Gardening is a useful activity that can help maintain your quality of life. It can be a beneficial exercise to reduce stress and is also an excellent activity for maintaining joint flexibility, when it is correctly carried out.
General Tips
Before beginning any physical activity, you should talk to your doctor, who can suggest beneficial stretches that will warm-up your muscles and relax your joints, before launching into the activity.
Try to work during the time of day that you feel best. For example, if you feel stiff in the morning, then save gardening activities for the afternoon.
Cushion your joints from any laborious gardening by wearing gloves and kneepads to provide protection from cold ground, low temperatures and gardening tools.
When possible, use larger, stronger joints and muscles. For example, reduce the pressure on your fingers and thumbs by using the palms of your hands to push or pull instead.
Lift any size object by bending at the knees and keeping your back as straight as possible. Holding items close to your body will reduce stress on your joints.
Don't make things hard for yourself, use low-maintenance plants such as perennials instead of annuals, especially in hard-to-reach areas of the garden.
Reduce the need to water daily by using mulch in the garden.
Weed the garden after a spot of rain, as moist soil has less resistance, making it easier to pull up stubborn weeds.
Always ask for help with big tasks that may be difficult for you to carry out on your own, this will avoid causing excess stress.
Tools
Sharp pruners make cutting easier and reduce the pressure on your hands.
Minimise the need for bending to pick up tools by wearing a carpenter's apron with several pockets in which you can carry small tools.
For larger tools and supplies use a wheelbarrow or cart, remember to bend from the knee and keep your back as straight as possible when initially lifting.
Widen fiddly tool handles with foam tubing or grip tape to make them easier to grasp.
Small, lightweight children's sized tools may be easier to use when working close to the soil, making close proximity tasks manageable.
Posture
Joints and muscles are in their most stable position when you hold good posture.
Try to avoid repetitive tasks that require working in the same position for long periods of time. If this is unavoidable, take hourly breaks to stretch - this will help to reduce stiffness and ease tension.
When possible, keep your back straight. For example, when working close to the soil place only one of your knees on the ground. A stool or floor pad can also be useful.
Minimise the need to bend with raised flower beds, trellises and vertical gardens. If you do need to tend plants that are low down, use long handled tools which enable you to do so with a straight back.
Gardening is a useful activity that can help maintain your quality of life. It can be a beneficial exercise to reduce stress and is also an excellent activity for maintaining joint flexibility, when it is correctly carried out.
Before beginning any physical activity, you should talk to your doctor, who can suggest beneficial stretches that will warm-up your muscles and relax your joints, before launching into the activity.
Sharp pruners make cutting easier and reduce the pressure on your hands.
Joints and muscles are in their most stable position when you hold good posture.