TGIF Gardening ergonomic tips.

Friday, I still feel like crap, but it is an all paperwork day so I can avoid inflicting my irritability on anyone else.
For those of you looking ahead to gardening this weekend, here are some ways to get through the weekend without killing yourself. (first and foremost, wear gloves!)
USE WELL DESIGNED GARDENING GLOVES AND TOOLS


Tools

- Shorter tool handles provide greater leverage control (best for small hand tools).

- Longer tool handles provide greater power and are best for jobs which require full body motion (example: loppers or pruners).

- Handles should be cylindrical in shape.

- The shape of the handle should provide equal pressure along the entire arch of the palm (contoured, not straight).

- The handle should be made of compressed rubber to minimize friction.

- If your existing tools have wooden or metal handles, consider adding padded tape such as “Wrap N Grip” or pipe insulation foam.

- Handles should be 1.25” x 1.75” in diameter and a minimum of 5” long.

- The recommended maximum distance between two handles for tools with a handle span (example: pruners/shears) is 2” to 2.7”.


To Enjoy Gardening...

- Before you begin gardening, take a few minutes to stretch to help minimize muscle soreness and the risk of tendonitis. In particular, do stretches for your arms and back.

- Let your daily physical activity level serve as your guide for how long you can garden. For example, if you are physically active 1 hour a day, you should be able to garden an hour a day.

- Be sure to drink plenty of water to avoid dehydration while you are gardening.

- Even if you do not feel fatigued, take a break for a few minutes each hour.

- Change gardening tasks frequently (at least every 30 minutes). For example, if you are weeding and using the small muscles of your hands, rotate this task with watering the flowers, hoeing or trimming the shrubs where you are using larger muscles in a standing position.

- Be sure to keep hand tools sharp with a tool sharpener (i.e. honing stone).

- Keep tools with moving parts in good working order and oiled so there is little resistance with use.

Tools that I have seen that work ( I haven’t evaluated, personally, but have heard that they help, the arthritis association also has recommendations

Circle Hoe
Extend a hand
Padded handles and handles that aren’t straight
This website has a lot of them
http://www.cleanairgardening.com/gardentools.html