Winter is an inevitable part of living in the mid-west. Usually winter means less movement as we spend more time indoors. Wintertime also means fun things like the first snowfall; holidays spent with family and friends and some time to relax and unwind as we prepare for a new year! Unfortunately, with the fun events of the holiday season also brings some common injuries that I see often during these times.
The most common injuries are: drumroll please….
1.) Getting the giant turkey out of the oven low back injury
2.) The overzealous shoveler shoulder and back injury
3.) Finding your inner kid injury ie. Hopping on the new skateboard you bought for your 12-year-old to only end up on the ground with an injured rotator cuff
Each winter season, I add to the list of common wintertime mishaps. ☹ Try to avoid these disastrous injuries with the help of the three exercises below!
This is very important when bending to get the turkey out of the oven and/or when shoveling the snow! Make sure to stand with your hips about shoulder width apart and knees slightly bent. Contract your core and hinge forward from the hips (as seen in 2nd picture) make to sure keep back flat. Perform about 2x15reps, 3x week.
If we are going to trying out our kids skateboards or other fun toys this season, it is important we have good balance in order to prevent falls. This simple exercise stems from the first exercise, the proper hip hinge. Start on one leg and simply hinge from your waist and reach across your body as shown in the picture and the return to a standing position. You want to repeat 10x on each leg for 2 sets.
This exercise is a great way to work on your deep core strength and improve your stability. When doing heavy lifting such as shoveling snow, we want our deep core muscles to be strong to help protect our back. The only piece of equipment you need for this is some type of resistance band that you can anchor on to the outside of a door handle. Try to perform 2 sets of 15 reps facing each direction.
