Garden Your Way to Health and Fitness - Softcover

Bunny Guinness; Jacqueline Knox

Softcover

ISBN 10: 088192881X ISBN 13: 9780881928815

Publisher: Timber Press Inc, 2008

Synopsis

It's no secret that working in the garden is an all-around health booster: along with the emotional rewards gardeners glean from carving out a bit of personal space in the sunshine, all of those hours spend weeding, raking, digging, and lifting serve to increase stamina, build muscle tone, and burn calories. Yet all too often gardeners complain of aches and pains because their bodies are thrown off balance, and sometimes even seriously injured, by all of the bending, lifting, and kneeling that gardening involves. Fortunately, help is at hand as garden designer Bunny Guinness joins forces with physiotherapist Jacqueline Knox in this one-stop guide to all-around garden health. Step-by-step sequences based on the Pilates method illustrate the safe way to push wheelbarrows, lift heavy pots, pick low-lying fruit, and much more in a way that boosts fitness benefits while avoiding stresses and strains. Because a health-promoting garden should be thoroughly in tune with the gardener's lifestyle, the authors also detail a wealth of tactics for achieving beautiful gardens that require a range of exertion levels. They describe planting designs that are best for time-pressed gardeners, how to use daily garden maintenance regimes to stay active, and how to design a custom 'outdoor gym'. Illustrated sequences guide gardeners through physical exercises to suit their fitness levels, using trees, balance beams, benches, and other props. Looking after oneself is also key to good garden health. To this end, a comprehensive guide to growing fruits, vegetables, and herbs, a rundown of the best gardening clothes and ergonomic tools, tips for preventing and treating common ailments, and guidelines for winding down the healthy way complete this indispensable resource.

About this title

Product Description:

Garden Your Way to Health and Fitness A guide to garden health, it features sequences based on the Pilates method to illustrate the safe way to push wheelbarrows, lift heavy pots, pick low-lying fruit, and more in a way that boosts fitness benefits while avoiding stresses and strains. It also details tactics for achieving beautiful gardens that require various exertion levels. Full description

Review:

Turns working in the landscape into an exercise regimen. The book is not about cultural practices for plants. It's about how you handle yourself in the garden. -- Joel M. Lerner Washington Post 20080419 Sounds crazy, but you'll soon be convinced by this book: Garden the right way and you can get a good workout. Time Magazine 20080714 Packed with pre-gardening warm-ups and strengthening exercises, post-gardening stretches and advice for safer gardening. -- Amber Smith Syracuse Post-Standard 20080530 A manifesto for keeping gardeners injury-free, a road map to fitness through gardening. What a timesaving concept - work out as you garden rather than work out in order to garden. -- Valerie Easton Seattle Times 20080615 The authors have done a phenomenal job of combining both the practices of fine gardening and good health. -- John Bagnasco Garden Compass 20081001 Beautiful ornamental gardens and ergonomic vegetable gardens are described so you can create one of your own. This book will help you make gardening just what the doctor ordered. -- Sydney Everhart Iowa Horticulturist 20081001 Why pay a gym membership when gardening is such a great way to burn calories? Inspired by [this book], we'll be swapping our indoor lunges and squats for healthy outdoor digging, mowing and weeding. -- Constance Craig Smith Daily Mail 20090117 Put a garden designer and landscape architect in the same room with a physiotherapist and what do you get? A very thorough look at getting and staying fit through gardening. Suffolk Times 20090326 Full-color photos of gardens and exercises (from warm-ups to wind-downs and all the moves in between), plus planting tips make this a great gift for any gardener. Taste for Life 20090501 If you have ever considered spending any significant portion of time in your garden, especially with the idea of getting a good workout in the process, [this book] will be an excellent reference in your endeavor. Fitness Mantra 20091024

About this edition

• Publisher: Timber Press Inc
• Publication date: 2008
• ISBN 10: 088192881X
• ISBN 13: 9780881928815
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 216