Back exercises for gardeners?

Just in the last 2 years or so, my back has decided it does NOT like gardening all day, but my mind does. Are there exercises I could be doing to strengthen my lower back (esp. the muscles right along my spine....those are the ones that, when pulled, leave me bedridden). Any other things that people have found to make gardening not so hard on the body? Tamara

Tamara ~ Don't know if it helps but I do year round stretching. I walk daily as well. Seems to have lessened the aggravation. Any particular effort that triggers the problem? If so, rethink how you do ~ what you do... Major lifting of pots, get dollies, a two wheeler or plant in ground. Deep digging or tilling, hire it done by a young sturdy boy. Mulch to prevent have to weed. Maybe one of those kneeling benches so you are not hunched over all the time. Or simplify to keep the work from overwhelming you. I don't know if you are adverse to them but a good chiropractor can direct you with "stretching to strengthen" excercises. Just some things to think about.

I teach fitness classes(pilates and yoga for stretching)but at the beginning of my gardening season,I still get back pain after working in the yard at first.

Here's where I say"Do as I say..not as I do". Just as in any exercise ,you sound do a warm up then some stretching before gardening.

P

Tamara, for me not to get really sore is to keep my core strong all year. I do a lot of ab and back work, aiming for 3 X week and sometimes more if I have the energy lol.

Here's some good exercises,

http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/cms/article-detail.asp?articleid=486

Stretching helps too.

Lurker alert! !!!Fly girl, a very good resource, shows you what you should look like during the exercise. Thanks, as I'm restarting my walking routine, dropped out when the killer cold winds, snow and ice stayed a little too long! A good walk before gardening works for me! ;0)

I have a history of back problems and I'm getting PT right now. Core is essential. Lower abs are usually neglected. Flexibility of hamstrings, glues and hip flexors is equally important. The link is useful except that the guy is not practicing what is preached! Look how he does the crunches. His lower back arches WAY too much. Those big exercise balls are very, very helpful for back exercises.

Victor ~ very observant, had to go back and take a second look , very obvious when it's pointed out, and obviously not good for the back.

Thanks, everyone! I belong to a gym, have lots of videos (yoga ones are my favorite, but any back arching postions make me pinch a nerve in my back), some equiptment, etc. I just need to get out there and do something. It all started to really go down hill when I had my third son last year...my body has gone to hell in a handbasket since then (I have to be on bedrest when I am pregnant, so no exercise is allowed)! When I got married 7 years ago (and was very fitness and diet conscious), I was a size 2 and could easily do splits and some pretty impressive yoga positions! ;-) Since then, I've put on 25 lb and can barely touch my toes. *sigh* My DH has also put on a good 20 lb, and is now at his all-time high. We really, really need to exercise but we both hate it. If they made a pill that would make you love to exercise, I'd be the first in line! Tamara

It looks like he might be pulling his head up with his hands because his head is at a weird angle. And, he's going way too fast, but one could always find better instructions on crunches.

I like those exercise balls too, and they're fun.

That's not actual speed, flygirl. It's not video - it's two still photos - one at the beginning and one at the maximum position. He'd probably be in a hospital if that was true speed!!

Haha, thanks victorg!

Zone5girl Tamara, I just noticed this thread. I've have recently come to the States (I'm from Holland) and we moved into my mother inlaw's house last august. She was legally blind before she passed away 1 year ago, so.......the yard needs "a little" work!
My back is killling me and I am not that old (53). I walk a lot since we have a Siberian Husky and have decided to do only serious (heavy) yard work for a max. of 2 or 3 hours a day.
BUT a very good exercise which takes all of 10 minutes is what my husband has been doing for over 10 years (hernia!) : get on all 4's (knees and hands) protect your knees with soft surface.
now. stretch left leg and right arm ( 5x) then right leg and left arm (5x). Repeat. Work up to maybe 10x. You'll feel a wee bit wobly at first (since you're resting on 1 knee and 1 hand) but you'll get used to it. Not diffcult. Trust me: I have a sport allergy! The key is to stretch leg and arm as far as you can.
I hope this all makes sense to you. Good luck.

A nurse friend of mine gave me an exercise that really has helped me. You do it when your lower back is aching and it helps almost immediately.

1. Lie flat on your face. Your lower back will hurt like the dickens. Breathe deeply and force your muscles to relax. The pain will peak and lessen greatly.

2. Roll over and lie flat on your back. Same thing -- breathe through the pain and make the muscles relax.

3. Bend your knees, and pull first one and then the other to your chest.

It works for me.

Thanks so much Tulip and Lily! I'll try both of those! Tamara

I hope it helps, and just realized I needed to say your arms are at your sides for the duration until you start pulling your knees up.

I think I have the perfect one. after all the gardening - digging, weeding, lifting, planting, mulching, watering (look at all those "ing's" ?) -- I have the perfect antidote; drink"ing". At the end of the day, there's nothing like sipping a glass of cold wine on the patio to give yourself a pat on the back for all that hard work !

I'm another one whose back doesn't like to garden. Lots of good suggestions so far. I would like to add that you must stop at least every half hour to stop and stretch a bit and get the kinks out. Learn how to lift properly with your knees and not your back. I also use ThermaCare heat wrap thingies when I'm gardening. Keeping my lower back muscles warm improves circulation and I don't get as sore. Drink lots and lots of water. Muscle pain can arise from high levels of lactic acid in those muscles. Keeping well hydrated helps to flush the toxins out of your system. In addition to a 'good' chiropractor, I have found that acupuncture has made a huge difference. Although I may still hurt like crazy in the evening, now....in the morning I find that my body has made a nice recovery. Before acupuncture, I would have been in agony for days.

