Shoveling Injury Prevention

There's a frigid four-letter word many don't like to hear this time of year - SNOW! We have no way of knowing whether we're getting a little, or a lot this winter. However, the therapists at ATI Physical Therapy know for sure that there are several things you can do to help prevent injuries when the white stuff arrives.

Transcript

Hi, my name is Alan Prasil from ATI Physical Therapy. I work with the Sports Medicine department and I'm here to talk to you about how to properly lift snow during the snowy days in the winter time.

The very first thing you want to do before you start shoveling the snow, is you want to warm up correctly, warm up those muscles. Get the blood flowing on those cold days. You're going to put your shovel on top and back behind your head. Keep feet shoulder width a part, keep your abs nice and tight, and you're going to twist and rotate about fifteen to twenty times on each side. After you do that, you're going to keep your feet shoulder width a part, we're going to stretch out those hamstrings. So we're going to keep the feet about shoulder width a part, hands a little wider than shoulder width a part, and we're going to bend down and touch those toes until you feel a nice stretch in those hamstrings and the calf area. You want to hold each stretch for thirty seconds. The other one I'd like you to do, is you're going to put the shovel in the snow for some balance, and we're going to stretch out the quadriceps and the hip flusters. You're going to grab an ankle, pull until you get a nice stretch in this area. You're going to hold each stretch for thirty seconds, and you're going to do that on the other side. You want to stretch out a good five to ten minutes before you start shoveling the snow. You also want to stay hydrated. Just because it's cold outside, it doesn't mean you can't get dehydrated. So I want you to keep drinking lots of water, before and maybe in between your snow shoveling and after your snow shoveling. After that, we're going to start actually shoveling snow. What we want to do, you always want to push the snow - we never want to pick up the snow and throw it. However, if you do have to pick up the snow and throw it, I'm going to show you how we demonstrate that.

When we do that, we're always going to want to make sure that our hands are a good, farther than shoulder width a part on the shovel, that's going to help with leverage. You always want to keep your back nice and straight. Another good way to do is stick the butt out a little bit. You want your feet to be staggered, but about shoulder width a part from each other. You're going to bend down with your knees. As you bend down with your knees you want to see the tips of your toes. When you're ready, you're just going to push the snow into the sidewalk. There you're going to pick it up and then toss it. Always want to make sure to keep your abs nice and tight, always want to lift ten pounds or less with the snow shoveling. The next one I'm going to show you, in case you do have to pick up the snow and throw it, you're going to stand on the sides. Stand over here so everyone can see. When you're going to be throwing it, you want your feet about shoulder width a part, you want to stick the butt out as you're coming down, you always want to keep your core nice and tight. If you don't keep your core nice and tight, if you bend with the back, that's where the injuries occur. What you're going to do is bend down, keeping the feet shoulder width a part, keeping your abs nice and tight. You're going to bend down, pick up some snow - not a lot, maybe less than ten pounds, you're going to squat down, you're going to pick up and you're going to put it in a pile. You're going to do the same thing over. Give yourself plenty of time. This doesn't have to be done at one time. You can take some breaks too, and make sure you stay hydrated.

During the wintery days of snow shoveling, unfortunately injuries can occur. If any injuries do occur, you can contact any of our ATI Physical Therapy clinics for a complimentary injury screening.