Get more from your garden
With so many health benefits to offer, it’s no wonder that gardening is a favourite pastime for Canadians.
Why gardening is great
Gardening offers many of the types of exercise recommended by
Canada’s Physical Activity Guide
, including endurance, flexibility and strength. That makes it part of an active and healthy lifestyle.
Gardening uses all of the major muscle groups, helps to maintain healthy bone mass and relieves stress.
Depending on the specific activity, gardening can burn around 300 calories an hour for moderately intense activities like raking, weeding and mowing.
Best of all, gardening puts the workout right in your own backyard, so to speak. So there’s no excuse to put off being active.
How much do you need?
Canada’s Physical Activity Guide
recommends 30 to 60 minutes of moderate physical activity every day to improve or maintain your health.
“Easy gardening” is included in the light effort category, which means you need 60 minutes a day to stay healthy. “Raking leaves” falls under the moderate effort category, which means you need to do about 30 to 60 minutes a day to stay healthy.
You can also break your activity into 10-minute sessions throughout the day, if that’s more convenient.
Benefits of gardening
Here are some essential yard-work activities that can help you meet your fitness goals.
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Raking, carrying leaves and cutting hedges provide endurance and upper body strength. Raking provides a similar type of exercise to using a rowing machine at the gym.
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Mowing with a push mower exercises leg, shoulder and arm muscles. It’s similar to walking on a treadmill and doing push-ups.
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Heavy work – digging holes, shovelling dirt and gravel, turning compost, carrying rocks and wood – builds strength, works abs and burns the most calories. It’s comparable to lifting weights at the gym.
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Planting and weeding can increase flexibility with bending, reaching and turning – and strengthen lower body muscles with squats and lunges. It’s like taking a yoga class.
For variety, try to incorporate a range of activities each day. Exaggerating your motions – for example, taking a longer swipe with the rake – maximizes the range of motion and increases benefits. Change positions frequently, and try to use both hands and both sides of your body equally. If you tighten your abs while you work, you’ll also get a core body workout.
Exercise essentials
Remember to warm up gradually. Stretch at intervals throughout the session – especially your lower back, hamstrings, shoulders, neck and wrists – to stay limber and avoid injuries and strains.
Invest in the proper tools, including knee pads, ergonomically-designed lightweight tools and a good pair of work gloves. It’s also wise to wear sunscreen and avoid working between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m., when the sun is strongest.
Remember to stay hydrated by drinking plenty of fluids before, during and after your gardening session. Then sit back and enjoy the results of your hard work!