Digging and planting will count towards fitness target for 2012

GARDENING will rank alongside sport to meet a government target to make Britons more active ahead of the Olympics.

Mowing the lawn, building a dry stone wall or constructing a teepee will be recorded in a nationwide survey starting this month.

The poll will measure progress towards getting two million more people off the couch in the next three years.

It was originally limited to sport, but after a U-turn at the Department of Culture, Media and Sport, the target will be split equally with other forms of physical activity, including dance.

Ministers were accused by the Liberal Democrats - who discovered the reclassification had taken place - of a "desperate" attempt to hit targets and justify the £9.3billion cost of the Games.

In an answer to a Parliamentary Question, Sports Minister Gerry Sutcliffe revealed that gardening, active conservation and dance would count in the 2008-2009 Active People Survey.

The research is being conducted via a phone poll of 180,000 Britons.

To register as active, adults will have to be engaged in three half-hour sessions of "moderate intensity".

Gardeners will count towards the Olympic tally for their efforts at home or on an allotment, but not if they are doing paid work. Active conservation could involve building dry stone walls, or making a teepee out of wooden branches.

The Department for Health is responsible for half of the two million target, while the DCMS looks after the other half, boosting participation via its agency Sport England.

If the Government delivers on its pledge it will have succeeded where most Olympic hosts have failed.

Since winning the bid in 2005, there has been little progress nationwide and none in London, where fewer than one in five adults regularly plays sport.

Liberal Democrat Olympic spokesman Tom Brake said: "It seems that the Government is so desperate to justify the expense of the London Games that they'll now include anything as part of their claims for a sporting legacy.

"Unless it turns out there are secret plans to introduce mowing the lawn and bulb-planting as Olympic events, then we'll have to assume that ministers are watering down targets they know they can't meet.

"We've had 10 years of this government talking about tackling obesity and raising sports participation, but they've totally failed to get Britain active." A DCMS spokeswoman said: "Dance, gardening, and active conservation are included as part of the Government's target to get two million people more active through sport or physical activity because they are recognised by the Chief Medical Officer as activities that contribute to someone leading an active lifestyle.

"The Active People survey will be used to measure progress on hitting the two million target."

How to dig yourself fit

DIGGING

400 calories p/hour. This activity improves muscle strength and endurance because of the resistance involved in digging. It engages the quadriceps, hamstring and calf muscles in the legs as well as using upper-body strength in arms and torso.

It is comparable to rowing, where the water acts as resistance, as it uses upper and lower body strength.

WEEDING

350 calories p/hour. Weeding demands you squat down often, the best way to build strength in legs. It is useful for targeting the thigh and buttock muscles, while reaching across the flowerbeds works shoulder muscles.

Similar to Olympic Squat.

WATERING THE FLOWERBED

150 calories p/hour. Watering cans make excellent dumbbells for an upper arm workout. Holding a watering can will engage biceps in arm and deltoids in shoulders and a range of chest and back muscles.

Similar to Discus Throw as uses upper body strength and rotation.

MOWING THE LAWN

350 calories p/hour. Pushing mowers provides a good full-body workout. Legs, arms and upper back will all feel the strain. Pushing will also engage abdominal and chest muscles.

Similar to start of bobsleigh race when athletes must push the cart.

STRIMMING THE HEDGE OR PRUNING

300 calories p/hour. Stretches and lifts the arms, toning bicep and tricep muscles. Abdominal leg and lower back muscles will also be used for balance.

Similar to javelin as both need shoulder mobility and strength.

LIFTING

400 calories p/hour Lifting rocks and branches requires a combination of power, technique, and flexibility. The strength comes primarily from the legs, specifically the thigh's quadriceps and also the back and shoulder muscles.

Similar to shot put as athlete must first lift the heavy shot before throwing.

* Source: Dr Roger Ramsbottom, researcher in Exercise Physiology at Oxford Brookes University and British Trust for Conservation Volunteers who run a nationwide green gym programme. Both stressed the need for warming up before gardening to prevent injury.