Keep Gardening Fun, Healthy by Practicing Good Body Mechanics

Finally the rain has let up and the temperatures are nice and warm. It’s time to plant that vegetable garden.

Before you start to pull those spring weeds or remove that creeping grass to prep your garden area, it’s time to remember some basic facts about how your body works. This is very important because the act of bending over to pull a weed--if done improperly--can send even the healthiest of backs into spasms, or worse, recurring injury.

“People need to remember to practice good body mechanics,” said Kathryn Collins, MPT, who works out of the office on Mack Avenue in Grosse Pointe Woods. Collins recommends a few easy tips to follow that will make your gardening experience fruitful in more ways than one.

• Make sure you bend and use your knees when pulling weeds. “Use your knees and legs instead of pulling with your back,” Collins said.
• Move as close as you can to what you are working on to avoid overstretching, and losing the ability to use your core strength. “Keep everything as close to your trunk as possible,” she said. “You don’t want to be stretching.” That act alone will pull on your neck and back, possibly causing injury.
• Be comfortable. “Use a cushion or something for padding under your knees,” Collins suggested. There’s no sense taxing your knees when a foam cushion can take the stress out of kneeling.
• Take frequent rest periods. Collins emphasizes this practice. It is not a race to get in those tomato plants or to plant those cucumber seeds. Enjoy the process by working in breaks for water, or to walk around to loosen up your back.
• Stretch. It’s important to stretch all of your muscles after you have completed your planting, weeding or any other gardening task. Stretch your arms, your legs (front and back), your hips and back.

By practicing these simple tips you can turn your hobby into fruitful experience.