Special to The Island News
Gardening is more than just digging in dirt – the relaxing activity helps release serotonin and endorphins, which promotes mental wellbeing and relieves stress.
Many of us look forward to the time of year when we’re able to enjoy the warm outdoor weather in our gardens. While most people don’t see exercising their green thumb as true “exercise,” it still requires proper body mechanics to avoid injury.
“We all want to prevent that next-day regret when we wake up in pain due to too much stress on our joints,” said Mary Descaro, PT, DPT, OMT-C, CLT, clinical lead physical therapist at Beaufort Memorial Outpatient Rehabilitation Services. “Just following a few simple precautions will help reduce your risk of injury while working in your yard or garden.”
Descaro offered these tips:
• Warm up first. Gardening is exercise, and squatting and bending can put stress on your joints and muscles. As with any exercise, it’s important to warm up before carrying out your gardening tasks.
“Stretching before and after gardening will help prevent injury and enable you to work in the garden for longer periods,” she said.
• Lift with your legs and not your back. When you are lifting heavy bags of soil, mulch or plants, your back should remain neutral through the entire movement while you bend your knees and keep the heavy object close to your body.
“Keeping the object close will decrease fatigue, risk of injury and your chance of falling due to poor balance,” she said.
• Turn with your whole body. When digging or moving dirt, stones or other objects, make sure that you turn your whole body, not just the knees and back.
“Twisting the knees or back puts a lot of pressure on those joints, increasing injury risk,” Descaro said. “Instead, move your feet and turn your whole body so you are facing the direction in which you are throwing.”
• Take breaks every 30-60 minutes. Most injuries occur when we are fatigued and are pushing to complete one final task.
“Listen to your body and take breaks when you feel the need to,” she advised.
• Stay hydrated. Drink plenty of water, especially in the summer heat.
“It’s a good idea to drink water before, during and after any exercise,” Descaro said. “And that includes gardening.”
• Spread out tasks. If you have a big job ahead of you, don’t try to do it all in one day. Break the job up into smaller tasks so you allow your body to have the recovery time that it needs.
