Gardening: An Effective Workout

Pottering around the garden with a sun hat and trowel may not sound much like exercise, but research shows that gardening can enhance health at any age.

In fact, depending on how you go about it, tending a garden can be as tough a workout as kayaking, rowing or lifting weights. Furthermore, gardening tasks as digging and trimming hedges requires as much energy expenditure as table tennis and skateboarding.

More heavy-duty tasks like mowing the lawn with a hand mower or turning the soil with a shovel, requires about as much energy as using a stair machine. In addition, gardening makes you stretch a whole assortment of muscles, so it helps greatly to increase your body’s flexibility.

In fact, gardening may well be the perfect whole-body exercise; it strengthens the heart, improves circulation and provides ample stress relief. Gardening is a particularly good activity for novice or older exercisers, since you can garden at your own pace.

Remember, gardening qualifies as exercise and will probably use muscles that you don’t otherwise notice. Be sure to warm up by walking briskly around the yard and doing some arm, back, neck and leg stretches prior to starting your chores. Take regular breaks to stretch throughout your time in the garden.

Take note that when you reach down to pull weeds, don’t bend from the waist. Instead, squat or kneel using a pad to cushion your knees. Be sure to lift properly as well; bend at knees, keep your back straight and don’t twist your upper body. As your level of fitness improves, add more strenuous tasks to your routine.

Benefits of Gardening:

• It helps you heal, both physically and emotionally: quietly tending your garden is a real stress buster, giving you a break from life’s general rush. The serenity of the outdoors is a proven booster for the immune systemdefine.

• It’s a real workout: Gardening is especially appealing to people who don’t like to exercise just to burn kilojoules.

• It lets you enjoy the fruits of your labour: if you grow your own vegetables and fruits, it can save you money and improves your diet too.