Good Luck.

I second that, Orchid. Another thing is that we all try to keep good form while gardening - bending at the waist, not at the back, using our knees, etc. But after a while, when we just want to get done, we start reverting to bad form. You have to keep reminding yourself about that.

TulipLady, that's a good one that's used in Pilates. Another good one (that I am doing in my therapy now) is where you lay on your stomach with your hands extended in front of you, like Superman. Then in similar fashion, you lift your right arm and left leg, keeping it straight, and then the left arm and right leg. Do three sets of ten. As they get easier, increase the reps or add ankle weights.

Another one is to lay on your back and bend your knees. Get a ball with some give to it - one you can squeeze a bit - and put it between your knees. Squeezing the ball with your knees, lift your butt up a few inches off the floor and return. Repeat this. Three sets of ten. This works your back and your hip adductors, which apparently are also important in good back function.

Happy backs everyone! I sympathize. I am only 44 but have had back pain now for about ten years. And gardening is my number one hobby! Hopefully the therapy will help me this time. Gardening season is right around the corner.

A hot bath and a cold beer helps too LOL

Would that be before or after the cold wine on the patio?!!

Orchid, I had to laugh when I saw your reply!!! Ha ha ha. But I didn't wan't to say anything like that in my message. I am in Georgia and I discovered that a lot of people in South don't drink...
Me, I am from Europe. 1700hrs ( 5p.m.) comes and I, religiously I might say, will have my glass of cold Chardonnay.
We all should come together one day and "discuss" gardening. Too bad a lot of us are so far away from each other.

Victor, I am 34 and I noticed that my back started giving me problems last summer when I was gardening. It's weird because the summer before that, I was a mad gardening fool and I never pinched my back. My back muscles never get sore...they are used to carrying around my 18 month old. But I always seem to pinch a nerve in my lower spine when I am gardening (mostly digging out beds from scratch and lifting things that are too heavy for me) and it hurts like the dickens! I will have to be more mindful, like you said, of maintaining proper form. Tamara

Here's to you Tulip Lady -- one of these days it would be great for a bunch of die-hard gardeners to have a get-together.
I remember some friends telling a story (true) when they moved to Georgia. She was pottering in her new garden all day. At the end of the day, hot, sweaty, tired and thirsty, she opened a beer and was drinking it in the garden; then went inside. When her husband arrived about 1/2 later; her next door "neighbor" waylaid him to report that he thought he (the husband) should know that his wife has a drinking problem !
Geez; gotta tell you if that had happened to me; I would have kept an empty beer bottle, filling it with water, and made sure that I was observed drinking out of it all day, every day for a while. Can't please everyone all the time can you ? Actually, I'm quite sure that I don't want to please some of them anyway.

But, I've been told that some of those who protest too loudly probably do this very privately.

It's sad people love to gossip so much they'll turn a beer into a drinking problem. I'd say it's the neighbor who had the problem. I don't drink much myself (I can't remember the last time I had any alcohol at all, just don't care for it) but I'm the only one I have any business worrying about.

As for backs, I did get one of those kneeler/stools for Christmas and it really helps. Not only a bad back, I have a bad knee as well. Woohoo. Aging (another "ing") is NOT for the faint of heart!

Tamara, yes, even a quick movement using improper form is all it takes. Sometimes a sneeze. A lady getting therapy where I go had a terrible muscle strain from a cough!

By the way, I just noticed you live in 'Painesville'!! How funny.

Victor

I tell you just a brief funny aside, one day a few summers ago, I had been working hard in the garden, I told my neighbor"whew I need a cold,strong stiff drink!" Being an iced tea drinker and lover, my DM always referred to a Coke on ice as a "strong stiff drink!" Would you believe, several days later a "friend" called concerned about my "DRINKING!" ....I transplanted several shrubs yesterday...and YES..I had a "cold, sorta strong stiff drink!" only thing is the cokes are not as strong as they used to be! LOL! and no backaches ! LOL!

orchid...ROFL!!!!!!!!! I wish I had the cajones to do something like that!!! Tamara

I happened upon this thread, and it caught my interest.

I have had intermittent back pain for the last few years, and gardening seems to aggravate it more.

All of the above exercises are good ones, and I have another to add.

Lie flat on your stomach for about 5 minutes.

Then perch your elbows, support your face with your hands, and lie in that position, like a child watching TV, and hold that for about 5 minutes.

Then, pushing with your arms extended, do as many push ups as you can, relaxing your abs, making sure your lower body doesn't leave the floor.

I've been doing this for years after a physical therapist taught it to me. It so relaxes the back, and stretches those tired muscles.

I also do ab work. I've always heard that the abs and back were best friends.

Oh, can't stress enough about enough water to get rid of lactic acid!

Gracie

Thanks, Gracie! Never TMI on back pain. Another note about water -- we don't drink enough, and when a truly essential part (oh, say, the heart) needs some, the body will rob it from other parts -- including the vertebral disks. No doubt it contributed to my lowest disk being paper thin. We need it as much as the plants do!