Slideshow
Above: First lady Michelle Obama uses the White House garden to demonstrate how such activity combines exercise with good nutrition. (Photo Credit: Olivier Douliery / MCT)
Garden workout shouldn't be a pain
By Debbie Arrington
darrington@sacbee.com
Published: Saturday, Jun. 4, 2011
Every spring, Dr. Jeri Anderson sees the same signs: back pain, achy knees, and sore necks and shoulders.
"We see more acute lower-back pain this time of year than any other," said the Sacramento chiropractor. "Mondays are especially busy. When the weather first starts getting nice, it's unbelievable what people will do to themselves in a weekend. They look like a train wreck."
Gardening – as we're reminded by sources ranging from first lady Michelle Obama to Weight Watchers – is indeed exercise. Such activities as raking leaves or pulling weeds can burn as many calories as golf or bicycling.
This common-sense push has become almost a movement, advocated by state garden clubs nationwide. June 6 is National Gardening Exercise Day.
Obama uses the White House vegetable garden – which produced more than 2,000 pounds of vegetables last year – to demonstrate how such activity combines exercise with good nutrition, fighting obesity for all ages. She recently announced that she's writing a gardening book keyed to her "Let's Move!" campaign to improve children's health through outdoor exercise and fresh food.
"We wanted to share the story with the rest of the nation and perhaps with the rest of the world," she told the Associated Press. "We get so many questions about the garden: How did we do it? Why did we do it? How do I do this in my own home or community?"
Weight Watchers, in its revamped diet stressing vegetables and fruit, also suggests gardening as great exercise. No trip to the gym necessary.
George Ball, chairman of mail-order giant Burpee, suggests gardening as the perfect blend of exercise and stress relief. In a recent survey of customers, Burpee found that gardeners equated the benefits of gardening with many of the most common New Year's resolutions: losing weight, getting more exercise and making healthful food choices for the family.
Among the survey findings: 79 percent said America could lose weight and fight obesity if more people grew their own vegetables.
But many gardeners and weekend warriors dive into projects without any regard to the toll it will take on their bodies. This Memorial Day weekend will be especially busy.
That's where those aches and pains come in.
"You wouldn't just go to the gym to work out – squat, twist, bend, lift – for hours and expect to feel OK afterward," Anderson said. "So why do we think we can do that in our gardens? We need to think of gardening as exercise and approach it in the same manner."
Gardening exercise guru Jeffrey Restuccio is author of "Get Fit Through Gardening: Advice, Tips and Tools for Better Health" (Hatherleigh Press, $15.95, 168 pages). For more than 20 years, he's been working on an aerobics approach to gardening, using moves he borrowed from martial arts.
"It's an incredibly great idea, teaching gardening as exercise," he said. "It could have a real impact in people's lives."
Restuccio, who lives near Memphis, Tenn., developed aerobics-style moves for routine chores such as raking. (Watch them online at http://www.getfitthroughgarden-ing.com/.)
"When I started gardening, I liked the physicality," Restuccio said. "I had been involved for years in exercise, weightlifting and martial arts. I found gardening not only therapeutic, but inherently physical, especially organic gardening. … You have an exercise gym in your own backyard."
Like most beginning gardeners, Restuccio also found that some aches and pains came along with his new love of gardening.
"But by changing tools and analyzing movement, I was able to overcome that," he added. "My method takes considerable time and training, lots of practice. Your goal is to develop fluid motions like tai chi, only you have a tool in your hand."
Several of Restuccio's ideas can help gardeners spare themselves aches and pain, as well as get fit.
"Long-handled tools make all the difference," he said. "It transfers the stress from your weakest muscles – your lower back – to your strongest muscles, in your lower legs."
Restuccio suggested 5- to 6-foot handles on rakes; 18 to 20 inches on hand tools such as trowels. He uses PVC pipe to lengthen handles when necessary.
"The longer handle allows you to use your legs to scoot the rake instead of push with your arms," he said. "It's a quantum difference."
He also stressed the importance of ergonomic tools such as pruners to save stress on hands and wrists.
Another tip: Change hands and directions often. "That way you're not always using the same muscles," Restuccio said. "You're balancing your exercise routine."
Restuccio gardens to music. Every time the song changes, he switches sides or hands with his tools.
"It feels funny at first," he added, "but now I do it instinctively."
