thoughtful thursday: gardening as exercise

I’m sure you’ve heard, as I have many times, that gardening can be a great form of exercise, and maybe you’ve wondered how true that actually is. I’ve done some digging and have some information to share with you.

Before we get into that, let me preface by saying that the notion of “gardening is a good form of exercise” really depends on what we’re talking about when we say “gardening” and what our definition of “exercise” is. For some, to garden is to plant a few annuals in pots each year and for others, it means digging, weeding, sowing, pruning, etc (ie spending hours out in the weather every week for three seasons of the year). I suspect that most of us fall somewhere in the middle of these two models. Likewise, there is a very broad range of what exercise consists of, from simple walking to remain active as we age, to hardcore boot camp style training sessions. It’s all relative and in my opinion it all counts.

According to an article by mindbodygreen.com “Gardening 30 to 45 minutes a day can burn 150 to 300 calories. This isn’t just standing there watering the flowers, but weeding, digging, hoeing, raking and planting.” The full article is a good read, covering many of the other health-related benefits that gardening can provide.

Another article, from Women’s Health, dated 2014, summarized a South Korean study, published in the journal HortTechnology. This study found that some gardening tasks do qualify as moderate- to high-intensity physical activity. The tasks included digging, raking, weeding, mulching, hoeing, sowing, harvesting, watering, mixing growing medium, and planting transplants.

Finally, webMD has some great information. Based on this article, they are a proponent of using gardening as a form of physical exercise and they also list out some do’s and don’ts regarding safety when gardening, specifically when it come to heavy lifting, chemical safety, taking breaks, gradually increasing the level of activity, and allergies.

I would also add to be mindful when working outside in the heat; overheating and heatstroke are serious business.

It is good to note that as with any form of exercise, if one’s goal is physical fitness, the most benefits are received when the activity is done regularly.

What are you thinking about today?

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