How to keep your spine well-tended when in the garden.

1. Warm up – most of us wouldn’t start sprinting on the treadmill or lifting weights in the gym without warming up first. So try to take a few minutes to get your muscles moving, that can be walking round the garden or some gentle stretches.
2. Lift with good posture – when lifting try to keep the weight close to your body, squat with your knees and engage your core before lifting.
3. Test the weight before lifting – our brains and bodies are very clever and you will see an object and without knowing judge the weight and therefore the force you need to lift it. Think about picking a bag of heavy shopping up, you tense to lift. However if someone took the shopping out of the bag and you didn’t realise you lift expecting a heavy weight but fling the bag up because it is very light. This can cause issues and injuries in your spine. The same can be true with plants and pots, for example a wet plant pot is usually much different to a dry one in weight. Try and get yourself into a good posture give the item a gentle lift to judge the weight before lifting it fully.
4. Pace yourself – We all want to get the job done quickly, often this leads to lifting items that are too heavy to make less trips or continuing to work when fatigued. Both factors can significantly increase the chance of injury. When you start to feel tired or are rushing take some time to consider if you need a break or can pick the job up the next day.