Anderson, an avid gardener, tries to take her own advice. She recently moved to a home with a bigger yard closer to her work at Capitol Chiropractic. She's taking her new garden's renovation one step at a time.
"I love to garden," she said. "At my old home, I had beautiful raised beds and grew fresh vegetables year-round. Now I'm getting ready to put in new beds. It's so healthy to pick something out of your garden. It's good for your soul to be digging in the soil.
"It's good for your body, too," she added. "You need to get out and get some exercise, 30 minutes a day. It's good stress relief."
Weekend warriors get wounded by trying to do too much too soon.
"Most people approach gardening with some Herculean effort," Anderson said. "They expect to re- landscape their yard in a day. That's unrealistic."
Instead, take it one step at a time. Anderson, for example, plans to level the site for her garden beds one day, haul in the lumber another, then fill the beds with soil on yet another.
"It's a process, not overnight," she said of creating her new garden. "Exercise is that way, too."
Just as gardens benefit from advance planning, so does garden exercise.
"Biggest thing: Prepare ahead of time," Anderson said. "You don't want to hear this now, but you should have been doing squats and lunges during the winter to bring some level of fitness to the table, so when you go outside to work, it's not an absolute insult to your system."
HEALTHY GARDENING
Here are some tips from experts on how to spare yourself aches and pains when gardening:
1. Stretch and warm up before you start work in the garden. Take 15 minutes for a short walk. Stretch your hamstrings, arms and back; that will help prevent injury and soreness.
2. Start easy and work up. Limit your activity to 30 minutes, then gradually add time each day. "Just as you don't expect to run a marathon on the first day, don't expect to do every garden chore in one day either," said Sacramento chiropractor and gardener Jeri Anderson.
3. Mix it up. Instead of all digging, raking or mowing, mix your activities to balance your muscle activity.
4. Take little breaks often – every 20 minutes, rest for five. That helps your muscles cope.
5. Lift with your legs, not your back. That old saying is very true, especially when hauling around large bags of compost or potting mix. Also, let your legs do the work instead of your arms.
6. Stand up straight; it relieves pressure on your back. When kneeling, use a pad to cushion your knees. Don't bend from the back when weeding, hoeing or raking, said gardening exercise expert Jeffrey Restuccio. Instead, bend from the knees and use your legs, shoulders and arms in a rocking motion.
7. Stay hydrated. Drink lots of water. For example, a 200-pound person should drink 100 ounces a day. "And more when you're sweating," Anderson said.
8. Cool down when you're done. Take another short walk. Pick some flowers. Remember to stretch for 10 minutes after your chores, too. Your muscles will thank you.
– Debbie Arrington
GARDEN HEALTH AND SAFETY REMINDERS
• Before starting any exercise program (including gardening), consult your doctor.
• Be kind to your hands. Avoid strains and blisters by limiting your time at one activity such as digging or pruning.
• Wear gloves. They protect your hands, especially when you work with thorny or prickly plants.
• Beware of bugs. Spiders can hide under pots; wasps can nest in the ground.
• Wear a hat and sunscreen. Sun exposure can cause skin cancer; avoid the burn.
• Get a tetanus shot. The bacteria that cause this painful condition can lurk on thorns and prickles.
• Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, a.k.a. MRSA, also has been linked to gardening. This bacteria can enter the body through small cuts. Another reason to wear gloves.
• Have a first-aid kit on hand for emergencies. Bumps, bruises and blisters happen.
• If you have allergies, talk to your doctor. You may be more comfortable with medication – and certain plants that aren't offensive to your nose.
– Debbie Arrington
THINK OF GARDEN CHORES AS EXERCISE
According to Weight Watchers International, a recent university study compared the amount of energy expended during a number of activities, including gardening. Some typical gardening activities used as much as other traditional forms of exercise.
DOING THIS ... USES AS MUCH ENERGY AS
Watering the lawn or garden - Sitting, knitting or sewing
Walking, applying fertilizer to a lawn or seeding a lawn - Walking while shopping
Trimming shrubs or trees with a power cutter - Walking at a moderate pace
Raking; planting seeds and shrubs - Leisurely bicycling
Weeding; cultivating; trimming shrubs and trees - Golf
Carrying, stacking and hauling branches - Playing softball or baseball
Mowing the lawn with a hand mower - Aerobics or swimming
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