And… stretch

Stretching daily, when muscles are warm, just keeps you so much more supple and less prone to injury. Few gardeners bother with this, but you must! We often do not realise that three hours’ gardening – maybe an hour each of weeding, mowing the lawn and pruning – is equivalent to a full-on hour in the gym in terms of calorie consumption. Gardening is more physical than you think, so spend time stretching the body, including your hamstrings, the hips and the quadriceps after every session.