While direct gardening is more often than not thought of as a prolific way to grow gorgeous plants and get tasty fruits and vegetables, a small number of gardeners have ever thought about the huge amounts of exercise one can get in the procedure of direct gardening. While you can get just about as much muscle exercise as you do working out, it is very fruitful at the same time.
You may wonder how direct gardening could possibly give as much exercise as working out. Just think about all the various facets of preparing a garden. There are holes to be dug, bags and pots to be carried, and weeds to be pulled. Doing all of these things help to work out almost every group of muscles in your body.
My cousin is a fanatic about working out. Nearly every time I call him at home, he is always doing some muscle toning activity. I’ve never actually liked working out, though, as it seems that the continuous lifting of heavy things just puts a strain on my body with no instant encouraging results. But while he is into working out, I am just about equally excited about direct gardening. I work outside taking care of my garden more or less each day. I think I certainly surprised my cousin when he realized that I am nearly as muscular as he is; but I have never lifted a single dumbbell!
Prior to going out into your garden, you should always stretch out. Even if your goal isn’t to work out and get exercise, it’s still a good idea. Over and over again gardeners spend long periods of time hunched over or bent over. This can be bad for your back. So not only should you stretch out before hand, but you should always take recurrent breaks if you’re spending long amounts of time in these positions.
Weeding and pruning are some of the best workouts a gardener can get. With the continuous crouching and standing, the legs get a great workout. If your weeds are predominantly resistant, your arms will become mostly toned just from the effort required to remove them from the ground. If you plan on taking the whole workout think very seriously, you should always be switching arms and positions to spread out the work between different parts of your body.
One of the most apparent ways to get exercise is in the transporting and lifting of bags and pots. Between the nursery and your house, you will have to move the bags multiple times (to the checkout, to your car, to your garden, and then spreading them out accordingly). As long as you remember to lift with your legs and not your back, transporting bags and pots can give you a reasonably big workout, even supposing you most likely don’t make those acquisitions very often.
Mowing your grass can also be a great exercise. If you’ve got an older mower that isn’t self propelled, just the act of pushing it through the grass will give you more of a workout than going to the gym for a few hours. During the course of mowing the grass, you use your chest, arms, back, and shoulder to keep the mower ahead of you. Your thighs and butt also get worked a lot to propel the mower. Not only do you get an all around muscle work out, but it can improve your heart’s health. It’s good for you as a cardiovascular activity, as well as a great way to lose weight due to the increased heart rate and heavy breathing.
If you plan on using direct gardening as a method to get in shape or lose some weight, you can barely go wrong. Just be sure to stretch out, drink a lot of water, and put on sunscreen. As long as you take steps to put a stop to the few negative effects such as pulled muscles, dehydration and sunburn, I think you’ll have a fantastic time and end up being a healthier human being because of it.
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