Why Go to a Gym?

You know, gardening is great exercise. All that lifting plants and moving them about is more fun than lifting weights!

Digging in the garden on a hot, sultry Iowa day makes me sweat more than any sauna.

And with the money I save getting into condition in my own yard, I can buy more daylilies at Melissa's co-op!

Amen to that. It's a lot more enjoyable than a gym too.

Yeppers, and I am building me some mus-kells!

Well, I'll tell you, where I exercise (my garden) smells alot better than some old gym too!

well, Wanda, unless your garden is also filled with hardbodies, I can think of ONE reason...!

LOL And you forgot to say how good it is for your pores! My neighbors don't really *garden* so there is really nothing and no one to look at besides right where I am. LOL Hey, keeps me loyal too. :)

pardancanda--I'm too old to look at those Young "Hard Bodies" and the ones my age are too wrinkled & grey. Cover it up! LOL

Think of all the miles I put on just deadheading & then another round for photographs... PLUS all those trips walking to the photo developing in the back of the stores! I should wear a pedometer.

You know they !! say gardening is much better exercise than even walking or running. I love my gardening but not on days like we have had for most of July, in high 80 and mostly 90 to 100. No rain for the whole month of July. Donna

I'm diabetic. When I first went thru my training, I had to test 5-6 times a day. I found that 1/2 hour in the garden lowered my sugar lower than 1 hour in a gym or walking fast. I don't take pills or get shots--I control my diabetes by gardening! LOL

Oh my aching back! Hurt just to read this, lol!

See! A full day of gardening even gives you the same back pain as cross-training! LOL

And those wonderful stretches-to get that weed in the back-when you know it is easier to reach than to get up. And that over-hand throwing motion to get the weeds in the bucket that you left 3 yards back.

Marcia--Stretching & Weeding! Yes! No expensive sound system--- I listen to the music of the wind in the trees, the bees buzzing and the birds a singing. (Yipes! Almost wants me to break out singing "Zippety Doo Da" again... :) LOL

You know it. the lady that gives me massages can't believe that I don't go to a gym. Hey, pushing the mower, tending the beds and pots and still 3 yards of bedding soil out of 10 to rework the front bed. As it has been said, It's nicer than in a closed up building!

You know, you can step all day in a gym and go nowhere. You can lift wieghts over & over and nothing gets accomplished. I AM going somewhere in my garden. I AM creating a thing of beauty that I enjoy, the birds enjoy plus everyone passing by. Why waste my time on exercises in a gym when I can use all the same muscles in my garden and do something more useful than starring in a mirror. I amy be tired when I'm done, but my time on this earth has not been wasted.

Creating something of beauty is good motivation for all that exercise. There is always something to be done so it keeps us toned up once we get in shape in the spring. Early spring is the hard part, when those muscles have had a vacation and only our minds have gotten garden exercise on DG when the snow is blowing past the windows (or the rain, depending on where you live). I'd go nuts trying to exercise in a gym, besides, the money saved goes to buy something other than useless motion like a rat gets on one of those wheels. Ever notice that he works and works and goes nowhere, but if he stops suddenly he can get flung out into space! That might be the equivalent of just letting the garden go and having it turn to weeds.

MAry--I like the way you think.

Gardening is like Yoga. You slow to the enjoy each season as it rests in your garden. The joyful awakening of spring, the maturity of summer, the muted fall colors, the sleep of winter. Walking among my flowers is a solace for me away from the bustle of the world. No radio, TV, telephone. Just me singing, the birds, butterflies and blooms.

Gardening can be like kick-boxing if I'm upset. I can dig & throw out what doesn't please me. I can dig holes & fill them again. I can cut whole branches off trees & trim bushes. What I've accomplished is easy to see--a pile of brush or full recycling bin.

And the results are very pretty as pictures of Wanda's garden and others will prove!

I definitely fell myself building up strength and flexibility when I garden, throughout the season. But I still believe in both arobic and strength exercises and I get some of both at Curves cheaply. After, what about the winter when we're not gardening or on days that are too hot, or raining? Doctors and physical therapists keep saying we need both kinds of exercises, preferably daily, but at least 3 times a week.