Does gardening count as exercise? The answer is yes! While the weather is warming, the temperature is still cool enough in the morning to get out those tools and enjoy working in the yard. A little sweat and dirt can be beneficial.

The benefits go beyond exercise, cognition and feeling proud of your accomplishments. Working in the yard can burn as many as 300 calories in 30 to 45 minutes and heavy gardening can burn as many as 700 calories. Gardening can include digging, raking, pulling weeds, planting, pulling vines, trimming hedges, picking up pinecones, weed eating and shoveling - just to name a few. Engaging in yard work can be a lot more fun than walking on a treadmill.

At the end of the day, gardening can result in sore muscles and a sore back when you are not used to the effort. Start slow before you jump into heavier projects. Gardening involves strength, endurance and flexibility, and can put a strain on your muscles. Take your time warming up and doing the light activities first, saving the heavier lifting and bending until later.

Digging is a high-intensity activity that engages several muscle groups at once to include your shoulders, quads, arms and calves. Pushing that shovel in the dirt, turning it over, planting the flower, and placing the dirt back is a multiplanar activity.

When you work in the garden you are working in all three planes of motion which are the sagittal, frontal and transverse, and many times you work in all three planes at once. Twisting, bending, pulling and reaching is light aerobic exercise with benefits to the heart, blood pressure, and helps in burning calories.

Planting a vegetable garden results in a daily walk to gather fresh fruit and vegetables for salads and cooking. Your squash, cucumbers, beans, tomatoes, strawberries, apples, peaches, and more are a smorgasbord of healthy eating without pesticides.

Yard work and gardening can stimulate the mind with attention to detail for planting, color combinations, watering, blending of soil, aromatic plants, and the feel of textures.

The garden is a happy place to be with no age limit. It is a place that you can visit alone to see how your vegetables are growing, gather blooms for containers, and share your vegetables with friends. It is a quiet place for gathering thoughts. You can share the growth of your garden with friends and share garden tips.

Gardening can also be a spiritual connection when you focus on something greater than us, which is the miracle of growth. It is a place to see the birds gather and the sun shining on all that you have planted. It is a place that you visit first in the morning and in the evening to say good night until the next day. You water, nurture, pull weeds, and delight in new buds for flowers and vegetables and this is your happy place.

Live, love life and gardening.