The gardening season has started and, all over Britain,
hundreds of chiropractors are rubbing their hands in glee as thousands of gardeners
beat a hasty path to their doors to remove the pain from their shoulders, the
ache from their backs and the cricks in their necks… but it needn’t be like
that.
There is a myth that things need to hurt after a day in the
garden, so accepted by gardeners and physicians alike that nobody bothers to do
anything about it other than suffer in silence, reach for the pain killers or
give up gardening – which is a shame because gardening is not just good for the
soul but can be an excellence source of exercise, fresh air and sunlight, if
done right.
Over the next few months, I will be showing you a few simple
tricks to take the groan out of gardening without spending a fortune on
equipment or hired help – in fact, the only equipment you need for the coming
weekend is a piece of paper, a pencil and a ruler!
The trouble with most gardeners in they like to get straight
to work and beaver away methodically at a task until it is finished, then stand
back and admire their handiwork before hobbling on to the next job muttering
about their backs aching from three hours bent double.
To avoid this, draw three columns on your paper: each column
represents a 20 minutes slot, each line an hour. Work out what you need to do
over the day and break the tasks into manageable chunks, then set an alarm on
your watch or phone and stop when it goes off – the weeds won’t go away,
they’ll wait until the afternoon… and don’t forget, if you’re #5stepping (and
all gardeners should be) to programme in time for a couple of short walks and a
drink or two.
If you avoid prolonged stress on your joints, muscles and
ligaments, the simple truth is that they won’t hurt you and, at the end of the
weekend, you can still stand back and admire everything you’ve achieved –
without wincing once!
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