Top Questions About Getting Fit Through Gardening (Aerobic Gardening)

How many calories will I burn per hour?

Unfortunately, the answer is -- it depends. It depends on:

1. Your size and weight.
2. How intensely you garden.
3. Proper Form.
4. What you are actually doing (for example -- turning compost or digging holes is much more vigorous than say, planting seeds).
5. Maintaining a steady, elevated heart rate throughout the Get Fit Through Gardening session.

Sounds like exercise doesn't it? The general rule of thumb is 300 - 600 calories per hour or 5 - 10 calories per minute. Six-hundred calories per hour is up there with jogging and bicycling and other, intense aerobic activities. If you raked briskly, using primarily your legs, turned a full compost bed, or dug at a steady pace for an hour, you would probably burn about 600 calories -- and you would know it, because these are not trivial exercises.

The best answer for an "average" person is about 400 - 450 per hour.

What are the exercise benefits from Get Fit Through Gardening?

The poetic version is..."It is like power-walking to the supermarket... and receiving a 90% discount on fresh vegetables; It's like cycling for ten miles and returning to fresh garden spinach, lettuce, radishes and tomatoes every time. It's like jogging around the block to return to fresh corn, peppers and eggplant.

The exercise benefits are both plentiful and obvious. Moderate aerobic exercise from :

1. Weeding
2. Hoeing
3. Raking
4. Digging
5. Bending and kneeling (properly!)
6. Walking
7. Mowing
8. Pruning
9. Cultivating

However, one must:

1. Stretch and warm-up before you garden.
2. Quit when you are tired and don't over-exert!
3. Bend from the knees and not the back!
4. Alternate gardening movements and position often.
5. Follow the aerobic-model of exercise while Get Fit Through Gardening.

Also the fact that gardening is fun and enjoyable makes Get Fit Through Gardening different from other activities like walking, running and exercise machines which can be boring and monotonous for many people

The reason so many are sore and hurt their back is because they violate the rules above.

What can I do if I have bad knees or a bad back?

Do only what is comfortable. Always stretch gently before you garden. Use long-handled tools. Sit and garden. Raise the garden beds to waist height. Change your motions and stance often.

What do I do in the fall and winter?

1. Grow plants indoors
2. Use a greenhouse.
3. Build gardening structures (cold frame)
4. Turn the compost pile
5. Rake leaves (one or two hours max.!)
6. Plant bulbs
7. Join a garden club
8. Plant early spring and fall gardens
9. Cross train with skiing, skating or indoor sports
10. Aerobic house cleaning (same stance, same concepts)

Is there any research on this?

Most experts agree that gardening is a good source of light to moderate exercise. But few have outlined techniques and programs like I have. All research shows that eating fresh fruits and vegetables, exercising moderately and relieving stress is good for you. Most research is in the field of Horticultural Therapy and research on METS by Barbara Ainsworth at San Diego State University.

Won't doing the "lunge and weed" ruin the fun of gardening?

No, it should enhance it. Using these techniques you should reduce back strain and muscle soreness. Also, you will be adding to the benefits of your gardening (now you're working out, too). Yes, some of these techniques will be awkward at first, but practiced season after season, year after year, they will become second nature. Just add those ideas that make sense to you.

What Will The Neighbors Think?

Get Fit Through Gardening may look funny but its a great way to tend your lawn, grow flowers, fruits and vegetables and exercise. Explain to them the Aerobic Gardening techniques and the concept. Soon they will be "lunging and weeding" with you! Aren't We Just Talking About Gardening? What's the Big Deal? Get Fit Through Gardening is different from traditional gardening: The gardens are smaller and sessions are shorter (30 - 60 minutes). Raking stance is varied between right and left. The motions are changed often. We stretch often and stop when tired. The focus is on a better you rather than on a better lawn, flower or tomato.

What type of "exercise personality" would be most suited to gardening?

The best "exercise personality" is someone who hates running, spas, exercise machines and exercise in general. Also, anyone who does not want to think of themselves as "vain." You garden to exercise and exercise to garden. Gardening is fun, meaningful and rewarding. You can even save money or grow vegetables that cannot be bought at any price.

The best gardening personality is one who does NOT have to have everything perfect or fully done and complete right now. With Get Fit Through Gardening you stop when you are tired and you want to save "exercise" for another day. So, for example, if you have three 8 X 3 garden beds, you want to always have some portion that you can dig in. And, on a personal note, I often call my gardening style as the "ADHD approach to gardening" because I flit from one activity to another. This is good aerobically but not good if you want to have everything "done."

How is gardening a beneficial exercise activity for seniors?

See gardening for seniors.

How is gardening a beneficial exercise activity for kids?

Get Fit Through Gardening is great for children because they won't be self-conscious about the unusual motions (like adults are) and enjoy playing in the dirt. Try not to approach the garden as a chore or punishment (bad, very bad). It is a life-long activity that is a perfect complement to TV, video games and other passive pursuits.

Do motor-powered landscaping tools provide a better or worse "workout" for the body?

Using a riding-lawnmover for a 1/2 acre plot is just plain silly. But, on the other hand, if you are a senior and want to use a mini-tiller to cultivate your garden bed, and manually weed it at your leisure later, then that is a good thing. The key is that, at times, you want to embrace the physical nature of gardening. If you want to go fishing then, use a machine and garden quickly and efficiently. If you want to burn extra calories, then gardening aerobically, with proper warm-up, stretching, workout and cool-down. It is not "all or nothing."

Do certain types of gardens present more strain on the body (i.e. flower vs. herb?)

Planting trees or bushes will be more aerobic because the holes you will be digging are larger. Turning the compost, digging and "double-digging (digging to a depth of about 2 feet) are the most strenuous activities. There should be no difference between planting flowers, herbs or vegetables. Again, the quantity will matter. Planting a 20 X 2 swath of perennials will be more aerobic than a small clump of marigolds.

Things You Can Do On National Gardening Exercise Day June 6, 2005

1. Promote a gardening exercise contest with prizes for the best ideas
2. Contact the local television station, radio station or newspaper. Send a press release. Work up a promotion for June 6
3. Call local health organizations or fitness organizations (Cancer Society, Weight Watchers, Heart Association). You will need to educate them on the structure and techniques of Get Fit Through Gardening. Perhaps sponsor a joint promotion.
4. Most television stations have morning shows that are eager for news. Most will allow you five to ten minutes to promote National Gardening Exercise Day.
5. Promote a gardening exercise "training course" at your local Botanic Garden. You could have local personalities work out for a local charity. For example, they would do 100 jumping jacks, lunge and weed five minutes, rake aerobically for ten, dig with a post hole digger for 2, etc. Have fun. Be creative.
6. Involve local athletes.
7. Sell or give away the book Fitness the Dynamic Gardening Way as part of a promotion. Ask your local library to stock it (ISBN # 1-880886-10-3).
8. Conduct demonstrations on Get Fit Through Gardening
9. Conduct classes on Get Fit Through Gardening
10. Pass on instructional literature to doctors, fitness clubs, teachers, gardening centers and Botanic garden.
11. Invite Jeff Restuccio to speak at your local spring Gardening show or district or state meeting.
12. Invite people to visit the National Council of State Garden Clubs Web Site (We will have instructional information there)
13. Advertise. Find a sponsor and put up billboards, posters, flyers, or sell T-shirts, bumper stickers or buttons.
14. Establish a Gardening Exercise group to share and develop new ideas.
15. Work with your local church, civic group or school to develop an Get Fit Through Gardening class or club.

For more information, my books, Get Fit Through Gardening (2008) and Fitness the Dynamic Gardening Way, are available!

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