Being Strong and Healthy While Doing Housework

I’ve been spending this entire week doing repairs and improvements around the house. Doing all of this manual labor has gotten me thinking.  I’m lucky I know how to use my body properly or I may be making myself sore from all of this.
I hear all the time from people who hurt their backs while doing manual labor.  It doesn’t happen as much to people who do it for a living as compared to people who don’t.  Because when people who don’t move that much set out to do something physical, they may not have good habits established and may not be practiced in the best ways to move.
I’ve made a little video here to get you started thinking about ways you can move your body while doing simple household chores.
The main emphasis is to protect your back while moving around the house, but these principles can also be applied to having proper body mechanics when exercising or doing anything physical.
Notice that the movements apply to things that don’t even seem to be strenuous. Many back injuries occur from simple things like bending over, when there is no attention to the details of ergonomic movement.  By adding this attention to detail you can help to ensure you have a strong healthy back for your entire life.
And of course this is not a complete, comprehensive list of all the ways to properly use your body, it’s just a small sampling.  But I hope this inspires you to take these tenets and apply them to the rest of your life.
Ok, I better get back to my chores.  Enjoy this...

Comments

Anonymous said…
Cool. Will be thinking about this when I'm pulling rain tree saplings out in the yards around my house. Just had some good soaking rains. The last time I pulled saplings I really did a number on my back.
Yes, the first snow and the first big weeding of the season are great times to remember these techniques.

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