Plant your way to BETTER HEALTH

Skip the gym and potter around the garden for the boost you need!

With 67 per cent of Australians living in our capital cities, we’re one of the most highly urbanised countries in the world. Considering the day-to-day stresses of urban living – traffic, overcrowding and simply not enough time – a whole lot of us could benefit from the physical and mental advantages provided by gardening.

Whether it’s a sprawling vegie patch in the backyard, a flowerbed in a small courtyard, a window box on an apartment balcony or even a community garden space, almost anyone can achieve a gardening glow.

“Gardening is a great workout,” says horticulturalist Gisele Zanier. “It not only works all those major muscle groups, it burns calories fast as well. Also, gardening improves the mood almost instantly, so it’s fantastic for the soul.”

THE FITNESS FACTOR

Forget going all out in the gym or building up a sweat on the treadmill, gardening is just as good a workout – if not better. According to a study by the University of Scranton in the US, “prolonged light exercise such as gardening can burn more calories than a gym session, despite feeling much easier to do”.