Gardening to Get in Shape
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Gardening to Get in Shape
While gardening is usually thought of as a productive way to grow
beautiful plants and obtain tasty fruits and vegetables, few gardeners
have ever considered the immense amounts of exercise one can get in the
process of gardening.
While you can get almost as much muscle (if not more) exercise as you
do working out, it is very productive at the same time.
You may wonder how gardening could possibly give as much exercise as
working out. Just think about all the various facets of preparing a
garden. There are holes to be dug, bags and pots to be carried, and
weeds to be pulled.
Doing all of these things help to work out almost every group of
muscles in your body.
My brother is a fanatic about working out. Almost every time I call his
house, I end up interrupting some muscle toning activity. I’ve never
really enjoyed working out, though, as it seems that the constant
lifting of heavy things just puts a strain on my body with no immediate
positive results.
But while he is into working out, I am almost equally enthusiastic
about gardening. I work outside improving my garden almost every day. I
think I definitely surprised my brother when he realized that I am
almost as muscular as he is; but I have never lifted a single dumbbell!
Before you go out into your garden, you should always stretch out. Even
if your goal isn’t to work out and get exercise, it’s still a good
idea. Often gardeners spend long periods of time hunched over or bent
over. This can be bad for your back. So not only should you stretch out
before hand, but you should always take frequent breaks if you’re
spending long amounts of time in these positions.
Weeding and pruning are some of the best workouts a gardener can get.
With the constant crouching and standing, the legs get a great workout.
If your weeds are particularly resistant, your arms will become
particularly toned just from the effort required to remove them from
the ground. If you plan on taking the whole workout think very
seriously, you should always be switching arms and positions to spread
out the work between different areas of your body.
One of the most obvious ways to get exercise is in the transporting and
lifting of bags and pots. Between the nursery and your house, you will
have to move the bags multiple times (to the checkout, to your car, to
your garden, and then spreading them out accordingly).
As long as you remember to lift with your legs and not your back,
transporting bags and pots can give you a fairly big workout, even
though you probably don’t make those purchases very often.
Mowing your grass can also be a great exercise. If you’ve got an older
mower that isn’t self propelled, just the act of pushing it through the
grass will give you more of a workout than going to the gym for a few
hours. During the course of mowing the grass, you use your chest, arms,
back, and shoulder to keep the mower ahead of you. Your thighs and butt
also get worked a lot to propel the mower.
Not only do you get an all around muscle work out, but it can improve
your heart’s health. It’s good for you as a cardiovascular activity, as
well as a great way to lose weight due to the increased heart rate and
heavy breathing.
If you plan on using gardening as a way to get in shape or lose some
weight, you can hardly go wrong. Just be sure to stretch out, drink
plenty of water, and apply sunscreen.
As long as you take steps to prevent the few negative effects such as
pulled muscles, dehydration and sunburn, I think you’ll have a great
time and end up being a healthier person because of it.
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