Reap The Fitness Rewards Of Gardening
Category : Women Business, Women Health, Women Lifestyle
Dislike gyms but love to garden? Want to build strength or lose weight in the comfort of your own backyard? Then training in your garden may be just right for you.
Like any moderate exercise, yard work can be just right for you. Like any moderate exercise, yard work can be beneficial. Recent studies suggest daily gardening can reduce the risk of coronary heart disease, improve bone density and help prevent glucose intolerance.
Kim ruby, a member of IDEA Health & Fitness Association and a personal trainer in Los Angeles, knows well how gardening can build a body beautiful. Ruby developed a garden workout for client Jolene Dodson, author of The Gardening Workout, an upcoming release from Andrews McMeel Publishing. Try these gardening “moves†below and have fun as you get fit.
First Things First
Ruby suggests starting a gardening workout with at least 20 minutes of walking, either in the yard or around the neighborhood. Then do some of the easy and moderate activities described below, and gradually add more challenging ones as you get stronger. Follow your workout with 10 minutes of stretching.
As with any exercise and/or diet program, get a thorough check-up before you take up fitness gardening. It can be more strenuous than you think!
Easy Activities
The following activities associated with gardening are appropriate for most people:
• Spreading fertilizer. Walk around the garden sprinkling fertilizer or adding compost.
• Mowing. Groom the entire lawn with a manual mower that uses muscle power instead of fossil fuel.
• Raking. Rake leaves and yard clippings.
• Easy Weeding. With a rake-like movement, use a hoe to dig up weeds.
Moderate activities
These movements require more strength, flexibility or balance and may not be appropriate if you’re an older adult or beginning exerciser.
• Aerating the Lawn. Put aerating sandals on over shoes and walk around the entire lawn.
• Overhead Harvesting and Pruning. To harvest, reach overhead and pick fruit off the trees, to prune, firmly grasp pruners, reach overhead and prune selected branches. Use a ledder in both cases, if necessary, and beware of falling fruit and/or tree limbs!
Challenging Activities
Gradually introduce these activities into your workout as your fitness level improves:
• Weeding “The Hard Way.†Bend knees into a deep squatting position and pull up weeds. Weed the entire garden, standing when necessary. (Place a block or low stool under your hips if you need one.) To prepare for this movement during the gardening “off-season,†do squats, low-back stretches and quadriceps stretches.
• Digging. Holding a shovel, stand in a lunge position, with left foot in front of right. Stick the shovel into the dirt and push it down with your left foot. Pick up dirt with the shovel and toss it into an appropriate pile. Switch sides periodically. In the off-season, do front shoulder raises and side throws with a medicine ball.
• Cleanup and General Hauling. Stand with feet slightly apart. Bend your knees and reach down to pick up debris. Use the quadriceps and gluteals to straighten your legs. Carry debris to an appropriate container. In the off-season, do squats, dead lifts, rows and biceps curls to get in shape by gardening season.
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