| Winter is on its way here in Canada. With winter comes snow, and with snow comes snow shoveling. Shoveling snow is the cause of many muscle and ligament injuries and most commonly a cause of back pain. Did you know that shoveling snow is also a common cause of heart attacks? | |
In order to avoid injuries, snow shoveling should be treated the same as weight lifting. Therefore, you need to warm up before shoveling, cool down after shoveling, and most importantly you should not shovel snow if you have any pre-existing heart or other medical problems. Just as with exercising, you should check with you doctor or physical therapist before shoveling snow, to make sure that you are in appropriate physical shape for the job.
Following is a generic warm-up to be performed before shoveling snow. This
warm-up can also be used as a cool-down after shoveling snow. If you visit your
physical therapist they can assess your physical abilities and design a warm-up
that is individually suited to you and your body.
