Do you remember those T shirts everyone was wearing years ago in Toronto.
“We are the North!”
When I think about the north I think about snow.
What do you think of?
Shovelling snow?
Me too!
Do you remember your grandparents or parents telling you…
“when you shovel the snow, use your legs, not your back”
I remember hearing this all the time as a child but what really was going on in my mind was, what are they talking about?
I am sure most of us are self concious. The way we think, the way we dress, the way we move.
Back in the day before smart phones, we didn’t quite have the tools to see ourselves in motion while we did our chores. Some were enjoyable, some harder than others, and some just down right gassed us out for the day.
It wasn’t until I injured my spine that I began to realize that my movement was creating a lot of my back issues.
It took me, a snowfall, a tweaked back and some tiger balm (re-leaf stick to be exact) to wake up and smell the roses.
Where I was going wrong was more important than where I was feeling pain.
I had to get into my pilates database to see what I was doing. What was my spinal aligment, what kind of movement?
A C- curve is a simple movement in pilates and a key one.
Unfortunately the C curve is not a good one to employ when doing some of your chores in daily life.
Why the C curve?
When looking at the spine in its ideal alignment, we have natural curves in the spine. It’s not a straight up and down line, it looks more like a very gentle S. To stretch out the spine in pilates we create a C curve. From Top to bottom. Just looking at the letters S and C you can see where the stretch would happen. The neck (cervical) Mid back (Lower thoracic) and lower back (lumbar). In a controlled environment with an instructor who can identify the amount of curve (flexion) each area for each individual would need, the C curve is excellent at stretching the back extensors. You can also strengthen the abdominals in this position.
Now if we live in this position we may have shortened abdominals that are potentially weak as well as lengthened back extensors that are stretched out already. People don’t quite live in this position, they are many different deviations that make movement and chores more challenging, but in this day and age we do have a lot more people who are rounded in their upper back. This makes shovelling snow difficult. This also makes painting ceilings difficult, planting flowers uncomfortable and putting dishes away high up in the cupboards more challenging.
This is because the muscles you want to be doing the brunt of the work aren’t accessible.
For shovelling:
We need to learn the hinge.
The hinge happens in the hips.
So does the C. The bottom of the C happens when you bring your pubic bone forward.
The hinge happens the you bring the hip bones forward.
Its slight when the knees are locked out but if you bend the knees, you can tuck further as well as hinge deeper.
A lot of us stay tucked when we shovel snow. The low back ends up in a lengthened position which gets tired easily.
My old habit was to use my feet to lift the shovel by sliding my left foot under and helping to lift. Oh I could hear the jeers as I became aware of my form.
I wanted to make my Grandfather happy so I decided it was best to use my legs and glutes to lift the shovel not my low back. Thus where I am moving from becomes the key element.
When you do a hinge, the body begins to fold in half at the hips ( as long as the knees have a bend in them). Since the movement is in the hips and we are decreasing the angle between the joint we are going into flexion. Hip Flexion. The Hip flexors are actively pulling us into hip flexion. What you should feel is that the hip bone is coming closer to the thigh bone. If your movement is in the low back, you will feel that you are rounding in the low back and then extending in the back as you lift. It’s almost as if you are bringing the lower ribcage to your hip bones. This will tire you out quickly and overtime may feel like those muscles are overworked.
If we hinge correctly, the knees are bent which engages the hamstrings behind the knees, and stretches the quads around the front of the knees, thus stretching and loading the hamstrings at your sit bones. The Glutes are hip extensors as well as the hamstrings, so as you bring the hips back forward out of flexion and you straighten the knees (your quads are knee extensors) you will begin to lift with your legs. This looks very similar to a deadlift position. I don’t quite do this movement when I shovel snow. I stand perpendicular to the showbank, get into the hinge position and while maintaining this position I use my obliques to rotate my torso as I shovel. This fees good and strong for me. So in essence I use my glutes and hamstings to maintain my form while using my core to lift. There’s many muscles involved in everyday movements so it’s best to understand the most efficient movement and train the whole body while not always focusing on one set of muscles.
The key though is to learn the hinge.
A perfect way to build this fundamental movement to create strength is to do pelvic curls and hinge bridges and feel the difference. One will stretch the spine as your roll through it, while the other one will stabilize certain areas while moving in the hips. A standing roll down and a hip hinge can also help to feel the difference which is great as well.
Watching our grandparents age gives us a glimpse into our future.
Whenever clients tell me how their parents are doing physically in their golden years I always ask them about their parents posture.
I instantly gain an image and an understanding of their body mechanics.
I know who is still doing their daily chores and which ones need help.
It’s a blessing to move as we age into our later life, it’s also a blessing to help those who haven’t had the same path as ourselves.
Taking the time to understand movement and understanding someones limitations is key to sitting in someones else’s shoes.
Moving where I live has been tough for me because I have some really great neighbours. Some I shovel the snow for. When I couldn’t walk or needed a back brace to help me shovel the snow, I had others who were older than myself helping me out. I knew once I was able to reciprocate I would.
Life isn’t always about how you look, a lot of the time it’s about being there for others. Whether that be through chores, through listening to each others life experiences or sharing a coffee and enjoying the beauty in the world.
For me, I love the fact I injured myself so poorly that I could learn how to undo the mess of my body.
Now I can do my chores again and share coffee with my neighbours.
The goal has always been to help others to be able to enjoy doing chores again.
So how about you? Do you hinge or do round when you shovel snow. Do you enjoy doing chores?