The benefits of gardening and how to stay safe

Gardening is a very common pastime and is one of the most common hobbies that our clients participate in. It is usually around June / July when most people capitalise on the brief summer weather and dust of their gardening gloves. There is a long list of benefits to gardening, but there are also a few things to be aware to ensure you don’t injure yourself or develop a painful problem.

Benefits

Gardening is a form of exercise

Most people don’t consider gardening as a form of exercise, but it’s true. Gardening is a physical activity that challenges the body in a variety of different ways. It can involve, heavy lifting, digging, getting on and off the floor, pushing a heavy mower, raking up leaves, the list goes on. The main principle behind exercise is that you work your body to the point where it feels challenged and the response is your body lays down more muscle to make the task easier in the future. Because of this, gardening is a great way to remain fit and active.

Gardening helps reduce stress

Numerous studies have shown that gardening can help with the management of stress anxiety and depression. This is true for personal gardens or allotments. Taking the time to care for your plants and being outdoors can help with relaxation and mindfulness.

Gardening can improve balance and reduce the risk of falls

1 in 3 adults over the age of 65 have at least one fall a year. Many of these falls cause serious injuries and, in some cases, lead to hospital admission. For adults who are at risk of falling, the NHS recommends remaining physically active and participating in exercises that aim to improve balance and strengthen your legs. Due to the variety of activities involved in gardening, gardening also strengthens your legs and helps to improve your balance. 

Considerations

Gardening can lead to a fall

As we mentioned previously, gardening can improve leg strength and balance which reduces the risk of having a fall. However, while people are in the throes of gardening there are often numerous trip hazards present such as tools, pots moved to unfamiliar locations, uneven surfaces, and newly dug holes. Additionally, if a gardener exerts themselves too far to the point where they become fatigued, their risk of falling can increase. If you pace yourself and try to avoid leaving too many tools or pots out, this shouldn’t be a problem.

Dehydration

While most of us have welcomed the recent change in weather, it doesn’t come without risk. Since we only seem to experience 10 minutes of summer a year it is easy to forget that we need to make more of a conscious effort to drink water. This is even more the case if you are spending prolonged periods outside. Like most recreational activities, it is easy to lose track of the time when gardening and it is easy to get caught out. To avoid making this mistake, I would argue that during the summer season a water bottle should be an essential part of your gardening equipment.

Issues with pacing

One of the biggest reasons why more gardeners attend our clinic when the seasons change is often due to a change in the amount of gardening that they are doing or the type of gardening that they are doing. Some gardeners tend to take the winter off and when spring comes around, they try to sort out the entire garden in one fell swoop. There tends to be another spike in the amount of gardening when the summer comes around.

This isn’t always the best idea. This is the equivalent to a weightlifter taking 3 months off from training and then trying to go back to the same routine with the same amount of weight. It is often far too much, far too soon.

One way to counter this is to focus on spreading the demands of the garden over a few days instead of trying to get everything finished as fast as possible.

If you or anyone that you know is struggling with an injury that is preventing you from gardening, please don’t hesitate to contact us. The clinic number is 01276 37670

If you would like to book a session, then this can also be done online by clicking the image below

If you are not sure if Physiotherapy is right for you then why not book a FREE Discovery visit with one of Physiotherapists by clicking here

Thanks for reading

Dom Walcott (BSc MCSP SRP)

Clinical Lead at Thorpes Physiotherapy