Can gardening be considered exercise?

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Question Can gardening be considered exercise?

Answer There are several categories of physical activity. The two most common are resistance and cardio. In a gym, resistance training covers activities like lifting weights and using various machines. In a garden, similar activities include carrying potted plants, pushing a wheelbarrow, digging holes, carrying bales of straw, etc… Resistance exercises build bone strength as well as muscle. Stronger bones resist breaking.

Cardio training covers activities that raise your heart rate. In a gym, people walk/run on a treadmill, ride a stationary bicycle, attend aerobics classes, etc… Working in a garden, cardio activities might include mowing the grass with a push mower, running from a snake, walking around the yard (carrying supplies), etc… Cardio exercises strengthen the heart and burn the most calories. Of course, the heart is a muscle which is necessary for keeping you alive.

There is actually a third category of exercise that is beneficial to folks of all ages. I’m going to call this category - flexibility (often called stretching). This category includes exercises that are neither resistance nor cardio. In the gym, a person would work on flexibility by stretching. Pilates, tai chi, yoga, and martial arts are systems of exercises which address flexibility.

Andrea Copenhaver, personal trainer at Cape Fear Fitness in Lillington, says, “Increased flexibility is both mentally and physically beneficial. People garden to make their yard beautiful. Exercise will make your mind and body beautiful.”

In the garden, tasks using flexibility may include pulling weeds, chopping wood, pruning plants, or picking apples. Flexibility exercises should strengthen stomach and back muscles. This results in better balance, less potential for falling, better posture, less back pain, etc… These exercises also help people breath deeply and more efficiently.

All physical activity helps to reduce stress. This is due to the interaction between a person’s body and mind while they are exercising. The common thread in all exercise is mental awareness and control.

Gardening can be used as a form of exercise if the various categories of exercise are done regularly and physical goals are set. During the winter, gardeners may want to supplement their physical activities by joining a gym, buying an exercise video or visiting a community center.

For more info on physical activity, visit http://www2.gsu.edu/~wwwfit/physicalactivity.html If you don’t have access to the internet, then call me at 910-893-7533 or email me at gpierce@harnett.org

Pilates was developed by Joseph Pilates as a rehabilitation tool for World War I veterans. http://www.medicinenet.com/pilates/article.htm Joseph referred to it as “Controlology,” because it united the mind, body and spirit. Gardening often involves a different type of controlology. Gardening unites plant selection, proper maintenance and pesticides in order to keep control of the pests.

Gary L. Pierce

Horticulture Extension Agent

Harnett County