throughout your day and week.