I have a particular gardening stance. It’s been the same for a number of years now - the sun shines, the weeds grow, and I take up my stance. Bending at the waist I attack those weeds. Yup, I said it, bending at the waist with my butt sticking out - it’s not a pretty picture. And it’s not the best thing for my back either. Old habits die hard, but I’m doing my best to smarten up because I’d like to be able to straighten up. No cop outs, no ‘do as I say and not what I do’, instead I’m making some recommendations to you that I am going to try to follow myself.
Stretching for Flexibility
Before getting down and dirty in the garden, go for a walk to warm up, then do some stretches. Arms, legs, back, neck, fingers - all the parts of your body that you use while weeding, digging, transplanting and raking. If you’ll be spending some serious time in the garden, make sure you do some stretches throughout your stay. You just might find that this can increase your range of motion. Don’t forget to stretch again at the end of your gardening workout.
Kneel Don’t Bend
This one’s going to be tough for me, but I’ll give it a shot. Pick up one of those dense foam kneeling pads and use it! Or you can try kneepads. Either way, try kneeling instead of bending. Remember to alternate from one knee to the other periodically. You can also kneel on both knees at the same time, but if you’re anything like me, your legs will probably fall asleep below the knees and that’s not much fun. If all else fails, sit your bum down on that foam pad, relax and just enjoy the view of the garden from a different perspective!
RSS Feeds
