Gardening Is A Total Workout That Engages All Your Muscles
Gardening is the most simple way to enjoy nature, relieve stress, eat healthier and get a total workout. That’s why we’ll try to convince you there are other ways to live healthy than going to the gym regularly.
Healthy living is what we are all about, from that first inspirational cup of coffee to help our workout to tips on gardening. We want to find the best ways you, our readers, can access your best health with every activity of the day.
This article is going to focus on the muscles that you will work out when you are out in your backyard planting tomatoes. Yes, gardening is a total workout and I’ll show you why in the following lines.
Of course, it seems pretty obvious that gardening would be a healthy activity to partake in, but do you know that you’re getting a total workout when you head out to do some weeding?
Well, we are going to take a look at all the activities that go with keeping a garden and focus on the muscles used.
If, after reading this article, you think gardening is a total workout you could dig into, no pun intended, then check out this list of gardening stores. These are top suppliers where you can find the tools you need for your new garden/workout space.
The best way to attack this subject is from head on so here we go.
How To Get A Total Workout With Gardening
Going over each individual muscle would take up far more time than we have for posting and even more time than you have for reading.
So we will focus on some main ones and just talk about each part of the body involved. Here are the muscles worked while you do this total workout called gardening:
1. Head And Neck
The mental clarity and stress release you will get from gardening takes care of your actual head so let’s move down a bit and focus on the neck.
Your neck muscles like splenius capitis along with your trapezius is one of the major muscles that holds your head up. You move these muscles more when you’re gardening, so it’s best to spend more time in your garden where you are urged to move.
2. Shoulders
This area of the body gets a great workout when we decide to take up gardening.
Between picking up bags of soil and gravel, transporting a wheelbarrow full of supplies, or kneeling on the ground to dig a hole, we use our shoulders in every activity of gardening.
Honestly, it seems like we use our shoulders in doing almost everything.
What we love about gardening is that while you are using your shoulders much more than you did throughout the rest of the day, it doesn’t seem like you are working out because you are out in the fresh air with your hands in the dirt.
3. Back
The muscles we carry in our back have a hand in moving so many important parts of our bodies when we are moving around, especially gardening.
This outdoor activity that enables you to reap what you sow can take a toll on your back.
Between your trapezius and latissimus dorsi, your back muscle pulls a lot of the weight. For this reason alone you should be very careful when working in your garden to make sure you don’t injure your back by bending, lifting, or doing anything the wrong way.
If anything, make sure to lift with your legs instead of your back. Because back pains are a major cause of lifelong problems so be careful.
4. Arms And Legs
We use both our arms and legs to lift weights. Well, when you start to lift heavy clay pots, bags of soil or gravel, lifting a wheelbarrow allows us to experience similar motions done in a circuit training.
Just be mindful of how much is too much for you. Never push yourself too hard especially if you just came from an injury or suffering from a medical condition.
As for your muscles, the arms and legs are a cavalcade of intertwining and working muscles.
Your arms are where you’ll find your biceps and triceps while your legs hold your hamstrings and the quadriceps. All of these muscles will get a good workout when you make your way around your yard planting zucchini and eggplant.
5. Stomach Or Abs
This is the one area of the body that won’t get any direct effect from gardening. The overall impact is burning calories. As for working on the actual abdominal muscles, you will still need to do sit-ups to get that area tight.
6. Chest
The pectoral muscles, which make up most of your chest, will get a great work out from gardening.
The constant use of a rake or a hoe while you’re digging or planting can add form to this area. Repetitive lifting of your wheelbarrow will also help form and tighten those chest muscles.
If you don’t’ think your pecs (pectoral muscles) are getting enough workout then just hit the ground and do some push ups.
Maintaining a garden is a healthy activity in so many ways. It motivates you to move, eat healthier and get some Vitamin D from the sun. But remember, just don’t overdo it and remember to put on sunblock or wear a hat.
Gardening is a total workout and a fun activity we can do with our loved ones while relieving us of life’s daily stress.
How To Get A Total Workout As A Gardener
Here are the “fitness equipments” a gardener must have to get a total workout:
Here are the gardening activities that burn most calories per hour:
