Gardening IS good for you

Did you know that gardeners can burn off almost 19,000 calories a year by doing enjoyable garden tasks?

NetVoucherCodes.co.uk conducted a study with a group of 100 green-fingered Brits and asked them to monitor how long they spent doing common gardening jobs during a four week period.

The gardeners had to keep track of the amount of time they spent digging, hedge trimming, mowing the lawn, raking and weeding as well as any other tasks carried out in the garden.

The poll found that the average gardener spends five and a half hours per week looking after their plots, burning more than 720 calories.

During a six month gardening season this works out at 18,722 calories per year, which is the equivalent of running nearly seven marathons or eating more than 215 chocolate digestives.

Doing half an hour of weeding can burn up to 150 calories and tasks that include handling heavy electrical equipment such as a hedge trimmer will give you a good workout, burning 400 calories per hour. 

What better way is there then to keep trim and burn a few calories than spending a few hours doing some leisurely gardening? We’re not sure there is one.