Chiropractic Tip: Don’t Let Fall Gardening Trip You Up
As fall settles in there a lot of lawn and garden things to do outside, such as replacing dried out plants with new ones and trying out more plants that take less water.
But American Chiropractic Association says don’t forget the most important item of all, your health. Gardening can provide a great workout, but with all the bending, twisting, reaching and pulling, your body may not be ready for a gardening overload.
It is important to stretch your muscles before reaching for your gardening tools. The back, upper legs, shoulders, and wrists are all major muscle groups affected when using your green thumb.
A warm-up and cool-down period is as important in gardening as it is for any other physical activity, according to the ACS people. Performing simple stretches before and after will help avoid injuries, pain and stiffness.
Garden Fitness Stretches
Before stretching breathe in and out, slowly and rhythmically; do not bounce or jerk your body, and stretch as far and as comfortably as you can. Do not follow the no pain, no gain rule. Stretching should not be painful.
While sitting, prop your heel on a stool or step, keeping the knees straight. Lean forward until you feel a stretch in the back of the thigh, or the hamstring muscle. Hold this position for 15 seconds. Do this once more and repeat with the other leg.
Stand up, balance yourself, and grab the front of your ankle from behind. Pull your heel towards your buttocks and hold the position for 15 seconds. Do this again and repeat with the other leg.
While standing, weave your fingers together above your head with the palms up. Lean to one side for 10 seconds, then to the other. Repeat this stretch three times.
Finally, be aware of your body positions and posture while gardening. Kneel, don't bend, and alternate your stance and movements as often as possible to keep the muscles and body balanced.
When you are done you may feel muscle aches and pains and need to soothe your body. Apply a cold pack on the area of pain for the first 48 hours or apply a heat pack after 48 hours, and consider chiropractic care.
Visiting the Chiropractor
Chiropractors believe wellness and routine chiropractic care should be as basic to our lives as healthy diets and daily exercise.
They offer the purest form of chiropractic care, providing full spinal adjustments using the diversified technique to check for subluxations, which are misalignments of the spine.
Subluxations are misalignments of one or more vertebrae in the spine and/or joints. When the misalignment is corrected it may have far reaching effects on back, neck and sciatica pain.
As a wellness clinic the chiropractic focus is on daily stresses, aches and pain without use of medications or surgery.
I have known many friends and relatives who have found this simple, direct chiropractic treatment to be the best way to maintain wellness and seek pain relief.
If this direct focus on chiropractic wellness sounds just as great to you as it does to majority of the people in the U.S., make an appointment and find out more.
Used under Creative Commons Licensing courtesy of Sarah Sammis