Avoid Back Pain This Fall Season

Get ready to clean up those leaves with these exercises and tips. It’s that time of year again when soon after admiring the beautiful colors of the trees we must clean up piles and piles of leaves! The repetitive and prolonged bending, lifting, and twisting can create the perfect recipe for a sore back. Here’s what you can do to protect your spine and prepare it for the season.

First, you need to know which movements can hurt your back.
​​Bending  + lifting + twisting + holding your breath (straining) = lumbar disc injury
Combining these motions without proper strength, core stability, and knowledge on how to move will place you at risk for an injury.  With this in mind, follow the 4 tips listed below on how to lift, bend, and twist properly to avoid injuries.

1. Bending & Lifting:

Keep your abdominals engaged and spine in neutral (avoid rounding your back), use your legs to squat close to the ground, then bring the object as close to your body as you can before using your legs to rise up again. Don’t forget to breathe!

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2. Twisting:

If you have just lifted something and want to place it on a shelf, or perhaps in a wheelbarrow, keep the object close to your body with your abdominals engaged and use a stepping motion to turn your body as a whole towards the destination rather than twisting at the trunk.  

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3. Raking:

Keep your arms in close to your body and stand up straight.  Avoid bending forward while twisting. Keep your abdominals engaged and switch sides with the rake every so often.

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4. Wheelbarrow:

Walk closely to the wheelbarrow and avoid bending forward to lift it. Instead, use your legs to squat first before lifting up on the handles. When walking with the wheelbarrow, keep the handles near your hips and your abdominals tight.​​