Winter has just terminate here in Australia , and for the last eight to ten calendar week most gardener have been huddled inside , hibernating as the freezing cold weather has meant obtuse growth of lawn , weeds , trees , and shrubs . Now that some warmer Spring weather has arrived , weeds and shoot abound , andveggie beds need turningand resowing .
Physically , this is a standardised post to an “ off - season ” for jock – a period of relative rest and reduced action . Rest is crucial for healing of fret strains and sprain , or overuse injuries such as lawn tennis elbow , patella trailing trouble or back and neck issues . In climates where the cold period is not so pronounced , there is no period of time of decreased growth and so the annual load on a gardener ’s body is relentless . This can result in accumulation of micro - trauma of tendons or joint tenseness and gradual breakdown to painful injury . We are hallow by this gardening “ off - season ” in Melbourne , when we can sit inside , have a cup of soup and look on the Camellias and Jonquils bloom .
On the downside , just as an jock ’s body deconditions during their off - time of year , so does a nurseryman ’s . We develop specific strength during the summer horticulture months , with hamstring tendon , gluteals and scurvy back muscle node and strengthening with grok , weedingand lifting pots , and shoulders / upper back muscles amend endurance for repetitious shearing , lifting , contact and shoveling . This strength is all but gone by spring unless the individual has an active sporting or gym number that persist in through the wintertime .
Ease back into your gardening routine
When an athlete return from a rest period it ’s always commend that they gradually riposte to sporting exercise . If this is not observe then injuries result , with muscle snag and joint sprains being the most common injuries . A gradual counter to seaworthiness usually take the form of a few calendar week of reformist step-up in breeding load , culminating in the most intense exercise just before the time of year begins . Additionally , the jock ’s regime will include strength conditioning , core stability exercise to protect low-pitched back and neck , and survival work out to improve cardiovascular fitness . Now , I ’m not suggest that we all want to have a gardening preseason , but some of these idea and principles must be applied to avoid the “ Spring Weekend - Warrior ” effect and its distinctive injury .
At the first beautiful weather in spring , gardeners commonly found into minute upon hours of weed , mowing , and pruning , followed by turn over veg beds and lifting tarpaulin full of trim and green waste up to thecompost bin . While they are strong and active they find fine , but by the succeed morning , they can have real hassle getting out of layer . This can then demand proper appraisal and discourse by a physiotherapist when they are ineffectual to straighten up or walk to their car .
How to protect your body and back from muscle strain when gardening
Start with smaller, easier jobs first until your body warms up.
commence by pruning medium - sized President George W. Bush , pout only one surgical incision of lawn , overstretch outwinter vegetable crops like Brassica oleracea italica , or get up seedling tray for your summertime garden .
Wear braces/supports.
If you suffer with back pain , practice your pelvic belt / cinch or lumbar brace . If you have cubital joint problem try a lawn tennis cubitus shoulder strap . Support devices like these reduce the load on muscles , join and other structures and reduce the chances of being sore after .
Use labor saving devices.
utilize a weeder that reserve weeding from brook height ; kneeling diggings or knee joint stamp pad to reduce the load on knees and back from squatting and put up repetitively ; or an extendable tree prunerto lop high branches from a post that is comfortable for the neck opening , back , and shoulders , to avoid straining .
Section your early season gardening into manageable lots.
Garden for no more than 90 minute at a time without some change of position , activeness or rest . The muscularity that stabilise your thorn , hips and shoulders only have a modified amount of survival , and once they ’re puffed out it does n’t count how set you are , you ’re asking for an injury . If you give yourself a break or change activity , they can often recover their Department of Energy supplies to some academic degree , and protect your body from injury again . Our principal shift as gardener is our burn desire to see a caper through : “ I ’ve just get down to get this done , and then I ’ll finish ” – which run on to another business , and another .
Change your front foot and hand.
The grandness of this tip can not be overstated . The individual most common defect in a digging / rake / sweeping technique is that we extend to sway back and onward with the same branch in front , and the peter in the same hand . This means only one pegleg take all the ground reaction force , our rachis is wrench only one path , and one side of our gist muscles fatigues very quickly . This fleetly guide to pelvic sprain , lumbar spine pain in the neck , and neck / shoulder injury . It is very simple to get into the habit of digging with a pattern “ one , two , three , change hands / feet – one , two , three , change hands ” – you get the picture .
These techniques and living devices may seem vexatious at first . But if you incorporate these ideas into your horticulture , you ’ll regain that they reduce your pain , time off gardening , and money spent at the physiotherapist which you could spend on more seedlings !
