Take care of yourself when shoveling
It’s still winter and it’s still snowing in some places. For many, shoveling can be an intense all-of-a-sudden physical activity, especially for those who may not be overly active leading up to this point.
To help prevent injury or harm, Thomas King, a certified kinesiologist and strength and conditioning specialist, and full-time coach at Jkconditioning in St. John’s, N.L. weighs in with his advice.
SHOVELING WARMUPS
“Prior to shoveling, if you are not active, it would be best to do a light dynamic warm-up,” says King.
This could include light activity such as walking for five to 10 minutes and then doing some stretches. For stretching, King says to emphasize areas such as the mid-back, lower back, and glutes. For this, he recommends an overhead squat. To do this, hold the shovel in your hands with your arms extended overhead and sit down into a deep squat. Hold this position for five to 10 seconds to allow the hips to loosen up. Stand back up and repeat this for three to five reps, he says.
USING A SNOWBLOWER
With the snowblower, the weight of the machine is the main issue, notes King. He says that anyone who has used one knows that when using it in deep snow, you are often manipulating it by lifting it up and down or dragging it around. For these reasons, it would be best to warm-up in a similar manner to how you would prior to shoveling. Do a couple of minutes of walking and then some dynamic stretches like the overhead squat, suggests King.
SHOVELING TO PREVENT INJURY
Like lifting anything, King says to ensure you are using the large muscles of the body such as your glutes and quadriceps to do most of the work. This means using an ergonomic shovel to allow your spine to remain neutral and lifting the load by squatting up rather than bringing the load up by flexing and extending your spine. In addition, you want to avoid spine flexion (bent over positions) in combination with rotational movements. Think about lifting up snow and twisting to chuck it away. This is a major risk factor for injury, says King. Instead, squat the weight up, then twist using your feet and moving with your whole body, rather than rotating from your waist.
DON’T OVERDO IT
It’s important not to overdo it when shoveling, especially if you are not used to the activity.
King says to carefully monitor your breathing and be aware of your heart rate. For a healthy individual who isn’t overdoing it, your breathing and heart rate should return to a resting (relaxed) rate within two minutes of stopping the activity.
So, if you are feeling like you are unable to catch your breath, sit down and rest for at least two minutes, he says.
SHOVELING AND MUSCLE PAIN
“Unfortunately, the pain you feel in your muscles after any type of exercise-whether that is weights, running, or shoveling, is caused by an immune response in your body,” says King.
Without getting too technical, he explains that as you exercise, muscle tissue is broken down which causes the release of things like myoglobin, creatine kinase, electrolytes, and a couple other compounds. When these compounds enter the bloodstream, they cause an immune response the same as if you cut your finger.
The soreness and swelling you experience after a hard workout or shoveling is the byproduct of your body cleaning up this mess. And despite what you may have heard, no amount of stretching or ice or anti-inflammatories will help speed this process up, says King.
In fact, adding ice or anti-inflammatories to sore muscles actually slows down recovery because the only way out of it is to let the immune system do its job. By adding things to the mix that reduce inflammation, you are slowing down the immune response and adding time to your recovery, he says.
DON’T IGNORE THE PAIN
“Never ignore pain or discomfort when shoveling,” stresses King.
While most don’t see it the same as proper exercise, shovelling is no doubt strenuous, especially if you are shoveling sopping wet snow. Too many people have ignored warning signs only to then experience a cardiac incident, he says.
“In Newfoundland at least, I don’t think there is anyone who doesn’t know of someone who dropped dead shoveling snow and that can be scary,” says King.
So always listen to your body, he says. Never ignore symptoms like chest pains, tingling, or unexplained extreme fatigue.
No amount of snow is worth it.