For many nature lovers, spring means preparing and planting the flower beds and vegetable patches, cleaning up the yard, and maybe even putting in some trees or shrubs. Spread over a few days, such activity is invigorating and satisfies the soul. But for people with time constraints who need to work fast, overhauling their small acreage of green over a single weekend invariably results in back and neck pain by Sunday night.
Some easy techniques will do wonders for your spine when you perform the following warm-weather tasks.
1. Raking and hoeing. What makes raking and hoeing potentially harmful is both actions make the body work in a one-sided way. When people rake, they predominantly use one arm, and tend to fold in one side of their body. Both chores put more strain on one arm and hand.
Try to engage both sides of your body when performing the motion. Although it may feel awkward at first, switching sides every few minutes when you rake and hoe will help prevent favoring one side of your body. This will also keep you from over-developing one side of your body.
Don’t reaching out with your hoe or rake – as though you were throwing out a fishing pole into a lake – because such stretches may cause more stress on your lower back muscles and set off other problems. Instead, walk to the exact spot on your plot of land that will allow you to perform shorter strokes with your tools.
Finally, if you have a lot of squ
