Along with the joy of gardening...being outdoors with nature, letting the stresses of everyday life melt away to pruning and watering, seeing the literal fruits of your labors...there are also some tangible, physical benefits.
Not only does it help with providing cheap, delicious food for the table and a beautiful living environment, gardening helps get us in shape and stay healthy.
I'm talking exercise. Gardening is a great way to get your required dose of it. Let's just look at some of the numbers...
Mowing the lawn, not my favorite chore, needs to be done on a regular basis. That means every two weeks for me. On average, it burns about 250 calories per hour.
Tilling the garden is something I do over several weekends at the beginning of the gardening season to prepare the soil. Digging consumes about 350 calories per hour and is also a great way to strengthen arm, leg, and back muscles.
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Pruning and harvesting burn about 150 calories per hour and can go up to 350 per hour for trees and large branches.
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After we finish gardening, sweeping is in order for a cleanup. This last chore will burn around 275 calories per hour.
If you're wondering, a typical one-hour aerobics class burns around 565 calories in comparison.
Go ahead and get out to the garden this week and have a good workout.
Darryl
Copyright 2013 - Darryl Musick
All Rights Reserved
Images are public domain, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.
Fantastic ! Never thought about the calories I was burning while I was enjoying myself !
ReplyDeleteLove it! I would much rather be in my garden than a boring gym! Thanks for highlighting another benefit of gardening!
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