If you have spent time gardening you know that after you’ve done, you feel like you had a workout. That’s because you actually had a workout. When you garden, you’re engaging in low impact exercise, and like other forms of exercise, gardening can reduce stress.
There’s no doubt that everyone experiences stress. Sometimes the pressure can be so difficult to deal with that we seek a way to reduce it. It ’s better to find stress relief than it is to live with it. It’s a wise move to find a way to retrieve your harmony.
Gardening is one of the best ways to get rid of stress and regain peace. Gardening actually tops the list of stress-reducing activities, even above fitness exercise. It’s easy to get started gardening, even if you’ve never planted or harvested anything before.
When you basically just sit at your desk all day in front of your computer, there’s something special about putting your hands in the dirt, and actually producing something elegant. Just being out there digging feels kind of primitive.
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.
Studies show that low-impact exercise and activities can also boost the brain.
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.
Gardening as an Healthy Exercise
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 typically 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.
Low-impact activities can improve your health and fitness without hurting your joints.
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.
Low-impact training has gained popularity in recent years. Slower, controlled movements cause less stress and less chance of injury to your joints, while still giving fitness benefits. So low-impact activities can improve your health and fitness without hurting your joints.
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. Specific health issues can be helped such as diabetes or high blood pressure.
It’s an outdoor alternative to the gym – Green Gym.
Growing tasty foods or enjoying beautiful flowers can result from you choosing gardening to get rid of stress. Ending up with a stronger, firmer body is an added bonus, and spending time in the garden is a pleasant way to get your daily activity.
Digging in the dirt, watering plants and other garden activities work your muscles. You see your workout efforts pay off with vegetables and pretty flowers along with better health.