Nope, I am not talking about Pumpkin Spice EVERYTHING, I’m not talking about football season…I’m talking about leaves and other fall yardwork. Over the next month, we start seeing a lot of clients coming in after spending countless hours trying to keep up with the Jones’ and chasing leaves around their yard and trimming the bushes. We find an increase of back, knee and shoulder pain from endless hours of raking, trimming, kneeling and bending over. Here are a few little tips that may seam obvious but will help keep you from being one of these clients and still get all that work done!
1.Take breaks!!! Do not do it all at once. DO NOT be the friend who says, “I raked 50 bags of leaves yesterday. It took me all day!” 2.Drink water, lots of it. At least 80 0z a day! 3.Use something with wheels to move stuff, wheelbarrow/cart/trashcan/etc. That makes it much easier to move tools around the yard and less likely to cause an injury than carrying heavy yard waste bags. 4.Use a blower instead of a rake when possible. The repetitiveness of raking is the primary problem with the activity. 5. Sit on a small stool instead of kneeling. 6.Did I mention don’t do it all at once?
Fall yardwork is often a large job to tackle and is also very time consuming. It can be a major contributor to pain, but when done correctly, it does not have to be. Think before you work and plan your to-do list and what you will need. Take some breaks and you may get more done, faster, and still have a yard better than your neighbors!
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