Gardening is joyful—and sneaky. Hours slip by while your low back stiffens and your shoulders complain. The antidote: rotate tasks, use hip hinges, and stage heavy items smartly. These habits protect your spine so Sundays don’t require a rescue visit on Monday.
Project Planning
- Break jobs into 25–30 minute blocks: Digging, then pruning, then watering—change the load pattern.
- Stage heavy items: Put soil and pots waist-high if possible; lift from blocks or benches, not the floor.
- Tools with long handles: Keep spine neutral; let the tool length spare your back.
Body Mechanics
- Hinge, don’t fold: Hips back, spine long; one knee on a pad for ground work.
- Split stance: One foot forward distributes load when raking or hoeing.
- Team lifts: For planters and bags; or decant soil into smaller buckets.
Micro-Reset (2 Minutes Every Block)
- 10 standing back extensions (hands on hips).
- Doorway chest stretch 2×20s after pruning.
- 8 hip hinges (no weight) to remind your pattern.
Planning a big yard day? Get a quick prep plan from Dr. Edward Komberg—so you plant more and pay less later.