Gardening – How to Stretch and Look After Yourself in the Garden
If you’re about to head into the garden, proper stretching is crucial. With the change of the seasons, and as more people head out into their gardens, more and more gardening injuries are seen at Chatfield Chiropractic, your Sunbury chiropractor. Gardening needs to be treated like any other physical activity you engage in!
If you’re an avid gardener and want to know how to not only your risk of injury in the garden but also improve your endurance, coordination and perhaps take away that niggling low back pain you sometimes get, then call us, Roxburgh Park (03) 9303 9952 or Sunbury (03) 9746 3977, and find out how we can help you make the most of your time in the sun.
It is best to stretch once you have already warmed your muscles up. Take a brisk walk for 5-10 minutes around your block, to get your heart rate up and as a general body warm up. Use this time to consider the changes you want to make in your garden and how you are going to address them.
Now that you’re nice and warmed up, it’s time to perform some dynamic stretches. Dynamic stretches mean you keep the muscle moving whilst you stretch it. For example, arm swings are a great way to stretch through the pectoralis muscles at the front of the chest, all whilst keeping your core body temperature up and preparing your body for activity. Make sure you arm swing up and down, as well as outwards and inwards. It is important that you maintain control of your muscles whilst you move them, so don’t swing too fast or too big! The aim is not to “fling” your muscles around- in fact, you shouldn’t even feel like you are stretching your muscle. If you feel a stretch, you may need to make the movements slightly smaller. You should perform 10-15 repetitions of each dynamic stretch.
Holding onto a wall, now try some leg swings. Leg swing forwards and backwards then outwards and inwards across your body. This warms up all the muscles in the legs, buttocks and lower back.
It is also important to stretch after you have finished in the garden for the day. Your muscles are likely fatigued from all the work and may have tightened up. As we relax, we now perform static stretches. It is important that you stretch straight after finishing in the garden, whilst your muscles are still warm.
In static stretching we slowly take the muscle to the end of its movement and then hold it for 30 seconds. It is important to stretch through the lower back, hamstrings, quadriceps, neck and shoulders. Remember not to rush the stretches and to do both sides!
Stretching can help minimize your risk of injury in the garden, as well as improve your endurance and your muscle tone. At Chatfield Chiropractic, your Sunbury chiropractor, we can help tailor specific stretching programs so that you are getting exactly what your body needs. To find out more, do not hesitate to call us at Roxburgh Park on (03) 9303 9952 or Sunbury on (03) 9746 3977.
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