Gardening can relax the mind while simultaneously increasing endurance and strength.
Digging uses the major muscle groups in your core and legs, and sitting and weeding gives us an opportunity to bend and stretch, which improves our flexibility.
As with every exercise, warm up first. Stretch your neck, arms and legs. A simple stretch is to lie flat on the floor, bring your knees to your chest and encircle them with your arms. Hold, relax and repeat.
March in place or take a brisk walk around the block to get your blood flowing and help prevent injuries before beginning.
A wide variety of tools are designed with comfortable grips, elongated handles and spring-action openings geared toward joint protection. A gardening bench will allow you to sit rather than lean over to reach the ground. At the very least, consider buying kneepads that provide soft cushioning for your knees. A “kneeler” seat is a combination kneeling platform and seat that makes it easier to rise from a kneeling to a seated position.
Conserve energy by tackling the harder tasks first before you are tired and more likely to overexert.
When lifting bags of mulch or pulling out deep weeds, keep your back straight and bend at the knees, lifting with the muscles in your legs. Move to the weed rather than reaching.
When lifting a shovel of dirt move your feet and turn your whole body instead of twisting to the side to dump it. Vary tasks so as to not put too much stress on one part of your body for long periods of time. Change your position frequently and avoid tightly gripping the tools for prolonged periods.
Use the following tips to organize your gardening activity so you can enjoy the fruits of your labor:
• If you don’t have space for a garden, consider joining a community garden.
• Plan your gardening sessions so they last at least 30 minutes and spread them out over several days per week. This way, you will not overexert all in one day and you will gain more workouts over the week.
• Take regular rest breaks and stretch the muscles you’ve been using.
Lynda G. Shrager is an occupational therapist from Slingerlands, N.Y.
