GO GREEN & GET LEAN

Trim your lawn – and your waistline!

A study has shown 30 minutes of gardening could help you burn as many calories as a walk or cycle. Personal trainer and founder of Built Lifting Co Dan Nolan explains how you can turn your hobby into a workout. 1 WEEDING It’s probably not one of your favourite activities, but squatting as you weed is a great way to get in a leg workout. You’re engaging a lot of muscle groups in your legs, bottom and core, and the more muscles you use, the more calories you burn.

2 MOWING

Mowing the lawn is not just a form of cardiovascular exercise – you’re also pushing weight and using your shoulder and chest muscles to push forward. If your yard has an incline, take it on. You’ll burn a lot more calories pushing the mower up the hill rather than pushing it sideways. 3 TRIMMING Trimming or pruning trees can be hard work, but it’s great exercise. If you use a ladder, then you’re doing an incidental step-up, just like the ones you do in the gym. Reaching out to hack or prune branches will strengthen your arms and engage your core.

4 DIGGING

Moving soil around with a shovel puts your muscles under tension, which is exactly the same as doing weight training. Your body has no idea where you are, so it has the same effect and strengthens your back, arms, shoulders, core and leg muscles.

5 RAKING

If you hate doing sit-ups, raking leaves could be a smarter path to a sixpack. Not only are you working all of your abdominal muscles, but you’ll be strengthening most of your upper and lower body muscles with every stroke.