Protect Yourself From Winter Injury With These Snow Shoveling Tips:

Winter is officially here. The temperature is dropping and in the coming months, we should expect to see consistent snow accumulation here in Chicago. Every year we see a rise in disc related injuries from winter activities like shoveling.

What can we learn from these painful experiences and how can we mitigate the chances of injury in the future? 

The common advice typically given is to use good form when you shovel, keep a straight or “neutral” spine, and lift with your legs. That is all well and good, but there really isn’t any 100% fail-proof way to avoid injury. An injury rarely results from any one movement or activity, but rather, is a representation of your body’s current capacity to address the task at hand. Because of this, the best way to decrease the chance of injury is to increase your preparedness. 

What do we mean by preparedness? In short, do you have the necessary physical traits to accomplish a certain physical task?

As far as shoveling, these are some of the things you need in order to be able to clear that driveway: 

• Relative trunk strength and coordination to manage the load that comes from repetitively lifting snow and throwing it away.

• Relative hip and spinal range of motion to allow for assuming various positions of flexion and rotation that occur during shoveling.

• Relative endurance required to maintain adequate (not perfect, just adequate) form throughout the entirety of the chore.

Essentially, have you done enough physical activity over the recent months (and years) that trains and prepares you to move well through many ranges of motion while lifting and moving repetitive loads? i.e. bending over, picking up snow, throwing snow over your shoulder, repeat…

If you can answer this question honestly, with a “yes”, then by all means, don’t worry, put on a jacket, get outside and shovel.

If you have to answer “no”, this doesn’t mean you can’t shovel. This just means you should probably pick up lighter amounts of snow each time, keep the end of the shovel closer to your body so you aren’t putting excess stress on your joints, take frequent breaks, and warm up and warm down with some stretches for the low back, neck and shoulders.

We don’t have to be fearful of movements, whether they are chores or physical exercise. However, we do need to be realistic about what our bodies are currently prepared for and what they are not. The goal should then be to start working to close the gap between those two points.

What to take from this post: 

1. The best way to decrease the chance of injury is to increase your preparedness-the necessary physical traits to accomplish a certain physical task.

2. Trunk strength and coordination, hip and spinal range of motion, and endurance are examples of physical preparedness for shoveling snow.

3. If you aren’t physically prepared, pick up lighter amounts of snow, keep the end of the shovel closer to your body so you aren’t putting excess stress on your joints, take frequent breaks, and warm up and down with some stretches before and after shoveling.