Gardening Tips: Quick Answers
Can gardening cause back pain?
Yes. Gardening is one of the most common causes of seasonal low back pain because it involves prolonged bending, kneeling, lifting, twisting, and repetitive movements. Back pain can develop when muscles fatigue, joints become irritated, or existing mobility restrictions are stressed by increased activity after a less active winter.
How can I prevent back pain while gardening?
Warming up before gardening, keeping loads close to your body, avoiding excessive twisting, using proper lifting mechanics, and taking regular breaks can significantly reduce your risk of injury. If pain develops or repeatedly returns during gardening, a physiotherapy assessment can identify underlying mobility, strength, or movement issues contributing to your symptoms.
Need help with back pain from gardening or yard work?
Our physiotherapists assess and treat back pain caused by gardening, lifting, sports, and everyday activities. Learn more about our approach on our Back Pain Physiotherapy Markham page:
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Victoria Day weekend has passed, which means the start of gardening and more outdoor activities. Whether you're gardening, spring cleaning or ramping up outdoor sports, I want to make sure that injury and pain won't limit you. Read below to learn 5 gardening tips to keep you at your best!
Experiencing back pain when gardening? Spring yard work often exposes underlying mobility restrictions, muscle weakness, and movement patterns that may not be noticeable during the winter months. If gardening, lifting, or outdoor activities are causing pain, visit our Back Pain Physiotherapy Markham page to learn how physiotherapy can help identify and address the root cause.
Gardening tip #1: Warm up
Joints and muscles that haven't been moving aren't at their best and can predispose you to injury. Cold muscles aren't as efficient in producing force and protecting your joints.
A good warm-up should last at least 10-15 minutes and should get your heart beating a little bit more than at rest, and mobility exercises that mimic the movements of your workout. This will get your heart rate up, warm up your body, and increase blood flow to your muscles before you start exercising. Exercising with warmed up muscles and joints reduces your risk of injuring them.
Gardening tip #2: Plan and prepare when heavier tasks are involved
Bending your knees when you bend down to pick things up off of the ground lets your leg muscles help with lifting. This will maintain a flatter more neutral position of your back. This helps to reduces the strain on some of the other tissues of your back, including your discs and ligaments. This type of advice is often described when you're lifting heavier loads for short periods of time.
Bending your knees may not work if you have painful knee joints that don't tolerate this position, or if you have back pain that prefers to be in flexed positions. Bending your knees can also put you in a less stable position if you're squatting down, like a back catcher in baseball. If you're squatting and don't have the hip mobility to do so, you may actually be bending your back more than you realize. This can actually increase the load on your muscles the same way as keeping your knees straight. To reduce injuries when you're lifting:
- Plan tasks that involve lifting, especially when you're lifting heavier or larger objects such as bags of topsoil or mulch. Not all lifts can be done in one motion.
- Position your feet to reduce twisting motions through your knees and low back.
- Break up tasks into stages to reduce the impact on your body.
- Prioritize heavier tasks earlier in your day before your muscles are tired.
If bending, lifting, or carrying garden supplies consistently aggravates your symptoms, it may indicate an underlying movement or strength limitation. Learn more about common causes of back pain and treatment options on our Back Pain Physiotherapy Markham page.
Gardening tip #3: Keep your tasks close to you
Why should you keep things close? The further away an object is from you the more the muscles of your back will need to contract to counter balance the weight. You probably will automatically heavy bags close to your body because it makes them easier to lift. But the same holds true for lighter objects when lifted repetitively. When possible try to minimize the amount of reaching that you have to do at arms length distances.
Gardening tip #4: Back sparing techniques
There will be tasks that you'll have to perform where you can't get help from your legs and that need to involve reaching. These can include bending over a planter for a long period of time, or pulling bags of soil from your trunk. To reduce the strain on your back muscles try the following:
- Offload your back: Putting one hand down, either with your palm open or as a closed fist, will drastically reduce the demands on your back muscles. For a trunk task, this should allow you to drag the object closer to you with one arm
- Get your lower body as close as possible: Putting your knee on the bumper or, if you flexibility and trunk allow it, putting one leg into the trunk reduce the distance you'll have to reach
- Ask for help: Some tasks can't safely be done with just one person. Plan for the tasks that you'll need help with.
Gardening tip #5: Listen to your body
When you get caught up in a task, you'll likely want to push through until it's completed. Listen to what your muscles and joints are telling you. Take breaks when needed, and if you haven't recovered after a break, then consider waiting until you have.
