Dearest people to the South, welcome to what New England calls “just another winter storm.” In all seriousness, we don’t usually get pummeled with two-to-three feet of snow at once. However, we’re no strangers to shoveling. Even though it seems like we do this activity a ridiculous amount every winter, most people don’t move this much that often, which means they’ll be feeling sore tomorrow.
Some soreness is inevitable. However, serious pain and injury can be avoided. According to research conducted by The Research Institute at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Ohio, about 195,000 people in the United States required an Emergency Room visit because of shoveling snow between 1990 and 2006. That’s about 11,470 people a year, which is a lot of people considering that snow doesn’t often fall in all places (like Florida) or during all times of the year (like July). The most common injuries are muscle tears, tendon and ligament trauma, falls, and sprains. You’re especially at risk of injury if you are older or out of shape.
No fear, though, because you can reduce your risk or injury by lifting like people who lift for fun — weight lifters! When you lift weights regularly for pleasure or sport, you have to be a master of your form to avoid injury, and this is why a weight lifting mindset is the best approach to keeping your muscles and joints happy when tackling the great white, wet, heavy mess that is currently making your life messy.
Before anything else, you’ll need to come with the right gear to set yourself up for success.
1. Wear boots with ankle support and thick tread that fit your feet well. This ensures that your stance will be solid when lifting the snow and that one leg won’t suddenly go sliding away mid-lift. It seems silly to even need to say this, but then again, I’ve seen people shovel in some strange and impractical footwear choices, so maybe it isn’t as common sense as I thought.
2. Your shovel needs to be reasonably sized for your lifting ability and your size. Everybody loves to load up the end of the shovel with a full mountain of snow because it feel more productive, but thick, wet snow gets really heavy really fast. Do a couple test lifts with half loads before going for full buckets.
Photo by Flickr user: Seattle Municipal Archives
Alright, now you’re equipped and ready to lay down some serious shoveling business. Push your shovel into a pile of snow like usual. Then, take a wide stance and ground your feet so they are stable. With your back straight and chest upright, sit back and down, pressing your knees outward. This is going to get your butt really involved in helping you get back up. Hold the shovel with one hand as near to the loaded end as possible and place the other hand at the far end of the shovel. What you really want to aim for is using the arm near the snow to hold that end up while pushing on the other end to make the shovel handle mostly horizontal. This will keep you from leaning heavily on one side as you stand up and possibly straining your back because of uneven weight distribution.
While keeping your back as vertical as possible and the weight back in your hips, stand up while statically holding the shovel close to your body. Do not pull the shovel up. Let it come with your body as you stand. You are primarily using your quads (front thigh muscles), hamstrings (rear thigh muscles), and your glutes (butt muscles) to drive your body upward. Your back should remain solid but static. Don’t let your chest drop or your back bend during this motion because doing so will put a lot of weight on your lower back muscles and your spine. While you may have a strong back, it is far better to use your legs because they are structured like hydraulic presses that are meant to elevate or lower the trunk. On the flip side, the muscles in your lower back run the risk of overstretching when they are pulled into two opposing directions under weight.
It should feel like you are repeatedly squatting and standing. If you find that your back starts to hurt, it might be due to unintentionally lifting the shovel with your back as you stand. Try to visualize the shovel remaining stationary and that you are actually pushing the ground away with your feet. This will encourage your torso to remain stable and force your quads to drive your body upward. Keeping good form but still getting wrecked? Take a break. Hydrate! Give your muscles a rest. The snow will still be there.
Good luck!