How to Rake Leaves Like a Champ!

It’s that time of year again. The autumn colors are spread across your yard and whispering your name. “Rake me, Mark. Rake me, Mark.” Or it is a typical weekend in which you find yourself picking up messes around the house caused by your fluffy pet or young kids. You are being summoned by the carpet to

When not performed optimally, many of our bodies can struggle with these repetitive household tasks. Your own experience may vary from simply some back tightness to a full-on hands and knees crawling episode for several days after picking up that last autumn leaf. Let’s talk about how you can tackle these routine and repetitive tasks safely with the body mechanics of an elite athlete!

Here is a breakdown of some key components of raking and vacuuming that will help you stay strong and injury free.

The Footwork—I’m not a great dancer, but when I’m raking leaves or vacuuming my house, I need to be! It is important to move your feet in a stride stepping pattern to generate power with each push and pull of your arm. You cannot allow your feet to be stuck in mud!
The Push/Pull—The power generated through your arms into the rake is a full-body motion. Do not let your arms to all the work. Utilize your footwork to generate the power and allow your arms to follow along. Leveraging your larger, more powerful, leg muscles will make your back much happier.
Trunk Position—Keep your trunk stacked and in neutral. Your spine is a conduit for power, but the power is generated through your legs. You may do well with a slight trunk lean forward from the hips, however, too much of a good thing can have its consequences. Avoid twisting and leveraging the movement through your spine.

When asked about this seasonal chore ProOrtho’s Dr. Edward Jung said, “many times household activities are not full appreciated to the strength and mobility they require.” He adds that under appreciated is the use of the hips and neutral spine position with both raking and vacuuming.”. With these three concepts in mind--and with some practice—you should be able to turn these routine household activities into movements your body can conquer. If you have additional questions or need help to modify your form around an existing injury, please reach out to a physical therapist for help. Physical therapists are trained in providing body mechanics education for nearly any task and can provide you with the knowledge to move through life with confidence.

“Being active is something that many people don’t appreciate until they are unable to accomplish simple tasks.”

— Dr. Christopher Boone, MD

With these three concepts in mind--and with some practice—you should be able to turn these routine household activities into movements your body can conquer. If you have additional questions or need help to modify your form around an existing injury, please reach out to a physical therapist for help. Physical therapists are trained in providing body mechanics education for nearly any task and can provide you with the knowledge to move through life with confidence. A PT is able to determine which of these factors may be causing your symptoms and they will develop a plan of care to help you return to the activities you enjoy.

“The kneecap—or patellofemoral—area is can be a pain generator for a number of reasons. The kneecap is a small bone but bears a great deal of load. During certain activities, 3 to 6 times a person’s body weight may be placed across the patellofemoral joint. ribute to patellofemoral knee pain.”

— Dr. Camille Clinton, MD

Focused exercise that targets mobility and strengthening of the core, hips, and thigh is the standard of care. The gains in strength must be integrated into newly-learned motor control strategies that optimize your biomechanics and reduce the stress to the front of the knee. A graded return to activity will be critical to your success to ensure that your strength gains and movement patterns progress in unison as you increase your loading. By applying what you learn while working with a physical therapist, you will have many of the tools to successfully improve your function, decrease pain, and clear the yard :)