While gardening chores are part of life on the farm, daily tasks, such as weeding, hoeing and harvesting, can take their toll on your body, causing aches, pains, muscle strains and even long-term injuries.
In this video, Lucian Taylor and Vicki Sageser of the University of Kentucky’s Department of Kinesiology and Health Promotion demonstrate a series of gentle stretches and exercises to help you get in shape for gardening chores. You can complete any or all of these stretches before you begin your chores, or you can incorporate them into your everyday exercise routine:
- lunges
- quad and hamstring stretches
- roll-downs
- shoulder shrugs
- overhead stretches
- shoulder and tricep stretches
- side bends
- twists
- chest stretches
Most of these garden exercises strengthen one side of the body at a time, so be sure to complete them on your right and left sides for maximum benefit. Taylor and Sageser recommend completing two repetitions of each garden-exercise set.
