Get Fit Through Gardening for those with Special Needs

Also known as Horticultural Therapy. While I differentiate between Get Fit Through Gardening and Horticultural Therapy, I will add some thoughts on how to apply Get Fit Through Gardening concepts to those who may have special needs. My advice is similar for Get Fit Through Gardening for Seniors.

Bad Knees, Bad Back

  See your doctor about your plans for exercise and gardening. Note: 99.9 percent of physicians will not understand what you are talking about. Also, 98% of fitness instructors may not understand or agree. Why? Simple. Someone who spends 6 - 8 years learning about medicine and fitness from a medical school, or 4 - 6 years of exercise physiology at a University is not going to be too keen on gardening for exercise. That is not what they were taught. For one, it's too simple. Second, they were taught to use expensive equipment, sports, medicine and other tools of their trade to reach fitness goals.

Also, 99.9% of gardeners do not garden correctly for it to be a proper, balanced, aerobic exercise program. The intent of this web site is to provide you with a framework and specific guidance on the "Art of Get Fit Through Gardening". You may need to print some of these pages and share them with others.
 

Prepare a journal, a plan of your Get Fit Through Gardening exercise plan.

Week Day One (Mon) Day Two (Wed) Day Three (Fri) Day Four (Sat) Day Five (Sun)
Week One Twenty minutes - Get Fit Through Gardening

Light
Focus - stretching

 Twenty minutes - Get Fit Through Gardening

Medium Light - test flexibility and endurance

 

 Twenty minutes - Get Fit Through Gardening

Light
Focus - stretching

 

 Twenty minutes - Get Fit Through Gardening

Medium Light -test flexibility and endurance

 

 Take the day off - Enjoy
Week Two Thirty Minutes - Get Fit Through Gardening

medium intensity

 Thirty Minutes - Get Fit Through Gardening

Medium intensity 

 Twenty minutes - Get Fit Through Gardening

Light
Focus - stretching

 		 Take the day off. Enjoy the garden. Forty  minutes - Get Fit Through Gardening

medium intensity
Week Three Forty Minutes - Get Fit Through Gardening

Increase intensity

 Twenty Minutes - Get Fit Through Gardening

Short but Intense

 One Hour  - Get Fit Through Gardening

Easy but steady

 Forty Minutes - Get Fit Through Gardening

medium

 Take the day off. Enjoy the garden.

That should give you an idea. Have fun with it. Take days off. Alternate intense workouts with light workouts, short gardening sessions with longer ones.

Check out special tools if you have difficulty holding traditional ones. Establish garden beds that are accessible

Learn more about horticultural therapy.

Always Follow the Aerobic Model:

  1. Warm-Up
  2. Stretch (leg stretches, hips, shoulders, neck)
  3. Light Exercise - light raking, picking up branches, pruning
  4. Increase Exercise Rate - (Raise heart rate to between 50 and 80 percent of your maximum heart rate.)
  5. Exercise for 20 to 30 minutes (Exercising thirty minutes or longer will burn more fat)
  6. Stretch (again)
  7. Cool down

Alternate your gardening position as often as possible. 

Six Positions for raking, hoeing and weeding.

  1. Bend one leg, knee down to the ground, keep the other foot flat,
  2. Bend both legs in a kneeling position.
  3. Squatting - known as the "Oriental Squat" this may be uncomfortable at first but can be learned after significant practice.
  4. Lunge and weed (my personal favorite). Using a hand weeder (Smith and Hawken), you will lunge with on leg straight back and bend one knee in front of you.
  5. Sitting: If you're knees, feet or legs won't permit much bending then sit and garden. Exercise your arms and waist. Use long handled tools.
  6. Standing, with knees bent, back straight in a crouch position, raking in a wide, sweeping motion.

Get in the habit of stretching every day whether you garden or not.

* When raking or hoeing always alternate between a right-handed and left-handed stance.

* Always Breathe out during the exertion phase and breathe in during the retraction phase (example - while raking, breathe out as you pull the rake toward you, breathe in as you push the rake back out.)

* Use Ergonomic Tools - long-handled with a push / pull motion.

* Garden for short periods - 1 to two hours maximum unless you are in shape.

* Rake, hoe or weed in terms of repetitions and sets.

* Always, Always, ALWAYS bend from your knees and not your back!

For more information, my book, Fitness the Dynamic Gardening Way, is available!

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Balance of Nature Publishing               Phone: (901) 517-1705
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Home Page This page updated March 17, 2008