Build Better Bones through...Gardening?

If you'd like to build strong bones without joining a gym, consider planting a garden.

In an analysis of several different physical activities, only yard work and weight lifting turned out to be good bone builders. In fact, raking mulch, planting bushes, and pulling weeds -- or doing whatever your green space takes -- were even better for bones than jogging. Researchers suspect that the digging, squatting, lifting, and pushing that yard work entails easily equals a weight workout.

One of the proven keys to not only starting an exercise routine but also sticking with it is to pick an activity that you love. And as any mad gardener can tell you, creating a beautiful peony border or eating a salad from your own lettuce patch is so satisfying that you don't mind the physical labor involved. Not into gardening? Dancing, cycling, walking and aerobics all did more for bones in this study than running, swimming, and calisthenics did.

Reference
Influence of yard work and weight training on bone mineral density among older U.S. women. Turner, L. W., Bass, M. A., Ting, L., Brown, B., Journal of Women & Aging 2002;14(3-4):139-148.