With Spring comes the start of people preparing their gardens and then with Summer comes the fruits of their labour. Every step of gardening from prepping the soil, planting the seeds, pruning those bushes and more involves physical activity, which is great in so many ways, but we also see many garden injuries around this time from lifting those heavy pots to reaching up and pruning too high overhead. This is before we then head into winter and put our garden to bed!
More and more scientific studies tell us how good gardening is for us; but what about how to keep our bodies happy in the garden? It can be easy to overdo it and aggravate old niggles and pick-up injuries. (I’ve done it myself). So I want to share with you some tips to help get you back in the garden more comfortably and keep you there.
‘The body doesn’t like surprises’. Build up slowly.
There is so much to do and we’re eager to get outside and blitz after the winter months. Take it steady! Jumping in to do lots of physical activity after a break can be really hard work on our muscles and joints, and can be painful! Start with much smaller sessions in the garden and slowly build up. This is particularly tough if you get immersed and lose track of time as I do. I find setting a timer helps me not to overdo it.
‘The magic of tea breaks’.
This is a similar idea to shorter and sweeter sessions. Split up jobs in the garden and add in plenty of ‘tea breaks.’ Whether you put the kettle on, or simply wander to admire your work, taking a break from repetitive activity, (weeding, I’m looking at you!), gives the body a needed rest.
Try to avoid a whole session of similar movements. If you do some weeding, the next job after your tea break should ideally not involve the same bending forward repetitive movements.
As there is a lot of bending in gardening, using your legs can help; having one knee bent up and one knee to kneel on for example helps you use your legs to support your back with these tasks.
‘Warm up!’
Gardening is great for fitness, and just with any other type of workout, a gentle warm-up will be helpful.
Wrapping up warm is also helpful to keep muscles from stiffening up on colder days.
‘Put yourself in the centre’ & ‘Grab the right tools
Kneelers can help with sore knees and longer-handled tools can help sore hands and backs for example. But don’t get stuck in one posture or task for too long.
Keeping yourself at the centre of the task can help keep strains at bay. Move your equipment closer to the area you’re working on to avoid overreaching. This is particularly useful when weeding or trimming hedges up a ladder.
Get help!
Assess carefully bulky and heavy loads- full planters, bags of compost, full watering cans, or even terracotta pots can strain your body, especially if you are not warmed up or not as fit as you normally are. Don’t be tempted if it’s too heavy! Delegate, wait for help, or split loads.
If it’s more manageable, remember to use your leg muscles to help.
Split heavier loads, for example, fill wheelbarrows with a smaller portion of compost, or fill watering cans halfway and make more trips.
Hopefully, some of these ideas will help keep your body happy whilst working in the garden. If your aches, pains and strains are keeping you from enjoying gardening, come and see us for more personalised advice and a plan on how to manage better.
