Gardening can burn many calories, but is it as good for you as heading to the gym?
Green-thumbed enthusiasts know that gardening can be exhausting. Whether you’re digging flowerbeds or raking leaves, it’s likely you’ll burn some calories along the way.
But have you ever wondered whether gardening is intense enough to be deemed a real workout? You may be surprised to know that one expert believes it can be, but it may depend on the kind of chores you undertake. Kieran Sheridan, a UAE-based physiotherapist, previously told the Mirror: “According to CDC, you can burn about 300 calories with just 45 minutes of gardening.
“Planting and potting for an hour can also burn 200-300 calories. It targets a lot of muscle groups because of all the strenuous physical activity – such as planting, watering, even digging and lifting fertiliser bags.”
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To put it into perspective, someone weighing around 10 stone would typically use up about 260 calories per hour walking at a brisk pace of 3.5mph on a treadmill, according to Very Well Fit. Increase the speed to 6mph, and the calorie expenditure shoots up to 680 per hour.
Kieran points out that, similar to walking, gardening engages various muscle groups across the body, including the arms, buttocks, abdomen, back, and legs. Digging is likely the most calorie-intensive task, as the act of driving a spade into the ground works many of these muscles at once, he claimed.
“It’s also required to stretch first to build your strength before gardening and also to avoid cramps and overworking the muscles after gardening,” Kieran continued at the time. “These gardening tasks also help burn calories just like a simple exercise would do.
“I advise mixing things up when gardening. You can’t do one task alone because it could strain your muscles. For example, just planting and carrying bags of mulch will be physically straining, which can lead to injuries and body pain. I’d suggest doing other tasks such as pulling weeds and raking.”
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Beyond burning calories and building strength, exercising can have various other benefits. A recent study from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology especially emphasised this, shedding light on how physical health can affect brain ageing.
Despite existing guidelines advising 150 minutes of moderate or 75 minutes of vigorous exercise every week, experts claimed that even minimal amounts can have a positive impact on brain health. These results come at a time when over 944,000 people in the UK have dementia.
In light of such trends, Dr Alexis Missick, a GP at UK Meds, also told the Mirror: “Gardening activities such as digging count are beneficial forms of exercise as they help build our strength. Like other forms of exercise such as brisk walking, studies have found that daily gardening can reduce the risk of dementia.
“Getting yourself moving around more by gardening can promote cardiovascular health and helps to reduce your risk of coronary heart disease (CHD),and keep your blood pressure at a healthy level.”
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