Life is busy.
Since we haven’t found the way to make more time, we make the things we do count for more. When it comes to our workouts, we create ways to train smarter.
Part of everyone’s exercise strategy these days likely includes some form of cross training. Whether hitting the weights for some strength training, or sampling another discipline that works muscle groups we have been neglecting (who really likes crunches anyway?), cross training provides useful exercise without participating in our primary sport.
With summer upon us, we have opportunities galore to engage the body in a number of physical ways that we can use to our training advantage. Yes, the yard work awaits and consider how you can use it to supplement your training goals. Think creatively!
Gardening is a highly recommended physical activity for those not in an established exercise routine but consider taking these same activities to a higher level of intensity to meet your needs beyond making the yard look presentable. (To be honest, the idea of getting twice the benefit from a single activity somehow appeals to my thrifty Scot heritage.)
As with any sort of workout, the greater the resistance and intensity, the greater the benefit. So kicking up the power of how you rake, dig, mow, etc., challenges your body to give you some real work.
If your sport primarily recruits lower body muscle groups, grabbing the handle of gardening equipment will work many of the upper body muscles. The inverse also goes for the resistance training benefit you receive from lifting weight with your lower body when transporting bags of soil, etc,. around the yard.
And most yard work is terrific at working those core trunk muscles that we are so reluctant to address in our normal workout routines.
For the calorie counters amongst us, intense yard work also provides us with some good bang for the buck when burning up those calories. Depending on your current physical shape and weight, you can burn 360 to over 500 calories an hour when performing hard work in the yard. For more specific numbers, the internet provides charts and calculators that will give some surprisingly encouraging numbers of calories expended in the course of those cross training sessions in the yard.
As with any workout during the summer months, pay attention to your hydration status as you would in any customary workout routine. Trimming the hedges in the heat can dehydrate you just as easily as intervals. Plan your fluids accordingly.
So quit stressing about missed exercise opportunities, give the gardening service some time off, and get out there to cross train in the garden. The yard will look great and you will gain some valuable training in the process.
“To succeed, planning alone is insufficient. One must improvise as well.”
― Isaac Asimov