It is gardening season!! I just went to the yard wasted depot to dump my leaves and twigs to clean up my yard. The yard waste depot was a busy place today, so it is safe to assume many of you might be doing spring cleaning and gardening today. It is such a beautiful weekend for yard clean up and gardening!
My tips for today when out there gardening are to:
- Warm up. Treat this activity like you would if you were to go for a jog or long hike. Even though 40% of those over 45 agree that gardening can be a work out, more than 80% will admit to not warming before up or stretching after. Why not take a brisk walk around the block, the garden or even up and down your staircase a few times. You can follow this with some back and hamstring stretches. Want a routine emailed to you? send me an email to request a pdf.
- Take Breaks. Take breaks once an hour or every 30-40 minutes depending on your fitness levels. Stop if you are starting to feel any pain and have a break, depending on how sore, you might want to resume the following day. Maybe 30-40 minutes of gardening each day is all your body should or 2 blocks of 30 minutes.
- Help. Ask for help with heavy lifting or awkward to lift and carry items. More hands make any job easier.
- Muscle rubs. I have in stock a few tubes of Biofreeze ($20) and Cryoderm gel ($25) and Doterra Deep Blue ($45). Just email to arrange for pickup and payment. Note – DO NOT use any cooling gels with your heating pad… this can lead to mild burn or irritation of the skin.
- Water. Stay hydrated and drink lots of water. Muscles recover faster when they are hydrated. It is easy to forget about water when we are busy outdoors doing things that we enjoy.
- The right tools. Having the right tools can help prevent injuries and make the job easier. Using a wheelbarrow for moving soil and items around, equipment with long handles can reduce bending, while knee pads and stools prevent pressure on joints. While gardening this past fall, I found a handy tool to help make holes for planting bulbs. It is great for planting any kind of plant that needs a hole in the ground. Simply attach it to your cordless drill and the digging is done for you!! (see links for this item below).
Happy Gardening! For fun, I added the floating solar fountain that my mother wants for mothers day… We are making her a mini pond and adding this! I am also getting one for my bird bath to help the birds keep hydrated this summer. 🙂
