Its official. Gardening is good for you.
It will rank alongside sport to meet a government target to make Britons more active ahead of the 2012 Olympics.
The 2008/2009 Active People Survey is being conducted via a telephone poll of 18,000 Britons who will be interviewed about their physical activity – to register you have to be involved in 3 half hour sessions of moderate intensity.http://www.sportengland.org/index/get_resources/research/active_people/active_people_3.htm
Gardening is included but only if it is done at home or on an allotment – no paid work is eligible. This proves that as well as being good for the mind and soul, gardening is the perfect way to keep fit and get your muscles toned. Here are a few examples:
Digging
Uses up to 400 calories per hour by engaging the quadriceps, hamstring and calf muscles. It compares to rowing as it uses upper body and lower body strength.
Mowing the Lawn
Burns up to 350 calories per hour. Pushing the mower provides a great full body work-out – especially if it keeps cutting out as it did for me today!
Weeding
This can burn another 400 calories per hour – weeding demands you squat which is the best way to build strong calf muscles and legs. It also tones the thigh and buttock muscles – very useful and much more fun than working out on a boring treadmill in the gym.
Watering the Flowerbed
Up to 150 calories per hour – watering cans make excellent dumbells for an upper arm workout – it engages the biceps and a range of chest and back muscles.
Anyone who has ever cleared an overgrown garden or allotment will know this is all absolutely true.Gardening is certainly not for wimps and can be both satisfying and exhausting at the same time.
Looks like veg doctors will be on hand this summer to encourage even more people to take up this incredible “sport”.
Thu, May 28, 2009
Climate Change Gardening