Sunday, May 1, 2016

Gardening is exercise, good news for spring




Good news! Gardening uses calories, since it is a form of exercise, and you can get a good workout gardening.
While you are out in your beautiful garden, weeding, planting, digging or mowing your lawn, you are expending calories.
There are two books (and probably more) on this topic.
Jeffrey Restuccio’s book is titled “Get Fit Through Gardening: Advice, Tips and Tools for Better Health” and in it he recommends that you spend 30 minutes to an hour to get physical benefits from gardening.
This means active gardening, not just admiring your roses.
Bunny Guinness, niece of David Austin, wrote “Garden Your Way to Health and Fitness”, which explains how to stay strong and injury free, while working in the garden.
There are two helpful websites that show how many calories different garden activities expend.
One site is www.calorie-count.com. Here we learn that for a person weighing 150 pounds, weeding uses 315 calories per hour, general gardening 280 calories per hour, planting seedlings or shrubs 315 calories, digging/spading/composting 350 calories, watering lawn or garden while standing 105 calories, and mowing the lawn with a power mower while walking, 385 calories per hour.
The second site is www.healthstatus.com, with its Calories Burned Estimator.
You type in your weight, select an activity, and the number of minutes and it gives you the calories you will use up. I typed in 120 pounds for weight, and found that gardening for one hour uses 320 calories, water aerobics 234 calories, talking on phone 62 calories, riding a walking horse 148 calories, and intermediate Pilates exercise 304 calories per hour. Sleeping uses 63 calories per hour, sitting in church 70 calories, and preparing food at church 140 calories.
One thing I noticed while using various calorie counters is that they give different results, but general gardening uses on average 300 calories for an hour of steady work.
So we now have even more incentive to get out in our gardens and work there.
See, gardening is not only good for the soul but for our bodies too!

Truth to tell, I have never counted calories or been on a diet, and my main exercise is at a health club three times a week, and walking. I just think this is a fun added plus to gardening, to know we are burning calories.

13 comments:

Susan said...

Well that was good news that gardening burns calories, Terra. Now all I have to do is get a garden. ha! Hope your weekend is wonderful. Susan

Sam I Am...... said...

I don't count calories and don't plan on starting. I stay active and I listen to my body. I do stretching exercises each morning and I keep my back muscles strong by "toting and hauling". I'm not a "sitter" until my legs give out in the evening! LOL!
If you sit too long your organs think you've died and they start shutting down....so we all should keep moving except at night when we need our rest. I also sleep well but I notice if I don't it's probably because I didn't move enough or do anything strenuous that day. I have never been on a diet but I try to eat healthy. I did have to cut back on dairy as my cholesterol was going up but with a few meds and paying attention to my body I can't complain. Gardening is a great for so many reasons!

Starting Over, Accepting Changes - Maybe said...

I forget about calories when I am gardening. It is all about me and nature and let the pounds fall where they may.

Laura said...

This is great news!
Some days I work hard in the garden and some days I just walk through checking on things.

Thank you for visiting White Spray Paint!

Inger said...

Yesterday I cut weeds, today I worked on my driveway, which was very muddy after this winter. I added gravel and sand and I still need to work on it some more. But a very good work out. I really don't like gyms.

Michelle said...

Gardening is good for the mind and body! I worked for a couple of hours today, in the garden, and enjoyed every minute of it.

Joyful said...

I definitely notice that I get a good workout when I am in the garden. When I'm working out there I feel seldom used muscles and perspire. Working around the house for many hours too like in marathon sessions.

Pondside said...

It's a side benefit, isn't it? If you love gardening I think you'd do it even if it added calories!

Margaret D said...

Most things we do use some calories.

Teresa Kasner said...

I can agree that gardening burn calories.. my DIL is doing all our gardening now and I am getting spoiled! You're lucky you don't have to diet!! ((hugs)), Teresa :-)

shortybear said...

really good news

~Lavender Dreamer~ said...

My husband has definitely been on this diet this Spring. He has lost weight and he didn't need to! lol He has burned off too many calories. I guess I should have helped more. Hugs, Diane

Dreaming said...

After getting home one of the first things I did was to get outside and tackle some weeds. After the first day I was so sore from kneeling down, getting up, kneeling down, getting up..... It is great exercise and so rewarding - pretty flowers and prettier (maybe) me!