The Sport of Gardening: Every Bend, Lift, and Squat Counts

A Lady’s Guide to Gardening (and Staying Upright)

Somewhere between planting marigolds and hauling mulch, I realized I was breathing like I’d just finished a CrossFit class. The only problem? My gym membership expired about 15 years ago.

Gardening, I’ve discovered, is not for the faint of heart—or the weak of hamstring. Every bend, lift, and squat truly does count as a legitimate workout. And if gardening isn’t an official sport yet, it should be. We’ve got endurance training (weeding), strength training (soil bags), agility drills (ducking wasps), and balance challenges (stepping over hoses without face-planting).

These days, I garden with my mom—she’s 76, I’m 56—and somehow she still keeps up with me step for step. I tend to forget her age until I’m the one suggesting we take a break and she’s still trimming, raking, or hauling pots like it’s nothing. I can only hope I’m as strong, steady, and joyful in the garden twenty years from now.

It’s funny how gardening reminds you just how many muscles you have… and how few of them appreciate being rediscovered. But those little aches? They’re proof that we’re still moving, still growing, still doing something that makes us feel alive.

So yes, every bend, lift, and squat counts. Gardening is a sport, and we’re the athletes—grass-stained, dirt-smudged, joy-filled athletes who show up season after season. And if anyone asks how we stay in shape, we’ll just smile and say,

“Oh, we’re in training, it’s gardening season.”

“It’s funny how gardening reminds you just how many muscles you have… and how few of them appreciate being rediscovered. But those little aches? They’re proof that we’re still moving, still growing, still doing something that makes us feel alive.” — Judy & Trish