Think of how your parents or grandparents gardened. The garden was usually
large. It required a tiller. The focus was on large quantities of vegetables and
they often spent all day digging, weeding and picking, sun-up to sundown. That's
not our goal. My goal is to inspire you to add a component of Get Fit Through Gardening
into your lifestyle. How much or how little is up to you. In the context of
gardening for exercise, the term balance has many meanings. Here are but
a few:
| Traditional Gardening |
Balance |
Get Fit Through Gardening |
| Large, Unmanageable Garden | ...migrate to... | Small, Stress-Free Garden |
| Summer Garden | expands exercise time | by planting a Spring, Summer and Fall Garden |
| Raking right-handed | alternate with | Raking Left-handed |
| One stance / motion | ... now you will ... | Vary between six ways of weeding and multiple standing stances |
| Grow lots of one type of vegetable | ....now you will... | Grow a few of a variety of interesting or unusual varieties. |
| Grow fruits and vegetables for survival | ...now you can... | Grow fruits, vegetables and herbs for fun |
| Garden for 4, 6, 8 hours in one day. | ...as exercise... | Garden in short sessions of twenty to sixty minutes |
| Heavy Workouts | ....alternate with.. | Light Workouts |
| Sports & Exercise for fitness | cross training with | Gardening for fitness |
| Exercising to Garden | alternate / do both | Gardening to Exercise |
| Use same muscles all day | ....focus on.... | Varying garden workouts to purposely exercise arms, legs, back, stomach and chest. |
For more information, my book, Fitness the Dynamic Gardening Way, is available!
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Get Fit Through Gardening Home Page | In a Nutshell | Overview | Misconceptions | National Gardening Exercise Day | Get Fit Through Gardening links | vs sports | /Swap for a thighmaster offer | Top Questions | Traditional Gardening | Jan2000 article | Feb2000 article | My Turn article | Top Questions | What You Can Do Today | Stretching Program | Dynamic Gardening | Biography | Politics | E-Mail
| Balance of Nature Publishing | Phone: (901) 517-1705 |
| 7204 Deventer Cove | |
| Memphis TN 38133 | Email: Jeffrey Restuccio |
| Home Page | This page updated March 17, 2008 |