Gardening has taken off. Here’s why the popular activity can replace your gym workout

(CNN ):A lot of people find it difficult to embrace the idea of regular exercise, even though they know it’s good for their physical and mental health. Yet committing to a workout routine doesn’t necessarily entail going to the gym or running around your neighborhood.

Gardening is a great example of a popular hobby that’s accessible and can also be used as a workout.

Working in your garden or yard is a source of moderate to vigorous physical activity in younger adults, while providing low to moderate physical activity in older adults, research has shown. The pastime is also a muscle-strengthening activity, according to the US Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans, and one of the physical activities with the lowest injury rates.

More good news: Puttering in your garden just two hours a week could help boost your mood, while the communal gardening that’s proliferating in communities and schools provides social benefits that can alleviate stress and help combat isolation and even dementia, according to studies.

With all these benefits, gardening for fitness will be a trend this year, predicts Rishi Mandal, San Francisco-based cofounder and CEO of the fitness coaching app Future. “Our clients at Future have already been asking their coaches to add gardening and landscaping activities into their routines,” Mandal said, “because it’s easy to access, fits into their lifestyle and offers meditative benefits.”

This demand fits with the overall interest he’s seeing among clients for less intensive fitness routines that are accessible and mesh with an on-the-go lifestyle.

Why gardening is exercise
Gardening engages all the major muscle groups, such as the arms, legs, shoulders, back and abdomen, Mandal said. The activity also improves mobility, helps build endurance, and is a comparable workout to walking or Pilates.

All the necessary digging, planting, mowing, raking and weeding torches calories, too. A 154-pound person burns an average of 330 calories per hour through gardening, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Such activity is similar to what that same person would burn playing golf or dancing.

Tom Adkinson of Nashville has long been on board with the notion of gardening to stay fit. The 72-year-old has three gardens, which he uses primarily to grow tomatoes, sweet banana peppers and okra. The work varies in intensity during the growing season.