How to Avoid Hurting Yourself When Shoveling
Happens all the time, low back pain or throwing your back out because you had to clear the driveway!
Follow these easy steps to avoid hurting yourself when clearing out the snow.
Warm up - Keep it simple— if you have exercises we've given you do them first as a warm up! If not, a few lunges or squats nothing crazy just get the body loose and ready to go.
Push, do not lift - whenever possible. This is how to actually move the snow. Let the shovel do the work. Push the snow to the pile rather than lifting a shovel full and twisting and or throwing the snow. If you need to lift, bend at the knees and use your legs/glutes to lift the snow, not solely the back. Lastly do not quickly rotate to throw the snow, turn your full body to dump the snow.
Take breaks - It is a good practice that if the job is taking 30 minutes —to take 5 minutes for yourself when you're half way done. You should be resting before your body is yelling at you to take a break. By the time your back is getting tight or painful it is too late!
NO PAIN - Most importantly do not shovel through pain! This is your body screaming at you to take a break.
If you find yourself constantly battling the snow or hate this Minnesota tradition—might be time to invest in a Snow Blower!
