Old age and fitness can gardening keep you fit?

When we get old it is important to stay fit just as much as it is when we’re young and active. In fact a lot of research is now showing that it’s even more important than at any other stage in your life. Physical exercise keeps both your body and mind fit and agile. However as we get older we have less stamina, strength and energy so the type of exercise we can engage in has to change.

A good way to keep fit and active is to integrate exercise into a hobby that naturally involves some form of exertion. A popular way of doing this is through gardening. Gardening allows you to focus your energy on something that is enjoyable and productive. Getting outdoors and active is so much easier when it’s for a specific purpose that brings you enjoyment. You will raise your heart rate (in a healthy way), exercise your muscles and get lots of fresh air.

A perfect example case to demonstrate this point would be my elderly neighbor. He is a widower and lives by himself, I try and go round and talk to him and help him out as much as possible. The good news is that he’s still pretty healthy/active and he puts this down to regular walks and gardening. Both of these are passions for him and they seem to do his health a world of good.

Last summer he undertook a large lawn renovation project that yielded really impressive results. It took him a lot longer than it would take a younger person, but he took his time and got the job done right. His actual tasks were pretty simple and the targets he set could be described as modest. But for him the work was challenging enough to keep him both physically and mentally alert.

What he did specifically was extensively rake his lawn using a scarification machine and then aerated the entire job. He told me that this was to allow the grass to breathe and take in extra water and nutrients. Having seen the results I have to believe him as his garden looks great. If you would like to know what aeration is or the tools that you use for the job you can check out the following resources:

Lawn aerator SGM and Lawn aerator Wikipedia

So what you should take away from this is that if you’re in old age set yourself achievable targets and get outdoors. It doesn’t necessarily have to be gardening that you partake in, walking, swimming and dancing are all popular ways for OAPs  to stay in shape. If you enjoy what you’re doing then it’s so much easier to continue beyond your initial efforts.