What Not To Do In Your Yard & Garden

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What Not To Do In Your Yard And Garden

 

by Wayne L. Westcott Ph.D., Fitness Research Director, South Shore

YMCA, Quincy, MA; Strength Training Consultant for American Council

on Exercise; Author, Strength Training Past 50 and Building Strength

and Stamina; Recipient of Healthy American Fitness Leader Award from

the President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports.

 

http://healthy.net/scrfidyl/column.asp?PageType=Column & id=222

 

Every year about this time, well-intentioned men and women commit

themselves to sprucing up the yard and preparing the garden. Like

me, you want your lawn to appear plush, your shrubs to look sharp,

and your flower beds to be striking in appearance. You are

determined to do it right, and to do it all by yourself. The amount

of time it takes is irrelevant and you will spare no effort in

achieving your landscaping goals for the year.

 

Actually you've tried this before, but every spring you seem to

experience an injury that thwarts your progress and prevents you

from receiving the Yard of the Year award. But this spring is going

to be different. You have spent the past two months conditioning

your cardiovascular system, strengthening your muscles, and

improving your joint flexibility. You're in really good shape, and

you're determined not to break down this time around.

 

While your attitude is great and your physical preparation most

admirable, these factors may not be sufficient to avoid an injury.

Putting yourself in poor leverage situations or using improper

biomechanics can quickly undermine your conditioning efforts, and

leave you sidelined.

 

To prevent this from happening to you again this year, I have

identified a half dozen yard and garden procedures that you should

avoid at all costs for a safe and successful spring season. Please

consider these recommendations carefully.

 

1. Do not bend forward at the waist when pushing your power

lawnmower. While a slight forward lean may be acceptable, bending

too far forward can place excessive stress on the low back. Try to

walk with a relatively erect posture, with your arms at a

comfortable level when pushing the mower. Be particularly careful

turning the mower around, by staying close to the handle and

avoiding abrupt trunk twisting movements.

 

2. Do not attempt to overpower your rototiller. Of course, there are

rototillers and there are rototillers. Nonetheless, even the

smooth-moving rear rototillers resent being pushed around. Set the

depth adjuster to the appropriate level and just let the rototiller

do its job, without forcing it deeper or faster than it wants to go.

Basically, properly performed rototilling is like taking a slow walk

while holding two handles. It is far better for you and your garden

to till the soil twice under control than to strain both you and

your rototiller trying to bite off more dirt than it can chew up.

 

3. Do not hold hedge-trimmers far from your body. Leverage plays a

major role in how much stress an object places on your

musculoskeletal system. For example, with your arm at your side,

hold a broom or mop in the middle of the handle. It should feel very

light. Now try to hold the same broom or mop at the end of the

handle. It will feel much heavier due to the leverage disadvantage.

Of course, the object's weight is exactly the same, but the

unfavorable leverage position places much greater stress on your

muscles. Basically, the same thing happens when you hold the hedge

trimmer away from your body. As far as your arms, shoulders, and

back are concerned, the hedge trimmer is much harder to hold in

forward positions and can easily overstress these muscles, as well

as their associated joint structures. Try to keep the trimmer close

to your body, at approximately waist level, even if this requires

using a stepladder on higher hedges and bushes.

 

4. Do not squat for prolonged periods when planting seeds or picking

produce. Unless you have unusual flexibility, sustained squatting

can have adverse effects on your knees and ankles. Squatting almost

always results in heels lifting off the ground and knees extending

farther forward than the feet. Both of these positions create

considerable shearing forces across the ankle and knee joints, which

can lead to a variety of physical problems. Instead of squatting on

both feet, try kneeling on one knee with the other foot flat on the

ground. Although knee pads may be desirable for greater comfort,

this is a much safer and stronger position for working near ground

level. I recommend keeping both knees at approximately right

angles, and alternating the kneeling leg every few minutes.

 

5. Do not hoe or rake with a bent waist. Reaching too far in front

of your body when hoeing or raking may place excessive stress in the

low back area. When the torso is bent forward, the low back muscles

must work extra hard and frequently tend to freeze in this position.

If you have ever had difficulty and discomfort trying to straighten

up after a sustained session of hoeing augie or raking, you

undoubtedly know the devastating feeling to which I am referring. Do

your best to maintain a relatively erect posture and hoe or rake a

small area near your feet, moving as much as necessary to do the job

and cover the work area.

 

6. Do not bend forward to lift grass clipping collection containers.

Although I am a big fan of mulching mowers, I well remember the days

of disconnecting, lifting, carrying, and dumping the grass clipping

collection container. Whether you use a walking or riding mower, the

problem remains the same, namely, bending over to disconnect and

lift a somewhat weighty container filled to the brim with grass

clippings. The forward-bending lifting action places significant

stress on your low back musculature, and can lead to serious

injuries, particularly if you twist to either side during the

lifting movements. Rather than predispose your low back muscles to a

variety of problems, keep a fairly erect posture and use the large

muscles of your legs to lift the grass clipping bag or box. This

requires bending at the knees rather than bending at the hips.

When done properly, you perform a backward sitting action to reach

the grass clipping collection container. This keeps your heels on

the ground and your knees above your shoes for best biomechanics and

reduced risk of joint injury. The lifting action is accomplished by

your powerful thigh muscles (quadriceps, hamstrings, and gluteals)

as you rise to a standing position with your back straight and

protected.

 

As a general guideline, any activity or repetitive movement pattern

that causes stiffness or soreness in your lower back or other joint

structures should be modified accordingly. This usually requires

maintaining a more erect posture, using the leg muscles for lowering

and lifting actions, and keeping implements (mowers, hedge trimmers,

hoes, rakes, etc.) relatively close to your body. With these things

in mind, and an appropriate pre-conditioning program, you should

enjoy a productive and injury-free spring season of lawn and garden

activity.

 

 

Wayne L. Westcott, Ph.D., is fitness research director at the South

Shore YMCA in Quincy, MA. He is editorial advisor for many

publications, including Shape Magazine, Prevention Magazine, Club

Industry Magazine, and Men's Health Magazine, and author of several

fitness books including the new releases, Building Strength and

Stamina and Strength Training Past 50. Dr. Westcott was recently

honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award from IDEA, and the

Healthy American Fitness Leader Award from the President's

Council on Physical Fitness and Sports.

 

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