Gardening for Fitness when You're Over 50s Kendal
Keeping fit over 50 can be a challenge but needn’t involve the investment of a great deal of time or money or unwelcome levels of physical exertion. As this article shows, gardening can be a perfect way for the over 50s to keep active, increase physical strength and flexibility, and reduce stress - and you can start right away.
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Gardening for Fitness when You're Over 50s
Two fail-safe recommendations for keeping fit when you’re over 50 are either to get a garden or get a dog.
The first is probably the best recommendation overall in as much as if you’re over 50 you probably already have a house, and therefore already have a garden. On the other hand, if you are the sort who likes dogs and currently doesn’t have one, there may be insurmountable reasons why not.
The underlying theme shared by these suggestions and the aspect of each that will, if you let it, improve your fitness is that both can provide you with regular, easy, virtually cost-free access to a means of outdoor exercise that will keep you physically fit and improve your mental well-being.
Okay – let’s get the dog thing out of the way. If you are a good dog owner you will exercise it regularly, at least once a day, giving you a reason to get out of the house and improve your own fitness. You may also meet lots of new friends and acquaintances amongst other dog walkers and will also, hopefully, find that your faithful companion reduces your stress levels and improves your happiness.
That’s fine. But whether or not you have a dog, there is an argument that says a garden can offer so much more.
Growing and gaining
The advantage of a garden is that it is always there, always changing, constantly interesting, and is something with which you can engage at some level until you are very old indeed.
Your garden can reflect the sort of person you are (fussy or minimalist), the amount of time you want to spend on it (little or lots), and your lifestyle (executive or artisan). Whatever sort it is, it will reward you by allowing you to indulge your creativity and nurturing instincts through producing plants, vegetables, fruit and flowers, and your design skills in the way that you choose to lay it all out.
On the fitness front, it challenges you to get out in the fresh air every day to see what’s going on. And once you’re out there you’ll always find that something needs doing… thereby increasing your activity levels, fitness and stamina on a daily basis.
Of course this does require the mental discipline (at the start) to ensure that you do make the time to get out there on a daily basis if only for a few minutes. And the resolve to get down and get your hands dirty rather than leaving the work undone, or leaving it for someone else.
A lifelong passion
The appeal of gardening is obviously not lost on the over 50s as is evidenced by the amount we spend on garden equipment, plants, and other associated expenditure such as books, landscaping, and visiting garden shows.
However not quite as many people realise the fitness benefits that can result from this popular pastime, preferring to leave the real work to someone else. What a missed opportunity!
Even if your current interest in gardening extends no further than looking at seed catalogues, you will be surprised at how quickly you will become hooked – if you let yourself. Starting today, whatever your age or gender, get out there and get digging, weeding, pruning, and mowing the lawn. You’ll be amazed at what you can achieve and how good it makes you feel.
And, in the longer term, as you age and possibly find you have fewer opportunities to get out of the house and pursue other activities and interests, you will have the ongoing comfort of your garden as a daily source of interest and enjoyment, no matter how old you are.
Click here to read more helpful advice for the over 50s
The first is probably the best recommendation overall in as much as if you’re over 50 you probably already have a house, and therefore already have a garden. On the other hand, if you are the sort who likes dogs and currently doesn’t have one, there may be insurmountable reasons why not.
The underlying theme shared by these suggestions and the aspect of each that will, if you let it, improve your fitness is that both can provide you with regular, easy, virtually cost-free access to a means of outdoor exercise that will keep you physically fit and improve your mental well-being.
Okay – let’s get the dog thing out of the way. If you are a good dog owner you will exercise it regularly, at least once a day, giving you a reason to get out of the house and improve your own fitness. You may also meet lots of new friends and acquaintances amongst other dog walkers and will also, hopefully, find that your faithful companion reduces your stress levels and improves your happiness.
That’s fine. But whether or not you have a dog, there is an argument that says a garden can offer so much more.
Growing and gaining
The advantage of a garden is that it is always there, always changing, constantly interesting, and is something with which you can engage at some level until you are very old indeed.
Your garden can reflect the sort of person you are (fussy or minimalist), the amount of time you want to spend on it (little or lots), and your lifestyle (executive or artisan). Whatever sort it is, it will reward you by allowing you to indulge your creativity and nurturing instincts through producing plants, vegetables, fruit and flowers, and your design skills in the way that you choose to lay it all out.
On the fitness front, it challenges you to get out in the fresh air every day to see what’s going on. And once you’re out there you’ll always find that something needs doing… thereby increasing your activity levels, fitness and stamina on a daily basis.
Of course this does require the mental discipline (at the start) to ensure that you do make the time to get out there on a daily basis if only for a few minutes. And the resolve to get down and get your hands dirty rather than leaving the work undone, or leaving it for someone else.
A lifelong passion
The appeal of gardening is obviously not lost on the over 50s as is evidenced by the amount we spend on garden equipment, plants, and other associated expenditure such as books, landscaping, and visiting garden shows.
However not quite as many people realise the fitness benefits that can result from this popular pastime, preferring to leave the real work to someone else. What a missed opportunity!
Even if your current interest in gardening extends no further than looking at seed catalogues, you will be surprised at how quickly you will become hooked – if you let yourself. Starting today, whatever your age or gender, get out there and get digging, weeding, pruning, and mowing the lawn. You’ll be amazed at what you can achieve and how good it makes you feel.
And, in the longer term, as you age and possibly find you have fewer opportunities to get out of the house and pursue other activities and interests, you will have the ongoing comfort of your garden as a daily source of interest and enjoyment, no matter how old you are.
Click here to read more helpful advice for the over 50s