Zap a few flab-prone zones while you rake leaves, re-plot your garden or perform yard work in the tightest of spaces. Certified personal trainer Jolie Glassman, owner of South Florida Boxing, says, “Certain leisure-time exercises lend themselves to more full-fledged workouts that can help you de-stress and tone up all over.”
Glassman’s top tips for end-of-summer body sculpting in the garden:
° Save up enough high-energy shoveling and raking jobs to create a workout. “The correct way to shovel dirt, or to turn over 40 pounds of mulch, for instance is to use your core muscles, bent knees and brute arm strength,” says Glassman. Start with 30 minutes, and build from there.
° “It’s still too hot to exercise outside many days,” says Glassman, who is based in Miami. “Make a point of planting seasonal flowers in pots and perform a series of squats or chair squats. When you use the hose, do calf-raises or standing leg lifts, maybe even 10 push-ups.” Better to stay active throughout the day than skip it entirely.
° Use the toning tools in front of you, she urges. Do biceps curls with half-filled watering cans, rear-lunges on a wheelbarrow, or lie on a bench and blast your abs with bicycle crunches. “Lunge around the perimeter of the garden to make sure there are no pests, and stretch in between plants. As long as you’re outside, keep moving to break a sweat,” Glassman says.
[Photo Right of Glassman working out in her garden]
Please contact us at Organic Spa Magazine if you uncover a fun, new way to workout that soothes your soul and torches calories to give you a brand, new body. We’ll get back to you!
I’m a huge home organic gardener and we’d love reader tips for organic gardening for an upcoming story — tell us here in Comments!