Gardening can be exhausting
A physiotherapist has revealed what gardening tasks are most calorie-intensive(Image: SolStock via Getty Images)
Keen gardeners know that tending to their plants and flowers can be tiresome. Whether you’re mowing the lawn or digging flowerbeds, you’ll probably burn some calories in the process.
But if you’ve ever wondered if gardening actually counts as a “real” workout, a physiotherapist has moved to clear a few things up. The expert suggests gardening can indeed be great exercise for you, but it will depend on what it is you’re actually doing while outside. 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.”
For comparison, according to Very Well Fit, someone weighing around 10 stone would burn approximately 260 calories per hour walking at a brisk pace of 3.5mph on a treadmill. Raise the speed to 6mph, and the calorie expenditure jumps to 680 per hour.
Like walking, Kieran explains that gardening can help work the muscle groups in various parts of the body, including your arms, buttocks, abdomen, back and legs.
Digging in particular will likely burn the most calories, as the action of pushing down on a spade can help work many of these groups simultaneously.
“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.”
Physical activity can offer numerous additional advantages besides burning calories and developing strength. A recent project from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology particularly highlighted this, illuminating how physical health can affect brain ageing.
While existing guidelines advise 150 minutes of moderate or 75 minutes of vigorous exercise per week, scientists claimed that even minimal amounts can have a beneficial effect on brain health. Such results come at a time when more than 944,000 people in the UK have dementia.
Amidst 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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