Gardening by the month by Marie Gardner

Join Nature’s Gym for a Great Workout Plus, There’s No Stinky Locker Room 

If you garden for pleasure, you may not be aware of how beneficial this hobby is for your health. As you prepare your garden plot to grow fresh veggies, or while you turn the compost pile, you are actually exercising.
 
There are lots of reasons to garden as a chosen form of exercise. Gardening is both enjoyable and free. Studies show that if you enjoy the exercise activity, you are more likely to continue it. Plus, it works. In fact, 45 minutes of gardening burns as many calories as 30 minutes of aerobics.
 
Shoveling dirt and turning compost is essentially lifting weights. Raking and hoeing is similar to using a rowing machine. Pushing the wheelbarrow or mower is even more physical than walking on a treadmill.
 
In general, gardening is not as hard on your body as jogging and other forms of moderate to strenuous exercise. This means that even as you age, you can still enjoy exercise in the garden.
 
You are probably getting a healthy dose of exercise already if you garden on a regular basis. Following the simple guidelines outlined here will help you get the maximum health benefits. As with any exercise program, beginning gardeners should start slowly and build up endurance. If you have been sedentary, please check with your physician before beginning your garden workout plan.
 
 
Burn Those Calories
The number of calories you burn depends on the type and intensity of activity and your weight. A heavier person will burn more calories than a lighter one doing the same activity.
 
The following estimates are the average calories burned by a 180-pound person during 30 minutes of the activity.
 
-Watering your garden burns 60 calories. As a comparison, the typical number of calories burned in a half hour of sleeping is around 35, and sitting quietly is 40. 
 
-Mowing your lawn with a push mower—ideally a reel mower—will burn almost 250 calories! If you use a power push mower, you will still burn 180 calories.
 
-Digging and shoveling are big calorie burners, 250 to 350 calories per half-hour—another reason to double-dig your garden! Light digging, spading, clearing areas and tilling uses about 200 calories.
 
-Planting uses 160 calories for seeds and seedlings and 180 calories for trees and shrubs.

-Weeding is a necessary chore in the garden, and it also burns about 180 calories. If you hate to weed, think of it as replacing a trip to the gym.

-You can burn over 200 calories turning the compost pile. If for some reason you do not yet have a compost pile, now you have another good reason to create it.
 
-Chopping wood burns a whooping 250 calories per half-hour, and think of how much you will save on your energy bills next winter!
 
 
Maximize the Benefits
The health benefits of gardening are impressive. Gardening uses all the major muscle groups in your body. Your legs, buttocks, shoulders, stomach, arms, neck and back all get a workout. Gardening also increases flexibility and strengthens joints.
 
-Focus on the major muscle groups to maximize the exercise benefits from gardening. For example, bend your knees while raking or hoeing.
 
-Use a variety of motions at a steady pace, alternating among movements in each gardening session. Include activities such as raking, weeding, pruning and digging. Change between left- and right-handed activities to work both sides of the body equally.
 
-Intermix strenuous gardening chores with more moderate activities. For example, break up a session of heavy digging with some quiet weeding or transplanting.
 
-Exaggerate movements to achieve maximum range of motion, and change gardening stances in order to use different muscles.
 
-Move loads in small quantities and make extra trips to both burn more calories and reduce potential strain or other injury. Always bend and lift using your knees, not your back.
 
Finally, plan a daily gardening activity so that you get out there every day. Make sure the total daily time adds up to at least 30 minutes. For maximum benefit, each individual activity should last at least eight minutes.
 
 
Warm Up and Stretch
The soreness that you may feel after a long day of gardening is more likely related to muscle strain than the workout you gave your muscles. Do a few stretches first to ease your muscles into action, and you will feel much better in the evening and the next day.
 
Spend about five minutes walking or jogging lightly before gardening, and cool down after gardening by walking around your yard, admiring your efforts.
 
 
Mind Also Matters
Gardening is beneficial for your mental health, too. Just think of the relaxation you experience when working in the garden.
 
This is truly the great thing about gardening for exercise, as you use your entire body. It is a unique form of exercise that allows you to do something calming, creative and fun while you work various muscle groups and get a moderate level of cardiovascular exercise.

If you already garden, you can increase the amount of time you spend gardening to improve your health even more. If you are not an active gardener, think about starting a small garden plot of veggies. This way, you can combine the joys of growing your own food with a light exercise regimen.
 

For More Information
 
Please see the article by Diane Relf, Extension Specialist, on the Va. Cooperative Extension website. Go to www.ext.vt.edu and enter “gardening exercise” in the search box.

 Marie Gardner has an M.S. in biology and a Ph.D. in education and is a Virginia Master Gardener. Email suggestions for future columns to MGardner@vcu.edu. Please include "garden column suggestion" in the subject line.

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