Gardening Season Has Arrived

It seemed like it would never happen, but spring finally seems to have come to Medicine Hat.  Better late than never, as the saying goes.  With spring comes gardening!  

Gardening is fabulous exercise.  Walking, bending, lifting, raking, digging, planting, pruning; a great variety of activities to stretch and strengthen most of the body.  The heart and lungs also get a good workout.  The fresh air is wonderfully beneficial.  Listening to the birds chirping lifts the spirits.  Gardening is an almost perfect activity.

Sometimes gardening can be so enjoyable, we forget that it is exercise.  It must be treated like any other exercise regime.  Always keep in mind that gardening can be very strenuous.  Many of the muscles used in gardening have been dormant since fall, just like the flowers.  These muscles need to be worked gradually to get them back into shape.  Start gardening slowly.  Do short sessions to begin with.  Vary your activities.  There are so many of them to do.  Rake for a short period, do a little pruning, plant a few things, do a little digging, take a break, then go back to the raking.  Repeat as necessary.  It doesn't all have to be done in one day!    Watch the lifting.  Get help for heavy objects and make sure to use good lifting posture.  Always stretch before and after each time in the garden.

A visit to the chiropractor is crucial before starting to garden.  Any vertebral subluxations that may be present will make you susceptible to injury.  An adjustment or two will assure your spine is ready to garden when you are.

Me playing in the dirt

Keep gardening enjoyable this year.  Don't injure yourself!  Now ... to take my own advice.