Garden Your Way to Health and Fitness by Jacqueline Knox, Bunny Guinness

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 while avoiding stress and strains. 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 an outdoor gym. Illustrated sequences guide gardeners through physical exercises to suit their fitness levels. 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 the indispensable resource. Editorial Reviews Review Sounds crazy, but you'll soon be convinced by this book: Garden the right way and you can get a good workout. Information on planting and pruning, weed control and composting, greenhouses and more is intertwined with useful tips on how to get more enjoyment out of the garden while protecting and improving health and quality of life at the same time. (Suffolk Times) Do you think I might convince my husband there's no need for biking or kayaking because he can get fit helping in the garden? Oh well, the book will help me stay strong and injury-free so I can accomplish all those tasks I'd love to assign to him.Seattle Times (Time magazine) The authors have done a phenomenal job of combining both the practices of fine gardening and good health. (Fitness Mantra) 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. 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. 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. 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. From the Inside Flap ItÂ's no secret that working in the garden is an all-around health booster. In addition to the sheer pleasure and sense of achievement it brings, gardening increases stamina, builds muscle tone, and burns enough calories to rival a session at the gym. Yet gardeningÂ's repetitive actions often put stress on the body, resulting in aches, pains, and sore muscles. This one-stop guide will equip you to garden in a healthier way, whether you want to optimize your fitness, avoid injury, or simply enhance the sense of wellbeing you derive from your garden. Pilates principles are at the heart of the step-by-step sequences that illustrate the safe way to carry out everyday tasks such as pushing wheelbarrows, lifting heavy pots, and picking low-lying fruit. Simple warm-up exercises that build core strength will prepare you for the rigors ahead, while stretches that are tailor-made for gardeners deliver aftercare to overworked muscles. Along the way, Bunny Guinness imparts a wealth of tactics for making the garden work in harmony with your lifestyle, highlighting schemes that keep you on your toes, easy-care fruit and vegetables that leave you time to relax, and much more. Seasoned advice on choosing ergonomic tools and accessories, caring for your back, shoulders, elbows, and knees, and attaining gorgeous gardens with minimal stress makes Garden Your Way to Health and Fitness a resource that no health conscious gardener can afford to be without. From the Back Cover Leading garden designer Bunny Guinness joins forces with physiotherapist Jacqueline Knox in this unprecedented guide to healthy gardening. Learn how to... Achieve better strength, balance, and flexibility in preparation for gardening's rigors Practice aerobic and toning workouts in your own 'outdoor gym,' complete with benches, beams, balls, and other props Use plants and hard landscaping to fashion space for working out and winding down Look after your back, shoulders, hands, elbows, wrists, knees, and other 'trouble spots' Choose the best lawn mower and most useful ergonomic hand tools Combat irritants such as weeds, pests, and diseases Cultivate a wildflower meadow, a wildlife garden, and other low-maintenance spaces Grow healthy, easy-care fruits and vegetables About the Author Jacqueline Knox trained at the leeds school of Physiotherapy and has a Postgraduate diploma in Manipulative therapy. She runs her own physiotherapy clinic, lectures on spinal problems and is physiotherapist to the British rowing team who won a gold medal at the Athens olympics. She co-wrote the Official Body Control Pilates Manual and was medical consultant on the book Pilates Pregnancy Guide. Bunny Guinness is a leading British garden designer who has run her own landscape design practice since 1987. She is a panelist on BBC Radio 4's Gardener's Question Time, writes a weekly column for the Sunday Telegraph, and has written several books, including the bestselling Family Gardens.The recipient of six gold medals for her Chelsea Flower Show gardens, Bunny takes on private garden design projects all over the world.