Metabolic Equivalent of Task - or MET - is a way of measuring how one activity compares to another in terms of how much energy it takes.
How does an hour of light gardening, for example, compare to an hour’s stroll in the park? About the same, according to a report from Harvard Medical School.
An hour of heavy gardening? Equivalent to an hour of climbing stairs, but not quite as exhausting as ballet, according to the school’s measurements.
One hour in the yard with a push mower is like snow shoveling, snorkeling, rowing, skiing or hiking a tough trail for an hour.
Medical researchers study such things to learn how much exercise of different kinds it takes to produce benefits. For example, Harvard investigated the effect of exercise on colon cancer in women.
The study found that women whose activity level reached 21 metabolic equivalents a week - 21 METs - were half as likely to develop colon cancer as those who did less.
Gardening is good for a bushel of METs. Ten and a half hours of light gardening, or five hours of heavy gardening rack up 21 METs.
Seven hours of brisk walking will do the same, or three hours of kayaking, two hours of singles tennis or an hour and a half ’s run - farm to market.
ActiveStyle, Pages 28 on 04/14/2014