Working in your home garden and eating the fruit it produces can improve your overall health. It not only allows you to do the physical exercise necessary for the body on a daily basis, but also to prepare nutritious dishes. If you are interested in improving your health, you should take the time to take care of your home garden regularly. By learning how to grow plants and doing the physical activity necessary to make them grow, you can maintain a varied diet consisting of wholesome foods, but also stay fit.
Steps
Part 1 of 3: Doing Gymnastics in the Garden
Step 1. Proceed to warm up before you begin
As you would when exercising, warm up your muscles before starting gardening. Stretch your legs, arms, and hands to prepare them for the work they are going to do.
You should spend at least 5-10 minutes of muscle warming up
Step 2. Work in the garden regularly
To improve your health, you should grow your plants consistently. Several hours a week, for example 30 minutes a day, can allow you to get the exercise you need.
Half an hour a day of moderate physical activity lowers blood pressure and lowers cholesterol. It can also help you prevent diabetes and heart disease, but also slow the progress of osteoporosis
Step 3. Vary your movements
As you would any other type of training, consider diversifying your movements while horticulture. If you have a variety of tasks to complete, determine how long it will take for each one and then alternate even if you don't complete them in the allotted time frame.
This rotation of activities is especially useful if some tasks are more tiring than others, such as kneeling by the flower beds to eliminate weeds. Weed for 15-20 minutes at a time, then take a break to switch to another activity to avoid over-fatigue or pain
Step 4. Pay attention to push-ups and weight lifting
When working in the garden, you need to pay close attention to the way you lift objects and stretch yourself. For example, use proper lifting method when moving heavy bags filled with soil or fertilizer. In other words, you need to use leg strength rather than load on the back muscles.
Also, whenever possible, you should squat instead of kneeling, maintain the natural curve of your back, and avoid twisting when lifting heavy loads
Step 5. Commit
In order for horticulture to be considered as effective as a real workout, you need to increase your heart rate and physically exert yourself while engaging in your plants. It means that simply standing and watering the plants is not the same as exercise.
- To get your heart rate up, you should dig, rake leaves, weed, mow and pile compost.
- If you want to mow more vigorously, try using a hand mower instead of an electric or diesel.
Part 2 of 3: Take advantage of the genuine products of your garden
Step 1. Choose a variety of plants to grow
When deciding what to grow, try to orient your choice towards a variety of vegetables that will allow you to improve your health and diversify your diet. A wide assortment of fruit and vegetables is the ideal option for a healthy and varied diet throughout the year.
- Climate is a discriminating factor in choosing, but certain vegetables are easier to grow, including tomatoes, lettuce, peas, beans, squash, and cucumbers. Start by choosing some of these vegetables if you are new to horticulture.
- It is very easy to grow some spices, such as chives and thyme. They can enrich the flavor of vegetable dishes.
- When planning your garden layout, you also need to take into account the soil, sun exposure and climate.
Step 2. Start growing according to the seasons
In addition to the variety of vegetables, you need to know when some are planted and grown, so plan accordingly. There are particular times of the year when the plants must be planted in order for them to grow correctly. In other words, you will have to respect several crop cycles each year, usually in early spring and autumn.
- For example, many plants need to be planted after the last spring frost, such as tomatoes, squash, and corn. However, others can withstand the late frosts that can occur in winter and spring, such as spinach, lettuce, radishes, and beets.
- If you plan the growing season correctly, you will be able to have fresh fruit and vegetables all year round.
- When to plant some plants depends a lot on the climate in which you live. Do some research on your climate zone, the varieties that grow best in your region, and when to grow.
Step 3. Cook vegetables from your garden in a healthy way
Once you have harvested your fruit and vegetables, learn how to cook them the right way. Prepared correctly, they will retain their nutrients and prevent you from adding unhealthy ingredients to your dishes. Generally, you can reap the full benefits if you use them for making light, low-fat meals.
- Avoid seasoning them with a lot of fat. Instead of frying or stir-frying them with oil, try steaming them to bring out their delicious flavor without using an excessive amount of unhealthy fats.
- Some vegetables retain their nutrients when raw, while others are more nutritious when cooked. For example, asparagus releases slightly more nutrients into the body when cooked. Conversely, beets are more invigorating when served raw. Do some research to understand how to properly prepare vegetables.
Part 3 of 3: Focus on Your Mental Health
Step 1. Increase happiness and sense of gratification
Gardening not only promotes physical health, it can also improve mental well-being. Therefore, it is an activity that offers a lot of satisfaction and a huge sense of accomplishment and fulfillment. In fact, it has been shown to improve outlook on life and a sense of gratification.
By working in the garden, you can also stimulate the body to circulate the hormones of happiness and well-being
Step 2. Relieve Stress
By looking after your home garden, you have the opportunity to clear your mind and get rid of stress. It is a passion that is especially useful for those who have to recover from mental fatigue, but also for those who derive satisfaction from the dedication and care needed in this activity.
- Since horticulture helps relieve stress, it can actually lower blood pressure.
- In fact, looking at plants has been shown to decrease anger and muscle tension.
Step 3. Contribute to long-term brain health
Not only does gardening improve immediate mental well-being, but it can also promote brain health in the long run. For example, it has been shown to prevent senile dementia by stimulating parts of the brain related to learning and creativity.
