Garden Without Back Pain

Readying your garden for fall should not include wrecking your back for the winter.

Scott Bautch, past president of the American Chiropractic Association's Council on Occupation Health, says gardening is like any other exercise.

"You have to follow the same rules as preparing for any sport, especially if you spend your week sitting in an office, bent over your desk or computer," he says. The first rule is to stretch the muscles you will be using in the garden.

Because most people bend forward over their desks all week, he suggests first stretching your upper back and shoulders to open your chest with three exercises: a shoulder roll, where you move your shoulders up, back, down and forward in a circle; a back stretch, where you put your hands on your hips and simulate touching your elbows behind your back, lifting your head up; and a sky reach, where you put your hands over your head and reach up as high as you can, feeling the stretch in your arms and upper back.

Then, to stretch your lower back, bend forward and try to touch your toes. Lastly, take a giant step and lean forward on one foot, the other foot behind you, until you feel the stretch along your hamstring muscles, thighs and lower back. Do all the exercises for a count of four.

"Don't bounce, don't stop breathing and don't stop smiling, because if you're not smiling, it means you're in pain and you should not feel any pain," he says.

When you venture into the garden, he says, vary your routine so you don't keep your body in one position for too long, which can place undue stress on your joints.

"The body likes a break every five to 10 minutes," he says, "so practice job rotation, moving between tasks like weeding, raking or digging."

More information

The Virginia Cooperative Extension has more on avoiding back pain while gardening.

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