Prepare your muscles and joints for the rigors of yardwork with gentle motions prior to the activity. As with all exercise, there should be no pain, numbness or tingling. If you experience any of those, stop immediately. For all of these suggested exercises, do them on the right and left sides (i.e., both legs or arms).
Certain areas of your body and muscle groups benefit from specific exercises. You might want to print this safety share and post it in your garage or near your gardening tools as a reminder.
Prior to starting your yard work, consider exercising:
- Back of the legs
- Front of the legs
- Arms, with arm circles
- Back, with back bends, extensions or rotations
- Front and back of thigh muscles
This safety share, courtesy of JoAnn “Joni” Garcia (HEW) and Katherine “Kathy” Obmascik (CPA) provides additional tips. Please print this information and use it to help kick off a team discussion at your next meeting with colleagues or staff.
All employees are encouraged to submit safety shares for inclusion in the Safety Share Library, available on Box. Submission details are available on Inside Argonne.
Each month a safety share submitted by an individual will be selected to receive a Spot Award for demonstrated safety leadership. The Spot Award program offers three award levels: gold ($100), silver ($50) and bronze ($25).