While many of us don't consider gardening a traditional activity, research has shown that it has many physical and mental benefits, including improved mood and increased vitamin D levels from sunlight. A recent study of American adults aged 65 and over found that gardeners had better heart health than non-gardeners. This is a very popular activity among the longest living people in the world - aged 90 and centenarians.
“Gardening is often overlooked as an exercise, but based on feedback from our customers, we expect gardening to be a growing fitness category this year,” said Rishi Mondal, co-founder and CEO of fitness platform Future. "We're seeing more and more clients asking instructors to include an hour or two of gardening in their weekly workout schedule."
But how much exercise does gardening actually give me? To find out, I swapped out my regular workout routine — usually running, yoga, and weight lifting — for a week of gardening and got some expert advice on how to turn that into a more focused workout.
How difficult is gardening really?
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) physical activity list includes several types of gardening and horticulture. Activities that are considered moderate include light shoveling, raking, mowing grass or leaves, digging, standing or leaning over, weeding, trimming shrubs and trees, and pushing lawn mowers. Some of the most powerful include heavy or fast shoveling, heavy duty welding, tree trimming, and pushing without motorized lawn mowers.
(CDC physical activity guidelines state that adults should engage in at least 150 minutes of moderate activity, such as walking, or at least 75 minutes of vigorous activity, such as running, each week in addition to muscle-building exercise.)
Most regular gardening activities are moderate-intensity activities that don't get your heart rate up as high as running. Therefore, they can be considered strength exercises, but not cardio.
I added cardio intervals to increase my heart rate
ACSM Certified Physiologist Louise Valentine, MD, Breaking Through Wellness CPT has learned that gardening doesn't give me proper aerobic exercise, so she suggests I split my duties between jumping jacks, running in place, or jumping squats. For example, if I squat and dig, I can set an alarm to get up in 10 minutes and do one of these exercises,” she says.
I tried adding a few jumps that got my heart rate up to the same level as when I was running - at least for a few minutes at a time. I deliberately quickly switch from one task to another. While not very reassuring, I covered about a mile and a half in an hour, which I would never have thought of if I hadn't tracked it on my GPS watch.
Alternating gardening with other exercises will not only strengthen your core quickly, but it can also help prevent injury, “so you don't stay in one position for too long,” says Valentine.
Simple Modifications Turn Exercises Into Balanced Strength Training
Some gardening exercises primarily work small muscle groups, but you can target larger muscle groups or other muscle groups. And focusing on form while gardening can have other energetic benefits.
With exercise, for example, you can “lunge, stretch, and intentionally engage your core—and it’s a completely different type of exercise than standing and running,” says Valentine.
Valentine says pulling weeds strengthens both the upper and lower body. “Think about it: how can I do this full body exercise? According to her, it can be push-ups, planks or lunges.
“Lifting and carrying heavy bags of earth, compost, or watering cans also provides a great core and upper body workout,” notes Mondal, “while lifting can tone your glutes and quads like you would if you were working out at the gym.” . " "
In the gym, people usually train both sides of the body equally. But in your garden, you can use the dominant side for most tasks. For example, when picking up weeds or sticks, you can consciously move in the other direction. “It must be weird,” Valentine admits.
But it can be done. I dug up the plants with a large shovel, which I usually held in my right hand and stuck into the ground with my right foot, but turned to the left. Although it was a bit unusual, it wasn't difficult. After that, I no longer feel the one-sided pain that I used to feel.
heating and cooling
As with regular exercise, it's important to warm up before gardening, says Valentine. He says that "stretching to get your body in a good position before you start" can help prevent injury and soreness. He recommends opening the chest and stretching out the arms. Mandal adds that touching the toes and rotating the shoulders can also help.
I confess that it never occurred to me to take precautions before gardening, although my hands hurt so badly afterwards.
When you're done, a hand massage can relieve stress and relax you, Valentine says. Mandal recommends using a foam roller or tennis ball to massage your back, hamstrings, and "other sore areas to make sure your muscles are relaxed and flexible."
Back to basics
Sometimes I get sick after gardening, and I don't want to get sick after a good workout. But by adding other exercises and remembering my movements, I did cardio and worked out large muscle groups and felt like I completed a serious workout.
I can't completely replace gardening with running and expect the same cardiovascular benefits, but I plan to incorporate gardening into my overall workout program.
This week of gardening and training, I was rewarded with my first peonies and cilantro that started growing and saw my root crops get stronger than last year, including cobwebs. It also seemed like a feat.
"[Gardens] also have meditative benefits, and there's definitely a 'back to basics' feeling when you're on solid ground," says Mondal.
