This article will discuss a few valuable tips for preventing back pain after yard work to help you maintain your yard without any discomfort and risk to your back health.
Yard work, whether it’s mowing the grass, gardening, raking, or weeding, can cause back pain. A long day in the yard, especially if you’re not careful, can take a toll on your body, especially your back and spine.
This is because the way we go about our daily lives, such as yard chores, puts stress on our bodies. A misstep can result in a new injury. In addition, poor body mechanics, such as how you lift and twist, can accelerate the wear and tear on your spine, which is a significant cause of persistent back pain. If you have chronic back pain, these outdoor activities may aggravate your condition, so you may want to avoid them.
Tips for Preventing Back Pain after Yard Work
If you follow a few simple guidelines, yard work can be a fantastic way to stay active. You can lessen the amount of discomfort you experience and assist in preventing the worsening of a pre-existing back disease by following these few guidelines.
Take Frequent Breaks
When you repeat the same tasks over and again, your muscles become stressed. When you bend over to marijuana, for example, you put a strain on your lower back and neck. You might feel the wrath in your shoulders if you’re weed whacking. You should take frequent pauses if you want to avoid overworking your muscles.
Get Ready & Warm-Up
Before you begin yard labor, stretch your muscles a little like you would before a strenuous workout. If you don’t, you’re putting yourself in danger of getting hurt at work.
Remain Hydrated
Maintain appropriate hydration at all times when working. Even at the cellular level, your entire body requires water to function. Your muscles will work more efficiently if you drink enough water. Muscle cramping is a common indicator that your muscles aren’t getting enough water. Muscle cramping will exacerbate the pain if you already have a back condition.
Job Rotation to Change up Your Tasks
Even if you take pauses, you probably don’t want to perform the same thing for an extended amount of time. Try working on one task for a set amount of time before switching to another.
Instead of spending an hour raking, weeding, and pruning, spend 20 minutes raking, 20 minutes weeding, and 20 minutes trimming. Between each job, take a little pause and then restart the circuit. Continue doing this if you plan to labor in your yard for an extended period of time to avoid overstretching your muscles.
After you’ve finished, stretch and ice your lower back.
Choose Safe Postures
It’s not a good idea to weed while standing up. You are putting undue strain on your back muscles by doing so. Sit on a wheeled gardening stool instead of hunching over. You could even weed while sitting on a blanket or a gardening mat. Your back muscles will be less stressed.
You can also employ the side-sitting position to relieve stress on your lower back, or sit on a tiny stool with a pad for support.
Instead of being on both knees when planting or weeding, raise one leg to stabilize your low back. Avoid rounding your low back with any of these. Instead of arching your spine, keep it neutral.
Wear Comfortable Shoes
If you mow your lawn, whack weeds, or rake leaves, you should wear shoes that support your arch adequately. Back pain can occur if your feet do not provide appropriate support.
When Lifting, Bend with Your Knees
Lifting large mulch bags to dump or moving stones for your wall, among other chores that need you to lift heavy materials, may be a part of your yard maintenance.
Squat down by bending at your knees, not your waist, while taking up heavier objects like huge bags of leaves, branches, or weeds. Keep heavy objects close to your body to practice appropriate lifting skills. Use a garden cart or wheelbarrow if you have a lot of material to move (rocks, mulch, etc.).
Make Smaller Piles
You may believe that hauling a large or heavy load of goods at once makes a process go faster, but this puts a strain on your back. To avoid injury or overstretching your muscles, you might wish to divide what you’re carrying into smaller piles.
Shuffling
Think “small strokes” when raking dead grass in the spring or fallen leaves in the fall. Use fewer strokes and shuffle your feet back and forth instead of keeping your feet planted and arching your back to increase your reach. For mowing the yard, I have similar recommendations. Keep your back straight and the lawnmower handles close to your torso.
Know When It’s Time to Stop
You probably have days when you just want to keep pushing yourself to get as much done as possible. However, if you accomplish duties that stress your back and you already have a back condition, this practice will harm you in the long run.
Allowing back pain to keep you from completing all of your yard chores this summer is a mistake. You may lessen the amount of stress your back feels by following these suggestions. You may also be able to avoid developing a back injury while working outside.
Summary
Back discomfort affects over 80% of adults at some point in their lives, but it doesn’t have to keep you from doing what you love. My final piece of advice is to get assistance! The more work you divide up, the less stress you’ll put on your spine – and the sooner you’ll be able to relax and enjoy your lovely lawn or garden!
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