Spring and summer are glorious for us Canadians. Great weather finally gets (almost) everyone outside and active. This means getting into the garden, trimming trees and shrubs, and mowing the lawn. Some people are on the roof doing repairs, or under the cottage making adjustments from the winter. What do all these activities have in common?
Awkward positions.
In the clinic, I see a lot of summer-time injuries. 
Many people are coming in with aches and pains from being stuck in an awkward position for many minutes at a time. Bent over in the garden causes the back to become overstretched. Trimming trees with your arms over your head causes your shoulder and neck to be placed in an unstable position. Mowing the lawn with a push mower, without your core activated, causes your pelvis to go out of alignment. But what can be done? We can’t stop taking care of our precious lawns and gardens!
Be patient, get stronger, and stretch!
Be patient: take time in between flowers to change your position. When weeding, maintain your posture. When doing activities with your hands over your head, bring them down often and mix in a stretch. If you get out of posture, stop, reset, and get back into alignment. You will last much longer and you will seriously reduce your risk of injury.
Get stronger: those that are more fit, have less gardening injuries. Even if they do get injured, they likely recover faster and are less severely injured.
Stretch: in between activities and at the end of the day. After you are finished with your outside chores, take some time to stretch. Treat these activities like your workout and get down on the lawn, deck, or carpeted floor and do some stretches.
Being aware of fatiguing muscles and joints, and taking the time to maintain your alignment will help your work in the garden and around your house go so much faster and longer. Not that I don’t like the business, but us athletic therapists don’t really want to see you getting injured doing the activities you love!
Jen Mark BSc., CAT(C), CSCS
www.dynamicliving.me
jenkmark 