Gardening Tips for a Healthy Spine
By Sara Butler
If you love to get out in the garden and get your hands dirty, you’ve likely suffered from a backache or two at the end of the day. Those backaches may not seem like a huge deal, but it’s important to realize that when you work in your garden and don’t observe your posture, then you could be doing damage to your spine. Here are a few tips from the chiropractors at The Joint to help keep your back healthy and your garden blooming.
Prepare Yourself
Gardening isn’t an activity you participate in all year long, but you shouldn’t wait for it to get active. Probably one of the largest mistakes people make is being a couch potato all winter and then getting active as the weather gets nicer.
Your back can’t go from zero to eight hours of work in the garden without a little trouble! So, keep a fitness routine going all year long to help you stay in shape. When the gardening season does roll around, you’ll notice that you’re stronger and can go longer in the garden if you’re in shape first!
Take Breaks
Gardening is just like any other physical activity, which means it requires you to take breaks! You may get in the zone and get lost in the cool soil between your fingers, but you should set a timer to help you take a break at least once an hour. Get up, stretch, and move around to break the posture you’re in. That will help reduce the chances you’ll sprout back pain.
Get Some Variety
Gardening is a workout so make sure you spread the action around. Vary the tasks you do in the garden each day to help you avoid overuse injuries. For example, spending all day bent over pulling weeds can lead to backaches, so vary the way you’re pulling the weeds. Squat to pull some, bend to pull others, and maybe even use a tool to dig. Your back will thank you and you’ll activate other muscle groups in the process, helping you to tone up!
Get Help
If you have kids curious about what you’re doing, ask them to help. Or rope your partner into giving you a hand. Gardening can be a great bonding experience for you and people you care about in your life -- and it’ll occupy a small child easily! An extra pair of hands or two can help you get the work done and give your back a break too!
Keep your garden beautiful but never forget that it's important to take care of your spine as well! If you experience back pain or other discomforts that keep you from your garden, see the chiropractors at The Joint today!
To learn more about your health, wellness, and fitness, see your local chiropractor at The Joint Chiropractic in Aurora, Colo.