Gaining Health and Wellness With Gardening
Do you like gardening? If so, what are your favorite things to plant and grow? This year I joined a community garden here in Fargo, and I am so grateful that I did! I love being outside present with nature and I felt like I needed to get more connected with it, that led me to join a community garden.
So far I noticed how much of a workout it is. If you’re not much of an indoor gym workout person, like myself, there are other ways to stay fit and active without making it feel like exercise. One of my friends follows a page on instagram that talks about different topics on longevity. I came across one that talks about gardening and it stated “The longest lived people on the earth aren’t at the gym. They’re in the garden.” which I found to be interesting, so why not write a blog about my experience with the community garden and how much of a workout it really is.
When your gardening you are squatting a lot, hinging to pull weeds (some weeds are harder and more stubborn to pull up), walking, lifting, hoeing, digging, carrying soil bags, and watering.
If you think about all of those actions, you are actually using a lot of different muscles. The instagram post also states that “Your body burns between 250 to 400 calories per hour when you are gardening. A two hour session gardening covers every pattern a strength coach would prescribe, without calling it exercise. Over the course of a gardening season, a person has done the equivalent of a part-time fitness career.” I found that information interesting and being a part of the community garden as well as growing up on a farm, I can see how that makes sense.
On top of getting exercise from the garden, being outside exposed to the sun is also benefiting your body. Living in the midwest our bodies are less exposed to sunlight (primary natural source of vitamin D) throughout the year, and most of our lifestyles involve being indoors. Gardening and being outside you are exposing your body to ample amounts of vitamin D. This is good for your skin, bone health, boosting your immune system, and improving your mood. Fifteen to thirty minutes of mid-day sun on your body can produce more than oral supplements can offer. Granted it is harder to be outdoors in the winter, but there are winter outdoor sports one can get into and we may still want to supplement with vitamin D3 in the winter.
As I have mentioned in previous posts, being out in nature is therapeutic and good for your overall health. Nature naturally engages all of our senses, and when gardening is added to the mix, it provides an even deeper connection to the sights, sounds, textures, and rhythms of the outdoors.
I know this is a shorter blog post and I hope you enjoyed reading it! In conclusion to wrapping up this topic, gardening has many health benefits! When gardening, you are not necessarily motivated to work out for yourself but rather motivated to take care of something else. Watching the fruits of your labor grow is super rewarding in itself!
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