January 14, 2004

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Palo Alto Online

Gardening tips for body and soil

by Dana Green

In Nancy Chan's view, gardening should be considered a contact sport.

"Most people don't think of gardening as a sport ... but it is a physical activity," Chan said. "The stronger you are, the less prone you are to injury."

Chan, a physical therapist at Back to Fitness, believes that gardeners, like athletes, should train for their favorite activity. With improper gardening techniques or tools, back and knee injuries can sprout like pesky weeds.

Chan will be teaching a class on gardening fitness this spring at the Elizabeth Gamble Garden Center. The class will focus on strengthening and stretching exercises, avoiding knee and back injuries, and proper techniques for common gardening practices such as weeding, shoveling and raking.

Mimi Meffert, a Gamble Garden board member, came up with the idea for a garden fitness class while exercising at the gym. Watching tai chi practitioners, she realized that their balance and strength could be applied to gardening.

"As we all are getting older, it's important to know ... what exercises would be helpful to do the tasks that gardening requires, like stooping, bending and lifting," Meffert said.

Since gardening chores are often sporadic, the body is unprepared for the unusual motions. The bending and twisting that come with gardening are not everyday movements.

"When you go out and start doing a lot of raking, you use different muscles," Meffert said. "The next day you really feel it."

Weeding is one of the worst culprits in the garden, according to Chan.

"Most people weed in an awkward position, especially older gardeners," Chan said. Many gardeners with aches and pains often turn to stools, which Chan warns can round the back if used incorrectly. Chan recommends keeping a neutral, flat back while gardening, whether lifting a heavy pot or pulling out a particularly tough weed. She suggests holding a flat rake against the spine to experience what a flat back feels like. "That's the position you want," Chan said.

Flexibility is really the key to getting into the proper kneeling and lifting positions, Chan said. If you're too tight, you can't do what you want to do in the garden without straining muscles and joints.

"A lot of people can't even kneel because of tightness," Chan said.

Chan recommends that gardeners warm up before they start their gardening chores. Even a five-minute walk around the garden and a brief stretching session can help prepare your body for rigorous gardening tasks such as lifting heavy pots and moving soil.

Strengthening exercises are also crucial for gardeners who want to avoid pain and injury entirely, according to Chan. Exercises to strengthen arms, backs and quadriceps can prepare gardeners for battle with weeds, bugs and tough soil. Chan also recommends "core" and balance work, especially for older gardeners who have experienced diminished balance. Even standing on one leg for 30 seconds can help improve balance and increase strength, according to Chan.

"You have to really think about the whole body, and maintain your general conditioning," Chan said.

Products such as knee pads and ergonomically correct garden tools can also help take the stress off tired knees and backs. An ergonomic trowel with a loop handle, for example, relieves wrist strain and reduces the possibility of carpal-tunnel syndrome. Bent rakes can also keep your back aligned in the correct position. Most garden stores do not carry ergonomically correct tools, but they can be ordered online from specialty garden shops.

Chan has personal experience with a garden injury. When she moved into her home in Sunnyvale 12 years ago, she was a novice gardener but eager to tackle her new yard. She was digging up stubborn clay soil to prepare for planting and severely injured her back. "It's heavy work turning over soil," Chan recalled ruefully. "Fit for Gardening" will be held on March 11 from 9:30 - 11:30 a.m. at the Gamble Garden Center, 1431 Waverley St. Lowell Courdas of Professional Horticultural Associates will also be demonstrating the use of ergonomically correct tools. For information, call Gamble Garden at (650) 329-1356 weekdays between 9 a.m. and noon. Chan's Back to Fitness Web site is www.backtofitness.com.

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