Lose Weight Through Gardening: Tips for Effective Weight Loss and Fitness in the Garden

2023-08-12 19:36:36

Gardening is fun. Physical activity is good for you and healthy. Anyone who is regularly active in the garden knows how hard the work can be. But did you know that you can also lose weight with it? Digging up the beds or carrying heavy sacks of sand burns a significant amount of calories. If you want to learn how to effectively lose weight through gardening, you’ve come to the right place!

Tips from Charlotte Karlinder in the video: You should pay attention to this when gardening

Why do you lose weight doing gardening?

Gardening and landscaping is an excellent way to burn calories while enjoying the beauty of nature. If you are looking for a physical activity that is not only effective for losing weight, but also for your increases general well-beingthen gardening is for you.

There are several reasons why gardening helps you lose weight. First it strains your muscles in a variety of ways. When weeding, planting and digging, various muscle groups are activated, which leads to increased calorie consumption.

In addition, gardening is a physically active activity. When you work in the garden, you are constantly on the move. You walk, bend down, lift heavy objects, and make repetitive movements. All of this contributes to increasing your energy consumption. Here’s how to burn calories and lose weight while doing a fulfilling activity that’s fun.

Gardening also contributes to the fact that your body increases fat reserves used as an energy source. The combination of cardio and strength training while gardening makes it an effective way to lose weight. Regular physical activity also boosts your health metabolism and helps you burn more calories at rest.

Why gardening improves your fitness?

You improve your endurance and maximum strength: Lifting heavy objects like flower pots or sacks of dirt improves your muscular endurance and maximum strength. Muscular endurance is the ability to withstand fatigue during long-lasting or repetitive exertions. Maximum strength is the maximum possible strength that a muscle or muscle group can generate against resistance. In other words, you’ll gradually get stronger and be able to work longer and lift and carry heavier objects without getting tired.You get more stamina: Through the continuous movement of raking, cutting, weeding, mowing the lawn and other gardening tasks, you increase your endurance, similar to jogging or cycling. Your cardiovascular system will be strengthened – this will enable you to cope better with everyday activities.You get a full body workout: Gardening not only uses certain muscle groups, but the entire body. When digging, bending, stretching and lifting, you train your arms, legs, abs and back in equal measure.You become more flexible: The different movements and positions involved in gardening encourage flexibility and agility in your body. Regular bending, stretching, picking, and squatting improves joint mobility and helps loosen stiff muscles and tendons.

Why does gardening make you happy?

Gardening not only has physical benefits, it also has a positive effect on yours mental health and your well-being. Here are some reasons why gardening makes you happy:

Stress Relief: The contact with nature and working in the countryside have a stress-reducing effect. Watching plants grow and thrive is calming and helps to let go of everyday stress.Fresh air: Gardening allows you to spend time outdoors and enjoy fresh air. Changing surroundings and breathing clean air has an invigorating effect and can positively affect your mood.Vitamin D from sun exposure: When you do your gardening in your sunny garden in March and the following spring and summer months, your body produces vitamin D. The vitamin plays an important role in mood regulation and helps with depressive moods and mood swings.

Find out here which foods contain vitamin D:

Calories burned when gardening: How much weight do you lose?

The calorie consumption of gardening varies depending on the type of activity and the intensity. Here are some examples of that approximate calorie consumption per hour in various activities:

weed weed: about 200-300 calories

Mow the lawn (with an electric lawn mower): about 300-400 calories

cut hedge: about 200-300 calories

digging up the ground: about 400-500 calories

plants and repotting: about 200-300 calories

Note that calorie consumption varies from person to person. It depends on weight, body composition, gender and activity level.

Combine gardening with training: This is how it works

To maximize the training effect of gardening, you can combine it with specific exercises. Here are some ways you can effectively combine gardening and exercise:

Use garden tools as weights: Instead of using light gardening tools, you can use heavier tools when weeding or digging to create extra resistance and engage your muscles more.Add cardio intervals: Incorporate cardio intervals while gardening, such as jogging in place, jumping jacks, or short sprints or brisk walking in your yard—as far as space allows. This increases heart rate and promotes fat burning.Include exercises: You can incorporate specific exercises such as squats, lunges or push-ups into your gardening. For example, after planting a new flower or plant, you might do a round of squats or push-ups against a garden bench. These exercises help to further strengthen your muscles and increase the training effect.Plan regular gardening sessions: For best results, it’s important to set aside time for gardening on a regular basis. Set yourself a weekly time window in which you can devote yourself intensively to your garden and work actively at the same time. In this way, gardening becomes a regular part of your training schedule.Do stretching exercises: Just like after a workout, it’s important to stretch after gardening. Stretching exercises improve the flexibility of your muscles and tendons and help prevent muscle soreness and injury.

