Go Ergonomic — Garden with
Low Strain and Less Pain
6 Tips for Ergonomic, Less Pain Gardening & 15 Fantastic Ergonomic Garden Tools for Cutting, Cultivating and More
Using ergonimic tools is helping us keep on the job longer, with less effort and strain. Working in the garden has become one of the major hobbies in the United States and good for us. There is one little drawback, though. Body aches and pains. Using ergonomic tools can help you avoid strain and injury.
There are two reasons for this. Gardening requires range of motion and repetitive motion.
Ergonomic tools are designed to assist us with both for a more pleasant experience when doing garden and landscape chores.
While there are many adaptive ergonomic tools for special needs gardening, ergonomically designed tools are not just for the Geritol Generation. As a postindustrial society we don’t get the same range of motion exercise we once did. Ergonomic equipment helps do the work for us.
Ergonomic tools are the remedy for increasing this range of motion. Workouts at the gym rarely address this type of body design need. Consequently, when we go out to garden we often come back in sore.
Additionally, gardening also often requires that we do small motion tasks over and over, such as when weeding. This requires the same muscle and joint groups to repeatedly work to provide force. Using an ergonomic tool reduces injury caused by repetitive motion.
This repetitive motion or motion frequently performed out of alignment can cause Cumulative Trauma Disorders (CTD), which is a growing problem.
In order to combat these trend people are turning to ergonomically designed tools. Everyone who gardens will love the comfort, ease of use and increased stamina that ergonomic tools provide.
By design, ergonomic tools keep the body part being used in a neutral position. What this does is to align the tool and the body while reducing stress and strain on joints and muscles. Ergonomically designed tools also require use less force to do the same amount of work, so less likelihood there is of sustaining CTD injury.
- Comfortable grip
- Ease of use
- Extra leverage
- Extended reach
- Stress relief for muscles in the hands, arms, wrists, ankles, knees and/or back
- If or when it hurts, stop…at least for a little while. If after a rest you don’t see improvement, just call it a day. It is important to listen to your body.
- It only takes about a half hour of repetitive activity, say weeding, to cause stress induced fatigue in the muscles and joints being used. . A five minute break will allow the built up lactic acid to be reduced and you can go on with your chores in no time.
- The right size is very important. How can you decide what’s right for you? Make a circle with your thumb and index finger. This is the size grip you should use for your tool. As you can see, size matters. Try to find tools with a depression or ridge in the handle for you thumb to rest on, this will keep your hand in the proper alignment.
- Clean, sharp tools need less force and will conserve energy.
- . Learn what the neutral position for your joints are and keep them there as much as possible to prevent stress.
- Padded, pliable handles and non slip surfaces are best for reducing grip strain.
Without the proper tools every gardener knows that garden success is so much more difficult, if not impossible.
We have been shopping around for the very best in ergonomic tools for almost every activity in the landscape and garden. Here are some recommendations for fifteen excellent ergonomic tools on the market today. You will find them at better garden centers or online at sites as MasterGardening.com.
Can You Dig It? Ergonomic Cultivating Tools for Every Body.
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