Injury Warnings About... Gardening?

Well...ok. But while gardening can be considered a leisure activity, it's more of a job at my house - it's work that has to be done, its a chore, sometimes a hassle, blue collar-type work. If I've gotta pull weeds out of the garden, weed-whack the perimeter, mow the grass before it hits 95 degrees, and then clean up the mess, I'm not going to be thinking about a pre-gardening warm up. And there's no stopping at the 2 hour mark or switching tasks if the job ain't done. Sorry.

This is good advice, but it is only necessary because we live in a hugely deconditioned culture. And that may be an understatement since we really are so far removed from what is healthy and natural these days. I can't even begin to imagine.

I did landscaping for 9 years, owned a company for the last 3 of those, and I didn't think much about using proper breathing, structure, and movement while I was working - except when lifting heavy things as when building a stone wall. I agree with Josie, when there's work that needs to be done, I don't have time for a warmup or frequent breaks - especially when you're "on the clock" in somebody's yard.

I think we should admit that if gardening is an activity that puts you at risk of health problems or injury, then it's not the gardening that is the problem - it's your current health and fitness, or lack thereof. The truth is that the majority of health problems and injuries that result from exercise are 100% preventable, and there's no reason that gardening should "push you over the limit" if you have a health-first fitness lifestyle in place.

But again, this article offers good advice, because we aren't 100% healthy or mobile, we are already deconditioned and injured, and we should do everything we can to soften the negative effects from our regular activity.

To your health and success,

John Sifferman
Fitness Professional

Gardening is an excellent activity! Just careful not to stay bent over for too long as it will hurt your lower back and knees. It's best to do a warmup by moving side to side and up and down before gardening. At the end of your gardening its also good to do a longer back and leg stretch.

I tend to agree with what John said...we're a very out-of-shape society and a lot of everyday tasks are becoming more and more risky to those that are very sedentary. At the hospital where I work, we have a lot of people that come in injured from shoveling snow. I think it's because it's one of those tasks that HAS to get done, so everyone does it even if they're out of shape. And shoveling snow is a pretty physical activity, so people hurt their backs or have heart attacks while they're out there. I would imagine similar things happen to people that are out of shape for gardening.

I personally hate gardening, but I do it because I like the results. My father in law (a retired farmer) actually loves to garden...we have a system worked out: we own 20 acres of farmland on their farm and part of it is a garden. My father in law tends my garden for me and I get half the produce from it, so it all works out well.

I'm wondering what kind of mower they're talking about that you can swing from side to side...it doesn't seem like something that would be a huge problem with most mowers.

Okay, hate to admit this, but I did a number on my knees doing gardening/landscaping. To be candid, I was hauling 80 pound bags of rock, dumping them and spreading them out for two days straight. It wasn't the lifting, it was the constant up and down to spread the rock that led to overuse and soreness for the last six weeks. And I'm in pretty good shape!

Bottom line is this: I'm sure most gardening/landscaping injuries are due to deconditioning, but even if you're in shape you always need to be aware if what you're doing is putting you at risk of injury. That having been said, if I blow out my rotator cuff dead-heading the roses it's time to put me out to pasture!

Many people hurt themselves & their back way too often just doing normal day to day activities like house cleaning, leisurely gardening and more. I think the basic advice is good but as John & a couple others said, people need to be taking better care of themselves & their health. It does not take a ton of time to at least strengthen the back & core & do a bit of stretching/flexibility work. This is essential to help prevent hurting oneself just doing regular things. Weekend warriors in sports are at risk too!

Unnecessary if you live an active lifestyle. In my martial arts class we used train for specific situations like this, because let's face it, you don't have time to warm up on the streets.

That's why every black belt could kick cold at head height. No problem.