By: The InMotion Team
It’s late July in Shrewsbury, and if you take a walk through any local neighborhood on a sunny weekend, you’ll hear lawnmowers humming, trimmers running, and see homeowners tackling heavy landscaping projects.
While outdoor chores are a great way to stay active, they also happen to be one of the leading causes of mid-summer emergency visits to physical therapists and chiropractors.
At InMotion Personal Training, we treat yard work for what it actually is: a multi-hour, high-demand athletic event. Moving heavy bags of soil, pulling stubborn weeds, and wrestling with string trimmers require bending, rotating, lifting, and holding asymmetric loads—often for hours at a time. Here is the functional breakdown of why your lower back gets cranky during weekend chores and how to protect your spine this summer.
The "Bending + Twisting" Red Zone
Your spine is built to handle significant force when it stays in a neutral, supported position. What it hates—and what often leads to disc bulges or severe muscle spasms—is flexion combined with rotation (bending forward at the waist while twisting to one side).
Think about how most people pull a weed or toss a shovelful of mulch: they round their back, reach across their body, and yank. When you repeat that pattern dozens of times, your core stabilization shuts down and your lower back muscles are forced to take on loads they weren't designed to support alone.
The 3 Rules of Functional Yard Work
To keep your back feeling great through the rest of the summer season, implement these three movement adjustments:
Hinge at the Hips, Not the Spine: When picking up heavy pots, bags of mulch, or equipment, push your hips back like you're sitting into a chair. Keep your chest up and let your glutes and hamstrings—the largest, strongest muscles in your body—do the heavy lifting instead of your lower back.
Pivot Your Feet when Twisting: Never keep your feet planted on the ground while turning to dump weeds or dirt. Instead, pick up your feet and pivot your entire body in the direction you are moving. If your belly button turns with your toes, your lower back stays completely safe.
Switch Sides Frequently: Holding a line trimmer or leaf blower on one side of your body for an hour creates massive muscular imbalance. Force yourself to switch your grip and side every 15 minutes to evenly distribute the mechanical workload across your core.
Build a Back That Handles Real Life
You shouldn't have to spend your Sunday evening flat on your back with an ice pack just because you wanted your yard to look nice. By building baseline core stability and proper hip hinge mechanics inside the gym, everyday chores become effortless.
Tired of feeling tight or fearful of throwing out your back during summer activities? Let us help you build a resilient, pain-free body. Click below to book a private, 75-minute Consultation and Movement Assessment at our Maple Ave studio today.
