Working out in the garden

Typical garden posture, in Legos. — ali eminov/Creative Commons

January is the month of resolutions and if you’re aiming to raise your physical fitness as well as a new crop of tomatoes, you might be able to kill two birds with one stone (figuratively, of course).

Gardening — the No. 1 outdoor activity in America — is actually, scientifically and certifiably good exercise, and can lower your risk of premature demise as much as biking, hiking and aerobics. People who garden regularly (at least an hour a week) can reduce the risk of cardiac arrest by 66 percent, the same effect achieved by strenuous exercise for a more moderate amount of time.

This is according to studies conducted by the University of Washington with the National Institutes of Health and the Medic One Foundation. “Gardening” for purposes of the study refers to all associated activities: weeding, raking, lawn mowing, digging, mulching spreading, lifting that bale of peat or toting that bag of manure.

Researcher Barbara Ainsworth in a separate study calculated the energy expenditures of these popular pastimes, expressing her findings with a number that indicates by how much they exceed a resting metabolic rate. Just walking around the garden is 1.5 times as good as lying in the hammock doing nothing. Raking the lawn, bagging grass or leaves, and planting trees and shrubs rated a 4, the same as water aerobics, fishing and leisurely biking.

Stacking firewood, clearing brush or laying sod pushes you to 5 times resting rate — better than playing golf and right up there with belting homers and running bases in a softball game. Tilling and mowing with an unpowered mower topped out with a 6, the same as swimming laps or grunting through an aerobic workout at the gym.

In addition to burning calories, gardening has other tangible benefits like getting you outside where sunlight can induce your body to produce Vitamin D, important in the absorption of calcium and phosphorus. Fresh air is good, but because plants give off oxygen, air is fresher and more invigorating in the garden. And let’s not forget the mental benefits — gardening is a great stress-buster, and insomnia falls by the wayside when you’re tired from physical exertion rather than frazzled by life’s inevitable irritations.

Choose the right tool, wear gloves and stay hydrated. — doc(q)man/CC

Nonetheless, a word of caution for the gung-ho. How many of you out there raked, pruned and tilled yourselves into a lather, then found it difficult to walk (or breathe) the morning after? Oh, never mind — you worst cases still can’t even raise your hand without wincing. Does the term “weekend warrior” mean anything to you?

You do need to protect yourself from rampant monomania and here are a few tips to guard against it. Don’t expect to go after that overgrown piece of woodlands or till the entire 2,000-square foot vegetable patch in a single afternoon without paying a cost. Gardening is really good circuit training. Instead of weightlifting and jogging in alternation, you can weed a little, prune a little, plant a little and mow a little, working some muscles and giving others relief.

Wear protective clothing: A hat and sunglasses to fend off sunburn and glare, sturdy gloves to protect your hands, good shoes that offer support and long sleeves whenever you’re out among the rose bushes or the poison ivy. Take a bottle of water out with you, since dehydration sets in when you’re sweating away in the hot sun.

When lifting heavy items, don’t bend over, but rather bend your knees and lift with your legs, not your back. Use tarps to drag heavy items across the lawn, and break bulk goods into smaller amounts rather than straining to move them all at once. Never forget the advantage of using the right tool; don’t send a trowel to do a spade’s job.

You might even do some warm-up exercises to prepare for the long growing season ahead. F’r instance — perfect a method of getting down on your knees, not only to plant and weed but also to pray for rain, sun and good harvests. Strengthen arm muscles by forming a raised fist and shaking it (you’ll need this when you catch rabbits eating the lettuce).

Practice reaching into your wallet until you’ve achieved a smooth, ergodynamic flow. You’ll use this motion often as you shell out for fertilizer, flats of seedlings, shrubs and lawn mower repair. Maybe even for yard help to spare you from the muscle-straining labor mentioned above. It won’t do anything for your heart rate or your waistline, but it will leave you free to work (in the hammock) on your resting metabolic rate.