With spring just around the corner, it’s time to get outside and begin sorting the garden out.  But before you embark on over-enthusiastic pruning, digging  or weeding, take time to consider how your muscles and joints might respond to such effort.  Remember, gardening can often a source of injury but is easily preventable.

Start your gardening properly by wearing loose fitting, yet warm, clothing that covers the small of your back, and wear  sturdy boots and gloves.  Before getting on with the task at hand, ensure you take a brisk walk around the garden to get your blood flowing.

Once the circulation has been stimulated, try some simple stretches starting with your arms, shoulders, neck and chest before stretching your  hips, thighs and calves.   DON’T charge full steam ahead with back stretches; bending to the floor or sharply leaning backwards can easily result in injury.  Start slowly.  Try crouching down into a ball and if your knee’s complain bitterly, sitting on a seat and leaning forward to drop your chest onto the top of your thighs.  Remember, ALWAYS listen to what your body tells you, more often than not it will let you know if you are over-doing something.

So now you’re ready!  Make a mental note of all the jobs that you intend doing and instigate the 10 minute rule – spend ten minutes doing one job and then move onto the next.   You don’t need to be a stickler for the 10 minutes, but you should aim to spend a short amount of time on jobs and vary them so that the body gets used to activity, but not aggravated by constant repetitive actions.

The problem with gardening is that we tend to spend long periods of time doing the same repetitive action.   Trimming the hedge, for example, which may take over an hour, tends to throw the body weight all onto one side and bends forward at the waist.  This can load the base of the back and pelvis joints, often to excess.

Where possible use long handled tools.  Take care with loading wheel barrows, which should ideally have more than one wheel at the front for stability.  Don’t be afraid to use small shovels and take modest loads rather than larger loads, and where possible drag, push or pull instead of carrying.

Happy gardening!!!