Fall is officially upon us and you are no doubt getting your house ready for the holiday season. At least I know that’s the case here in the greater Sacramento area. This is an awesome time of year for getting your exercise regiment on as well.  Some of you may be aware of a relatively new type of work out known as “Crossfit”. If not, this video explains it.

Today’s post is an opportunity for you to understand Crossfit and create your own regiment at home using your surroundings, particularly your landscape and garden. You had to see that coming right? Let’s take a look at a few things you can do to incorporate Crossfit at home.

1. Watering Your Plants
If this sounds familiar it’s probably because I made a whole post on caring for indoor plants. We all know that plants need water to thrive. Well why not benefit from that watering yourself. Here’s how.

Find yourself 2 equal sized containers, fill with water, and get to watering all of those plants. Start indoors and keep your containers full as you scoot around the house. Then begin with things outside. Always remember proper body mechanics and to focus on exhaling (N’amaste y’all). The human body will always automatically inhale. I’m not saying that you have to get dressed up in your work out gear but, proper, comfortable shoes and being mindful of what’s comfortable physically will make your home grown workout more productive.

If you don’t have 2 matching watering cans, simply use 2 matching jars or cups. Remember the more cardio involved with your back and forth, the more of a work out you’ll receive.

 

2. Spread Mulch?
Fall is always a great time of year to replace old mulch with new. Much does a couple of things for your landscape. It serves as a natural weed control through suppression. The less light that reaches the soil the less likely you are to have weeds. Mulch also keeps your plant roots warm during the winter. Your plants will fair better from impending frost damage, and your yard will look beautiful too. Makes sure you have an adequate amount of mulch put down this season. 3-4 inches is ideal, but be careful and use sparingly right close to the stems of your plants. Too much near the stems will cause an excessive amount of moisture there and rot the plants. Think of the roots and cover the plants shoulders, but don’t strangle the neck/stem.

A simple way to incorporate Crossfit is to use bags of mulch. This will cost you more than buying it bulk, but you will get a work out at the store, loading the bags in and out of your ride. Then, at your home, the workout continues as you walk and disperse it through out your garden.

A variation would be to use 5 gallon buckets with handles (you can also use recycled plant buckets). Any 2 of the same sized containers will work. They keep your weight of material balanced and assist you with not over working or straining yourself too much.
Finally, don’t forget about gravel. Gravel is considered to be an inorganic mulch. It’s generally a lot cheaper then paving stones or brick, and it bumps up the weight a bit for your Crossfit workout.

3. Windows and Wash Down
Clean windows speak volumes about your home. Make sure that the window cleaning products you use are the least toxic for both yourself and the environment. Find natural cleaning solutions online or simply use a mix of vinegar and water if you like. It is all natural and makes a great cleaning agent. Then use some recycled newspaper or some clean paper towels and your ready to get your Mr. Myagi on. Wax on and wax off!

Home improvement centers offer great environmentally friendly products that attach to your garden hose, making application easy and quick. This could even turn into washing the outside of your home. Removing spider webs, and getting things cleaned up before or after the holidays always sounds good to me. Of course this all depends on your available time for these household chores, er-I mean Crossfit! Remember, stay focused on what’s truly doable and save the rest for your next work out.

4. Rake it out!
Raking leaves is not only a popular task for the month of November in California. I’ve been told that leaves fall from other trees around the country as well. Having a good flexible rake  is the perfect DIY Crossfit tool! The flex rake is a great dual purpose rake for everyday clean-up outside, and the Larger lightweight leaf rake from Fiskars is ideal for large leafed trees and The Celebrity Landscapers Crossfit get down.
When your’e done with your raking, I suggest you break out the blower and dust things off a bit.

Beyond these suggestions, there are probably an endless list of things you can do to create your own DIY crossfit routine. A couple of weekends of elbow grease will go a long way toward making your landscape and home look beautiful, while you reap the benefit of feeling better.

I’m Ahmed Hassan and I practice what I preach.

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