Fitness and Gardening
Yes, gardening is definitely exercise and can help to keep us fit. But today I’m concentrating on getting fit before gardening season hits so that you can prevent injury and have more energy for all those spring tasks in the garden.
Spring gardening can be tough on the body; I learned this the hard way several years ago. Other than walking, I was not keeping up with exercise over the winter, and then suddenly I was in the garden for several days in a row doing heavy work. Consequently, I ruptured a disc in my back and as you can imagine, I was not able to be as productive as normal in the garden that year.
Gardening requires flexibility, strength, and endurance. An exercise routine involving these three areas will help to keep seniors, and everyone else for that matter, fit when gardening season hits, and will go a long way in preventing injury.
Disclosure: This is a sponsored post in partnership with The Silver&Fit® Healthy Aging and Exercise program. However, all opinions expressed are my own.
I have been taking online exercise classes from Silver&Fit over the past 6 months or so, and they have classes that fit all of my needs. There are a wide variety of classes with excellent teachers, and the classes are free of charge.
And Silver&Fit has beginner, intermediate, and advanced classes – definitely something for everyone.
Flexibility
A lot of range of motion in our joints is required in the garden – reaching, squatting, and bending are common movements as I garden. My two favorite Silver&Fit classes that help with flexibility are Tai Chi and Yoga. They also offer a Flexibility & Balance class.
By taking Silver&Fit classes on a regular basis, you’ll see a lot of improvement in how your body moves. And that will go a long way in preventing injury, and getting yourself ready for gardening season.
Strength
Gardening involves digging, shoveling, lifting, moving hay bales, building trellises and raised beds, and all sorts of activities that require strength.
Silver&Fit has Strength and Bodyweight classes to help improve your ability to perform these tasks in the garden. Taking these classes will increase your strength so those garden tasks won’t seem so difficult.
Endurance
Consistent exercise will help to build endurance, so that you can stay out in the garden for longer periods of time.
The Cardio and Dance classes at Silver&Fit help to build stamina, but that’s only a small part of the equation. Building strength is also vital and as I’ve mentioned, they also offer Strength and Bodyweight classes. And the mixed format classes mix low impact cardio moves with weight training.
Silver&Fit Classes for Seniors
The Silver&Fit program helps older adults stay active by offering daily Facebook Live and YouTube classes. They are fun, motivating and very effective.
The Silver&Fit daily exercise classes are open to the public and appropriate for people of all fitness levels.
Silver&Fit has live online classes 6 days a week, with 9 classes a day. As I’ve mentioned, there are classes for every level of fitness. The classes are all recorded, so if you’re not available when the classes are live-streamed, you can come back and take them at your convenience. Classes stay up for a few weeks, so you can do one you like several times, but keep trying new ones. They are so convenient and free of charge.
What Silver&Fit class will you begin with today?
