Gardening Counts as Exercise

 Gardening is not a piece of cake.  It can be downright hard work so it is just as important that you approach it as seriously as you do a session at the gym.  I think I can safely say that more aches and pains can be attributed to an all day session of yard work than with any other workout.

 

Before you begin your outdoor projects, walk around a bit and warm up your muscles.  A warm-up helps prevent injuries by lubricating the muscles and joints.

 

Research shows that gardening for 30-45 minutes a day, on most days of the week, can have the same health effects as any other exercise program.  You can expend the same amount of energy digging, weeding, trimming shrubs, and mowing as you can by walking, cycling, swimming or doing aerobics.  Ideally, it is better to have a regular gardening routine.  It you can do  30-60 minutes of gardening two to three times a week, it is far superior to a marathon session on the weekends.

 

Prepare your muscles for gardening just as you would for any other form of exercise.  After walking around for a few minutes do a series of stretches.  Remember your old friend the lateral spine stretch (one hand reaches for the sky and the other one toward your knees), or trunk rotations or the standing chest stretch (hands clasped behind your back, raise your hands slightly away from the back and stretch open your chest)?  These aren’t anything new; you learned them in high school gym class.  These stretches should feel good. 

 

Now that your muscles are warm and you are feeling good, you can use a few of your garden supplies to emulate a gym workout.  You can do bicep lifts using a couple of bags of soil, or do push-ups against the fence or even lateral arm-raises while holding flower pots in your hands.

 

Now let’s do some real work.  Weeding squats (use the same careful body mechanics as you would while doing any other squatting/lifting type exercise).  Stand with your feet apart and lower your body by flexing your knees.  If your knees bother you, you can stand up to move rather than moving sideways with your knees flexed under you.

 

Do you still have a hand mower?  If you have a push mower you can give yourself a real aerobic workout while you cut the grass.  Take it a little easy though, keep your spine straight and avoid hunching over.  Use your whole torso to help you push.  If you do this for 20-30 minutes you will know that you have had a real workout.

 

Grunt and groan.  Use a long-handled rake.  Stand tall and keep your knees relaxed.  Be careful with the twists and pivots. Step into the twist and rotate your body properly.  Wheelbarrow lifting can be a killer too.  Be sure to bend from the knees (not your waist) and keep your back straight.  Take a wide stance and let those thigh muscles do the lifting.  Keep the wheelbarrow close to you as you lift.

 

Now, that was a workout that you can feel good about!  No power tools for you.

Comments

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