Can Garden Activities Be As Good For You As Exercising?
http://www.garden-articles.co.uk/articles/38/1/-Can-Garden-Activities-Be-As-Good-For-You-As-Exercising/Page1.html
Rosemary Stalker
Rosemary has been working in journalism for 32 yrs and specialises in gardening projects. Her articles are published across a number of medias By Rosemary Stalker
Published on 02/3/2010
Can garden activities do you as much good as a brisk walk, or a morning spent in the gym? It seems that "yes" is the answer. Your favourite pastime may be all you need to keep healthy. Now, isn't that good news! Of course, it does depend on how active you are in the garden.
If lazing in a hammock suits you just fine and the idea of turning compost fills you with dread, perhaps you will be better off in the gym. However, for the rest of us, garden activities from weeding and digging the garden to mowing the lawn will help to keep you in excellent shape.
I'll bet you never considered that something as simple as raking leaves or grass for half an hour could burn off 162 calories. It does though. And of course, the dead leaves can become part of your compost, which needs turning occasionally, which means more calories burned. Turning compost for a grueling hour will evaporate an impressive 500 calories for the average person. Don't forget also that your hard work isn't over even at that stage. All that lovely pile of nutrients you've worked so hard on then goes into helping the growing of your flowers and vegetables. It a win-win-win situation all the way!
You may think that simple tasks such as planting trees or trimming shrubs won't provide as much exercise as say, laying sod, you'd be wrong. Planting a few extra trees for half an hour will burn 182 calories, and trimming shrubs for the same length of time will also see the same amount of calories disappear. And you probably won't even break into a sweat either.
Treat your garden activities as you would any type of exercise. Yes, of course you are doing it to get your garden in trim; that's the end result, but don't forget that it's also exercising your muscles too. A few stretching exercise, or a short brisk walk before you start will help to warm up the muscles you use. Then you can ease yourself into the gardening activities by starting with something easy. Keep alternating between heavy and light work and you will probably get most of the daily exercise you need.
The man of the family often dreads mowing the lawn. Now he can look forward to it, knowing that even sitting on a motorised lawn mower can burn off 100 calories every hour. But use an old-fashioned push, pull one, and the gain is even better. Garden activities could be seen as a natural resource, so to speak. Knowing how to grow flowers, plants and vegetables is definitely a bonus, but just your general horticulture duties is all you need to keep fit and healthy!
To learn more about how to enjoy garden activitie and gardening in general, visit the Garden Health site promoting garden health for everyone.
I'll bet you never considered that something as simple as raking leaves or grass for half an hour could burn off 162 calories. It does though. And of course, the dead leaves can become part of your compost, which needs turning occasionally, which means more calories burned. Turning compost for a grueling hour will evaporate an impressive 500 calories for the average person. Don't forget also that your hard work isn't over even at that stage. All that lovely pile of nutrients you've worked so hard on then goes into helping the growing of your flowers and vegetables. It a win-win-win situation all the way!
You may think that simple tasks such as planting trees or trimming shrubs won't provide as much exercise as say, laying sod, you'd be wrong. Planting a few extra trees for half an hour will burn 182 calories, and trimming shrubs for the same length of time will also see the same amount of calories disappear. And you probably won't even break into a sweat either.
Treat your garden activities as you would any type of exercise. Yes, of course you are doing it to get your garden in trim; that's the end result, but don't forget that it's also exercising your muscles too. A few stretching exercise, or a short brisk walk before you start will help to warm up the muscles you use. Then you can ease yourself into the gardening activities by starting with something easy. Keep alternating between heavy and light work and you will probably get most of the daily exercise you need.
The man of the family often dreads mowing the lawn. Now he can look forward to it, knowing that even sitting on a motorised lawn mower can burn off 100 calories every hour. But use an old-fashioned push, pull one, and the gain is even better. Garden activities could be seen as a natural resource, so to speak. Knowing how to grow flowers, plants and vegetables is definitely a bonus, but just your general horticulture duties is all you need to keep fit and healthy!
To learn more about how to enjoy garden activitie and gardening in general, visit the Garden Health site promoting garden health for everyone.