What should you generally pay attention to when gardening?

When gardening, it’s important to listen to your body and not overwork it. Here are some tips on what to consider when gardening:

Stretch before warming up: Before you start gardening, it’s important to warm up and do some simple stretching exercises. This prepares your muscles for the activity ahead and reduces the risk of injury.Don’t bend down, get on your knees instead: To avoid back pain, don’t bend down when planting or weeding, instead get on your knees. This relieves your back and prevents back injuries.Sit on a comfortable surface: If you’re going to be working in one spot in the garden for an extended period of time, it helps to sit on a comfortable surface like a garden bench or cushion. This protects your joints and avoids stiff muscles.Always stand and sit upright: Make sure to maintain good posture while gardening. Stand and sit upright to minimize back and neck strain. Keep your shoulders relaxed and your abs tight to stabilize your posture.If you are in pain, take a break: Listen to your body and take a break if you feel pain or discomfort. Overexertion can lead to injury – so it’s important to pay attention to your body’s warning signs and respect your limits.Drink enough water: Don’t forget to drink enough water while gardening to keep your body hydrated. Gardening can be exhausting – you quickly break a sweat. So it’s important to make sure you’re drinking enough fluids. Lemon water also quenches thirst and is healthy.Avoid too much sun and wear sunscreen: If you work in the garden for a long time in spring and summer, make sure to protect your skin from excessive sun exposure. Wear a hat, sunglasses, and sunscreen to prevent sunburn and long-term damage from UV rays. It’s best to work in the garden in the morning or after 4 p.m. when the sun isn’t too strong, or go into the shade when it gets too hot.

Where can people without a garden still garden?

Even if you don’t have a garden of your own, there are a number of ways you can still be a gardener. Here are some alternatives for people without a garden of their own:

Community Gardens: Find out about community gardens in your neighborhood or city. There you can often rent a small plot or bed to grow your own plants. Community gardens also offer the opportunity to exchange ideas with other gardeners and share gardening tips.Balcony or terrace gardens: Use the space available on your balcony or patio to place pots, window boxes or vertical planters. So-called vertical gardening uses vertical planting systems consisting of hanging pots, pallets, plant bags or stackable pot modules. Most of these systems are easy to make yourself. You can use different herbs, vegetables, flowers or other plants such as the Stechpalme grow and devote yourself to gardening despite the limited space.Windowsill Gardens: If you don’t have a balcony, you can grow plants on your windowsill. Basil, parsley or mint grow well in pots and bring fresh greenery to your kitchen. Even if in this case gardening is not quite as time-consuming and exhausting as in a large garden, you can still burn calories, for example by carrying the sack full of soil into your apartment.

Gardening isn’t just a way to burn calories and lose weight, it’s one too enriching and relaxing activity. Whether you have your own garden or use alternative methods, gardening offers numerous benefits for your physical fitness and well-being. So grab your gardening tools and get started – your body and soul will thank you.

Here are more tips and tricks for home and garden:

How much gardening per week?

The amount of time spent gardening each week varies from person to person and depends on various factors such as available garden space, individual goals and preferences, and the type of gardening that needs to be done. It’s especially effective if you garden regularly, about 2-3 times a week.

How many calories does an hour of gardening burn?

Those who lend a hand with gardening can burn between 100 and 500 kilocalories per hour. This turns chopping wood, picking flowers, digging beds and mowing the lawn into an outdoor fitness routine.

Can gardening replace exercise?

Gardening is a great way to be physically active and improve fitness. It offers a variety of movements that promote strength, endurance and flexibility. However, gardening alone is not enough to replace all aspects of an exercise program. In order to achieve comprehensive physical fitness, it is advisable to combine gardening with sports.

Is gardening also a sport?

Strictly speaking, gardening is not a sport but a form of physical activity. However, that doesn’t mean gardening isn’t effective. Gardeners know how exhausting maintaining a garden is.

How many calories do you burn sawing wood?

If you use powered cutting equipment like a chainsaw, you’ll burn over 225 calories in just 30 minutes. The subsequent stacking of wood can even burn about 350 calories per hour.

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