Is Shoveling Snow a Pain or a Great Workout?

Hurt your back shoveling?

For some yes & others no. The key to staying pain free is the posture, alignment and breathing you use during the work.

I created this short video that quickly explains how to shovel with correct and safe posture alongside. Check it out!

Protecting your back is more than just bending your knees and using your legs to lift things. The way we sit, stand and move is important in terms of protecting our spine for as long as we want to be able to live and move comfortably.

PS - Here’s a download with four exercises that help realign your body after shoveling…but, you can also do these before so you go into the work with better alignment!

How often do you hear about someone who threw their back out shoveling? This happens for a number of reasons with misalignment and muscle dysfunction/compensation at the top of the list. If your hips are tucked under and your spine is in flexion (like the guy in the video), even if you bend your knees, your back is in danger because you are putting a ton of pressure on your spine. However, if you hinge your hips (check out our hip hinge article) + bend your knees + exhale as you lift, you protect your spine. In a proper hip hinge position your glutes are working and with proper breathing your core is working.

Back pain isn’t caused by shoveling, back pain is caused by years of improper loading.

The great news is that even years of poor posture and alignment can be changed. Just ask Anne, my 88 year old client who wasn’t able to get up and down off the floor at 88 but now in her 90’s can!

As a certified Egoscue Affiliate + a Foundation Training Instructor and a Postpartum Corrective Exercise Specialist I was able to teach her corrective exercises designed to improve posture, get her muscles moving and firing correctly resulting in her ability to get up and down off the floor + move better and feel better!

Need help now? Here are three things you can do now to start healing and feeling better: