Fall and winter outdoor home maintenance can provide you with a real workout. Raking leaves and shoveling snow burns just as many calories as traditional exercises like running and bicycling. Also, just like traditional forms of exercise, raking leaves can get you working up a sweat. Unfortunately, it can make you more prone to injury because of the repetitive twisting and turning movements combined with lifting heavy loads. Read on to learn why you should relax after raking the lawn and how to do it with massage therapy.
Lawn Raking Can Stress the Body
Although lawn raking does provide the body with a workout that can actually make you healthier, it can also be dangerous. No real guidelines exist to teach people how to rake safely, unlike most exercises, which have known ways to be performed safely or unsafely. Often people will experience back pain as a result of raking and bending over repeatedly while doing yard work. People can also pull back muscles or sustain back injuries as a result of filling leaf bags too full and attempting to carry bags that are too heavy or lifting them using improper techniques.
Relaxing the Muscles after Raking
After raking, doing something to relax the muscles will help to prevent injury or can help an injury to heal faster. Getting a massage after lawn raking can help to loosen up any muscles that have become tight as a result of lifting, bending and raking movements. Stretching while raking can also help muscles from becoming too tight and causing stress on the body. Taking a hot bath after raking provides another way to relax tight muscles after raking.
Benefits of Massage
Therapeutic massage has been documented to alleviate back pain and to improve one’s range of motion. Professional athletes who have sustained injuries frequently undergo massage therapy as one method of treating the injury and aiding in speedy healing. Massage also stimulates the lymphatic system, which enhances your body’s immune system and increases its ability to fight disease. Moreover, massage naturally stretches tight muscles, reduces spasms, cramps, inflammation and swelling, and it also promotes the regeneration of tissue. Best of all, receiving a massage also induces your body to release endorphins, a pain-killing chemical that your body produces naturally.
If you’re looking to obtain a massage for health and relaxation, search TalkLocal to find a professional massage therapist.
