Gardening Provides Low Impact Exercise for Less Stress

Anyone who has spent time gardening knows that after they’re done, they feel like they’ve had a workout. That’s because they have. When you garden, you’re engaging in low impact exercise and like other forms of exercise, gardening can reduce stress.

So when you have a garden, not only do you get to enjoy healthy foods and beautiful flowers, but you’re staying fit as well. Studies have shown that the movements associated with the tasks in gardening qualify as low impact exercises.

In some cases, this exercise is considered to be moderate or high on the exercise rating scale. You can work in your garden and gain the same exercise benefit you’d get if you’d walked a few miles or rode a stationary bike.

The more you do in your garden physically, the more health benefits you’ll stand to gain from it. Though it’s best to make sure you have at least 30 minutes of low impact exercise, when it comes to gardening, most people get well over that amount.

You’re spending time lowering your stress while you’re gardening and in the process, every part of your body is undergoing a workout. From the core muscles down to your thighs and calf muscles – you’re working out.

As you garden, your muscles are becoming stronger, you’re using up calories, and shedding fat and pounds at the same time. What you would normally do when you hit the gym is included in gardening including the stretching.

When you pull weeds or reach for an item, that’s the same as stretching before a workout. If you’ve always wondered about resistance training exercises, you even get those when you garden.

As you pick up soil or fertilizer and haul it around, you’re engaging in resistance training. When you have to hoe or shovel or move your wheelbarrow from one place in the garden to the next, that all adds resistance and you build muscle from it.

But even though you’re gaining an excellent workout, you don’t have to worry about the stress to your joints because it’s all low impact. For every hour that you plant or weed in the garden, you’re losing about 290 calories.

Your body stands to gain a lot when you garden as a way to relieve stress. You’ll become more mobile. Your muscles and joints will be stronger. Certain health issues can be helped such as diabetes or high blood pressure.

Growing tasty foods or enjoying beautiful flowers can result from you choosing to garden to get rid of stress. Ending up with a stronger, firmer body is an added bonus.