Warmup for Snow Shoveling
Among my advice for snow shoveling is to do a dynamic warmup before you get dressed and head out.
You may not think you need a warmup. You may feel stressed and short on time. But doing a warmup, along with taking frequent breaks, is important for avoiding injury.
Posture Check
Start by checking your posture. This begins to get you moving and gets you into a good position for the exercises that follow.
• Gently stomp your feet to get them under your hips.
• Bend and soften your knees.
• Wiggle your hips and level them out.
• Roll your shoulder blades back and put them in their pockets.
• Let an imaginary string pull the top of your head straight up.
Cat/Cow
For the first exercise, breathe with cow and cat positions. This will loosen up your back, which is especially important if you have been sitting.
Inhale, open your chest, and arch your back. This is cow position. With your exhale, round forward and stretch your back like an angry cat.
Continue by inhaling into cow and exhaling into cat. Breathe and move at a pace comfortable for you.
Perform three to six repetitions.
Knee Bends
For the second exercise, do some knee bends. While you are shoveling, you want to lift with your legs. So it is important to get them loosened up.
Bend both knees, lower your butt down and back while keeping your chest up. Stand back up.
Perform three to six repetitions.
Open and Close the Book
For the third exercise, return your focus to your back and shoulders with “open and close the book.”
Breathe in and raise your arms over your head. Exhale and widen them into cactus, or goalpost, arms position. Pause. With your next exhale bring your arms together—”close the book.” With your next inhale open your arms back to starting position and a little past it.
Each time you bring your arms forward, try to close the book all the way and touch your elbows together.
Perform three to six repetitions.
Stationary Side Lunge
The fourth exercise is stationary side lunge. This will prepare you to shift your weight while shoveling.
Widen your stance until your feet are comfortably outside your hips. Slowly bend one knee, lowing your butt toward your heel. Leave the other leg long and your chest high. Pause, and straighten up. Slowly bend the second knee. Pause, and straighten up.
Perform three to six repetitions.
Reverse Spinal Twist
The fifth exercise focuses on twisting your back. While you are shoveling, plan to avoid twisting with a heavy load of snow. But of course you need to prepare to move in all directions.
Stand tall. Focus on sending one shoulder back and around. Pause. Then focus on your other shoulder going back and around.
Perform the twist slowly, using the muscles of your back to move you, not momentum.
Perform three to six repetitions.
High Knees
Finish with high-knees to get your blood really moving. Place your fingers on the wall or back of a chair for balance if you need.
Lift your knees one at time up and out in front of you. Try to get them up to hip height, but any height is good. Swing your arms high to pump the blood. Start slowly and move faster.
Continue for 20 to 30 seconds.
Now, put on your warm layers and boots and go shovel the driveway!
Note: I offer a Snow Shoveling Custom Program. It’s a six-week training program tailored to you. It includes an initial consultation, one personal training session, and twelve printed workouts. For more information, check my Services page or contact me.
