Hate the gym? Grow a garden instead.

Even small amounts of light physical activity help reduce your mortality risk.

 The five best gardening secrets for 'stay at home' fitness

Gardening is the secret to staying in shape at home.

Can Gardening Count As Exercise?

The benefits of gardening go far beyond connecting to nature and creating a beautiful yard. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, gardening qualifies as exercise. In fact, getting out in the yard for just 30-45 minutes can burn up to 300 calories. Routine garden upkeep activities, such as raking, weeding and trimming, engage multiple muscle groups at once, improving your overall fitness level. Want more specifics? Here are 7 strategies to transform gardening duties into a bona fide workout:

Does Gardening Really Count As Exercise?

Go green to get lean—seriously. A recent South Korean study, published in the journal HortTechnology, found that some gardening tasks qualify as moderate- to high-intensity physical activity.

Garden Fitness: Learn About Exercise In The Garden

Did you know gardening is actually good for you? Gardening is an enjoyable pastime that is widely available to anyone who is interested. There is no need to go to a fancy gym or spend money on exercise equipment. Your gym is the outdoors, surrounded by nature and fresh air. Your equipment can be found in gardening tools such as rakes, hoes, mowers, wheelbarrows, clippers, shovels, and watering cans.

Gardening Shouldn’t Be Painful. Here’s How to Avoid Common Injuries

“GardenFit,” a new public television series, shows that gardeners need as much attention as their plants.

Get Outside: Does Gardening Count As Exercise?

Going out to the gym or doing cardio and strength workouts at home isn't for everyone. However, outside of this, there aren't always many other options to make sure you reach your recommended exercise goals. That's where gardening comes in. If done in the right way, gardening can actually count as exercise. Whether you have a big or small garden, or you grab yourself an allotment, doing some gardening can be a really rewarding workout.

Healthy Soil Microbes, Healthy People

The microbial community in the ground is as important as the one in our guts.

How to Add Gardening to Your Exercise Program

Gardening may not come to mind when you think of an aerobic workout, but it should. Research shows that regular doses of common gardening tasks can deliver health benefits comparable to traditional exercise programs. Done with purpose, garden work delivers substantial aerobic and cardiovascular benefits, so give your dirt its due. In the garden — unlike your favorite fitness center — there aren't any membership fees.

How to turn gardening into a workout (yes, really!)

If you’ve spent a day outside picking weeds, raking leaves, and planting flowers, you’ve likely experienced post-gardening soreness. True, 20 minutes of puttering isn’t going to give you washboard abs, but gardening can burn calories and improve or maintain your fitness level if done right. Best of all, it’s free and you can do it at home.

Stretches and exercises to make the most of your gardening workout

Instead of plopping into a chair after you’re done and calling it good, do a few stretches for areas of your body that worked the hardest. Unwind your spine with a twist, do lunges to stretch your hip flexors, and stretch your spine and hamstrings with a forward fold. Breathe deeply when stretching.

The Research Is In: Yes, Gardening Totally Counts As Exercise

By this point, it's well understood that spending time in nature directly boosts physical and mental well-being. Gardening, therefore, is a super healthy habit. But just how healthy is it? Is spending an hour in your tulip bed the equivalent of spending it at the gym? Here's the latest research on how you can make sure your next gardening session serves as exercise for your body and mind.

The science is in: gardening is good for you

Gardens and landscapes have long been designed as sanctuaries and retreats from the stresses of life – from great urban green spaces such as Central Park in New York to the humblest suburban backyard. But beyond the passive enjoyment of a garden or of being in nature more generally, researchers have also studied the role of actively caring for plants as a therapeutic and educational tool.

Why gardening is good for your body

If you think gardening is a sedate activity, there are plenty of good reasons to think again. Gardening can help your health and fitness in many ways and could add years to your life.