Forget the Gym, Garden Instead

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Do you have clients who are bored with their summer workout routines?

Suggest they have you install a garden as part of their backyard landscape.

Why? Researchers from Konkuk University and Hongik University in Seoul, South Korea, claim gardening is just like going to the gym.

Here’s how:

  • Turning compost is like lifting weights.
  • Raking is like using the rowing machine.
  • Pushing a mower is like walking on a treadmill.

In fact, in measuring 10 gardening tasks against gym favorites for men and women in their 20s, their research classified planting transplants, mixing growing medium, watering, harvesting, sowing, hoeing, mulching, raking and weeding as moderate-intensity activities and digging as a high-intensity activity.

Looking at specific calorie burn, the Royal Horticultural Society calculates that a half an hour of digging burns 150 calories, raking a lawn burns 120 calories and pushing a lawn mower burns 165 calories.

While past studies have focused on the health benefits of gardening for older adults, this study set to prove that gardening can provide similar benefits for younger adults.