Since this is our first snow storm of the season, I thought a quick review of how to properly shovel snow might be in order. As usual, I used the Google machine to try to find out if I was doing it right.
The first step recommended was to assess your health. I failed at this once before, so I don’t really trust my judgement. And trying to get a professional to do this will not happen before the snow needs to be moved. In fact, the snow will be long melted before that happens. So let’s just move on.
Step two is assess the situation in case you need a snow blower or plow. If I had one of those things I wouldn’t be shoveling.
Step three is to stretch before you shovel, just as you would stretch before running a race or lifting weights is what it says. Since I do neither of those things I’m not sure what this means. But sure. I’ll stretch a few things. I’m on my third cup of coffee so my elbow is getting pretty limber.
Step four is to dress appropriately. I live in Nova Scotia. This ain’t my first snow storm. I have that part figured out.
The actual shoveling tips were a bit more helpful. They say to avoid excessive bending and twisting. Use your legs instead of your back. Don’t lift too much at one time and take rest and stretch breaks. That is really good with snow like we seem to have today, which is pretty wet and heavy. Don’t try to clear it all in one shovel full. Take small shovels full and don’t rush it.
I found a couple sites which seem to offer similar advice. But they all seem to miss one important snow shoveling technique. Finding a neighbourhood kid who wants to earn a few bucks. That usually makes it much easier.
