Why gardening is good exercise

When one talks about exercising, what comes to most people’s minds is weight lifting, skipping, and aerobics, among others. While these are great and should in no way be ignored, gardening can also afford you great benefits.

Elly Barangi, a fitness coach, says people with disabilities, people who are unwell, older people and children can find it especially rewarding to spend time in the garden tending to plants and growing their own food.

Benedict Zabinga, a fitness coach, says gardening involves a lot of movement and postures. “This makes it an exercise, especially if it involves the use of equipment such as hoes, watering cans, and pangas,” he says. Zabinga adds that gardening engages various muscle groups, especially when it comes to bending while planting. “This is done in angles that portray the deadlift and single arm row exercises, hence activating muscle groups such as the back- (rhomboids, lats and traps), glutes, hamstrings as well as your forearms,” he says.

Barangi adds that gardening can also strengthen your body. “Think of bending down to pick up something heavy or dig holes. Imagine doing at least 100 squats by the time you are done with your work,” he adds.
When covering distance during planting, Zabinga says this makes up for cardio exercise.
“There is movement from one point to another, hence working on your cardiovascular endurance,” he adds.

Flexibility
Looking at all the muscles that the activity engages, Barangi says gardening improves your endurance, strength, mobility and flexibility.

Weight loss
As one digs and moves about as they tend to the plants, they burn excess calories. “That is due to the attribute of the cardiovascular endurance element,” Zabinga points out. He adds that gardening also makes your muscles lean due to the various movements, postures and endurance involved. Ultimately, weight is either kept in check or lost, all of which lead to a healthy body and mind.

Improves mental health
Gardening comes with being outdoors. “Even when your garden is indoors, there will be time to go out to do something. Enjoying the fresh air helps people deal with stress which keeps depression at bay,” Zabinga shares.

Enjoyment
From the physical activity, for example weeding, Barangi says you get the feel-good moment of seeing your plants grow. “With endorphins released due to the joy experienced, the body is in a better position to fight stress, anxiety as well as sickness,” he says.

Fresh food
Gardening provides you and your family with a healthy variety of inexpensive fresh food. “Most people in Uganda and the rest of the world do not get a chance to access fresh food since they buy from supermarkets where produce is kept for long in refrigerators. However, having your own garden will enable you to consume fresh and healthy foods that obviously benefit your body,” Barangi shares.

Caution
While Henry Sentamu, a fitness expert with Wide Variations Ltd, agrees that several muscles such as biceps and triceps are engaged when one is gardening, he cites an issue of working one side while ignoring the other.
“For example, if someone is right handed, they will say, lift a watering can with the right, weed with the same hand while the left does little or nothing. That is different from a fitness class where what the right side does, the left does too hence creating a balance. Therefore, the weaker side of the body is unintentionally neglected,” he explains.

Calories burned
• Planting transplants including trees and shrubs work out to 250 calories burned for women, and 350 for men. This activity will also provide your arms some exercise. If you are planting trees and shrubs, you can expect to be digging holes, so that translates to a pretty decent upper body workout.
• Weeding is a necessary chore in the garden. Some people hate to weed, but if you consider that you are exercising while you weed, you can think of as replacing a trip to the gym. Weeding burns as least as many calories as mowing the lawn with a power mower.
• Some of the best gardening activities you can do to both work muscles and burn calories are to move compost, rake and dig holes for transplanting, among others.

Source: cleanairgardening.com