Snow shoveling 101

It is that time of year!! I wasn't really prepared for the amount of snow that had fallen today. I dreaded cleaning it off of my car and dread thinking about shoveling it later. If your not fortunate enough to be in possession of a snow blower, have a plow readily available then you will want to continue reading. I am just going to put it out there snow shoveling is hard work, I would even classify it as exercise. The goal of this post is to present some info to help you avoid a shoveling related injury. Like I already mentioned I think snow shoveling constitutes exercise, and what do we do before we exercise? That's right we "warm-up". Sounds a bit odd that one would consider warming up before they begin this task but warming up is a great way to PREVENT INJURY. Some injuries are sprain/strain injuries of the lower back, shoulders, and mid back. More devastating injuries could be disc herniation and even heart attacks.

The problem arises in that snow is heavy and and once on the end of a shovel about 3.5 feet away from the body causes you to to engage muscles in the back, glutes, and core to counter balance the weight. This places a lot of stress on the lower back and vertebral discs. In simple terms when we carry something we do not carry it with our arms outstretched because we want the load as close to the base of support as possible. This causes the body to do less work all the while being more efficient. Another issue is once the snow is on the shovel, how do we get it off? We do this by either throwing it straight ahead or by throwing it to the left or right side in a twisting motion.

How to help prevent injury.

Warm up - do a warm up to prepare your body for the impending work.

Proper technique - Don't lift with your back, use your legs and avoid twisting motions.                

Pace yourself - Don't overload the shovel with snow. It may take you longer to clear the snow but your                        back will thank you.

Take a break - If your starting to feel fatigued its okay to take a 10-15 minute break.