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April 2020 Newsletter

GARDENING
AS
EXERCISE!

Hi everyone!

Let’s get your mind off of the COVID-19 pandemic just for a quick read.…

Did you know that gardening and yard work is classified as moderately intense exercise? Better yet, did you know that out of every 300,000 gardeners, 4200 of them will sustain a serious injury requiring health care? According to the National Institute of Health, the frequency of gardening-related injuries is approximately 1.4% - which is higher than the rate of injury with walking and outdoor bicycling. During walking and gardening, men and women are equally likely to get injured and age is not a risk factor. (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9710864)

However, there is even better news, according to Dr. Mark Hyman of the Ultra-Wellness Center. Starting a garden is considered an immune boosting lifestyle intervention. Yes, it does help fight “the COVID-19”!!! The sunlight increases your Vitamin D levels, which aids sleep quality and quantity and many immune processes to fight illness. The physical exercise reduces adrenaline in your body and decreases inflammation. Finally, working with your hands in soil reduces stress and helps normalize your gut microbiome. Therefore, gardening is prevention of illness, if done correctly with your body.

Get outside and garden but let’s make sure that you do it right! Below are some DO’S & DON’TS of gardening to make sure you do not cause an injury to your body. A quick shout out and thank you to a local physical therapist and master gardener - Steve Konstant - who is my awesome model in the below pictures.
 
SHOVELING

DON'T

⌧ Don't bend over at the waist with legs straight.

⌧ Don't use just your arms as you shovel.

⌧ Don't twist your shoulders and hips in opposite directions as you turn to lift shovel or drop it down

DO

Do hinge at your hips and bend at your knees, while keeping your back straight.

Do keep your feet apart to have a wider base of support. 

Do keep the shovel close to your body as you transport items. Shift your weight from one foot to another if you need to move side to side, staying in the hip hinge position. As you turn, point your feet in the direction you want to go, then step around and turn.
RAKING

DON'T

⌧ Don't bend over at the waist with legs straight.

⌧ Don't use just your arms as you rake.

⌧ Don't twist your shoulders and hips in opposite directions when turning.

DO

Do hinge at your hips and bend at your knees, while keeping your back straight.

Do keep your feet apart to have a wider base of support.

Move your whole body as a unit, not just your arms.

While maintaining the hip hinge position, shift your weight from your front to back foot or from side to side as you rake.
WEEDING/PLANTING

DON'T

⌧ Don't bend over at the waist with legs straight.

⌧ Don’t stay in one position for too long.

⌧ Don’t lift plants or bags of potting soil, etc. with them far away from you.

⌧ Don’t twist as you lift or garden.

DO

Do hinge at your hips and bend at your knees, while keeping your back straight as you reach down to pick up plant or pluck weed or do plant maintenance.

You can also lean forward on one leg while letting the other leg extended back, still hip hinging and keeping your back straight as you reach to pluck weeds, etc.

Use the “shoveling” directions above as you plant.

You can also kneel on a cushioned board or sit on a low bench, still hip hinging as you lean forward to do your gardening.

As you turn, point your feet in the direction you want to go, then step around and turn.
LIFTING FROM TRUNK OF CAR

DON'T

⌧ Don't bend over at the waist with legs straight.

⌧ Don't lift with object far away.

⌧ Don't twist your shoulders and hips opposite directions when turning.

DO

Do lift by hip hinging and bending your knees, not your back or waist-line.

Do lift with your feet apart and have a wider base of support.

Do hold objects close to you as you first lift the object and as you move with it or put it down.
PRUNING and HEDGETRIMMING

DON'T

⌧ Don’t hold the hedge clippers away from your body.

⌧ Don’t reach too far overhead.

⌧ Don’t bend at the waist with the legs straight when pruning.

DO

Do hold hedge clippers close to you and stagger your feet for balance.

Do move your feet instead of twisting your body as you move down the hedge row.

If the hedges are low, hinge at your hips and bend your knees while keeping your back straight.
PULL / PUSH WAGON

DON'T

⌧ Don’t lean your trunk backwards while pulling wagon.

⌧ Don’t bend over at your waist and push your wagon.

⌧ Try not to overload wagon so that it is unbalanced or too heavy for you.

DO

Do brace your trunk and pull wagon with your body as a whole, tightening your abdominals and bottom muscles.

If wagon is full or is a larger cart, do push with your trunk in a braced position (abdominals tight), hinging at hips with knees bent.
Helpful Videos

If you do injure your back, here is a recent therapeutic yoga class that may help your symptoms

If your shoulder is aching from gardening, then watch this video
Connect with Others

Connection is key and one of the pillars to a healthy life! Please join me virtually every Tuesday or Thursday @ 10am for a Therapeutic Yoga class. If you do not already receive weekly invites for these classes, just email me at healwellnessandtherapy@gmail.com to be added to the email distribution list. If the time for class does not suit your self-distancing schedule, feel free to check out the many therapeutic yoga classes located on our YouTube channel.
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Namaste,

Trudy Messer

Founder, HEAL Wellness and Therapy, LLC
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