Get Fit Through Gardening - January 2000

Even though it is 25 degrees outside and there is snow on the ground, I typically receive calls from national writers for gardening / exercise articles in the spring.

Question. How can you get the most from gardening in terms of exercise? (manual power vs. power tools?)

Answer: THE MAIN POINT I ALWAYS MAKE: While just about any fitness expert will tell you that gardening is good exercise, no one is making the point that 99.99% of the population garden incorrectly (from an exercise perspective). In other words, traditional gardening will make you sweat, and you can develop a strong back and shoulders, but you can also hurt your back and be sore for a week after gardening all weekend. Also, many ask, if gardening is such good exercise, why don't gardeners look like bodybuilders?

Transforming gardening into an exercise program requires adopting the specific techniques I've outlined in my book and the articles on this website, particularly, the Nutshell Section.

Question: What Gardening Tools are best for Get Fit Through Gardening?

Answer: A manual mower will burn more calories than a self-propelled one. If your yard is small enough, a manual mower is both environmentally safe and provides somewhat more effort. See the Garden Tools Article on this website.

To summarize, always use very long handled tools that allow you to bend at the knees in  moderately wide stance and rake and hoe in a "rocking motion" using your legs not your arms and lower back. Never bend over from the back to garden. Lots of dumb tools with four foot handles are a menace and should be destroyed. Unless you're about five feet tall, they will cause you to stoop and hurt yourself (the garden weasel is an example) If possible, find a hand tool that has both right and left-handed versions. You can garden with both hands in a in and out, wax on, wax off, piston action motion. (I particularly like the Smith and Hawken Hand weeder for this action) You also could you a three tined weeder as well.

Question: What are some of the benefits of gardening that novices might overlook? (Perhaps mental benefits here -- and the rewards you get from working in a garden) -- can you share your thoughts?

Answer: Horticultural Therapy (HT) is the field of study where gardening is used to help specific and special populations - those with a physical or mental disability. HT has been used for many years to aid those with strokes, in wheelchairs, learning disabilities, etc... The Horticultural Therapy Association offers a wealth of valuable information and resources for those interested in this worthwhile profession.

As a therapy, gardening is valuable because it:

1. Uses both gross motor skills (raking, hoeing) and fine motor skills (picking up seeds, potting a plant)
2. Is something physical, concrete and meaningful (you're working with plants and flowers)
3. Requires a specific number of steps to accomplish a goal. (You take a plant out of a pot, you plant it, you water it, you add fertilizer, you tie it to a stake) These discrete actions are useful for stroke victims and head injury patients.

However, my approach, Get Fit Through Gardening, while similar to Horticultural Therapy in terms of focus (the person' health is first, the plants are secondary) is different in that Get Fit Through Gardening is for the general population - anyone who wants to be more fit.(In other words, if all your tomato plants die but you lose five pounds and exercise regularly in your garden, you are successful).

The main "non-exercise" benefit of Get Fit Through Gardening is the issue of FOCUS. This is related to my experience with Tae kwon do. Spending thirty to sixty minutes, exercising in the garden, alternating stances, changing position every five to ten minutes, stretching with purpose, maintaining a steady but active pace, increasing the intensity from light to moderate throughout the gardening session, using long-handled tools -- doing all of these creates something entirely new and different from how 99.99% of the population gardens.

Yes, you are planting flowers and vegetables. No, it does not interfere or lessen the joy of gardening, it increases it. Not only will you be less sore and not hurt your back (the biggest complaint of traditional gardeners) but you will get more done in less time and have fresh flowers and veggies along with a buff new bod.

It's a matter of belief (this doesn't look funny... well, actually, it does, but it works). It's a matter of focus (If I practice I can rake both right handed and left handed)

Question: Is there more to know about Tuesday, June 6, 2007, as National Gardening Exercise Day other than the date and that it might be a good time to launch an exercise gardening program?

Answer: The simple focus on June 6 is for EVERYONE to refer to gardening as exercise. Simply say "garden exercise" all day long - It's not work, it's exercise. Mention it to your neighbors. Talk about it at work. Get the word out. Think of it as a "Smoke Out" where we are fighting fad diets and fad exercise programs and substituting something real and meaningful. Exercising (notice how I'm not saying "working in the garden"), sweating in the garden, with the proper technique, proper tools, proper preparation (stretching) for short periods of times is GOOD.

National Gardening Exercise Day is mainly for the publicity - get the word out. Explain how to transform traditional gardening into Get Fit Through Gardening. Get the Press Release to the radio stations, TV stations and newspapers. Hold an Get Fit Through Gardening event at your local botanic gardens. Educate, Educate, Educate.

Learning the fundamentals of aerobic takes about an hour or two, practicing and perfecting them takes a lifetime.

Question: How do I contact a local state garden club?

Answer: Your local botanic garden should know of all the state garden clubs.

For more information, my book, Fitness the Dynamic Gardening Way, is available!

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