Safety Tips for Snow Shoveling

Safety Tips for Snow Shoveling Dr. Travis Stork: Our next topic is something a lot of spouses argue about. Who in the world should take out the trash but what about this winter dispute? Male: As you can see, we get tons of snow every year and it just keeps piling up. Female: My husband and I start to fight over who is going to shovel it all because ours backs start to really hurt us. Do you have any suggestions on how we can protect our back better? Dr. Travis Stork: So, I know a thing or two about snow. Dr. Jim Sears: Yeah, you grew up in Colorado, right? Dr. Travis Stork: A lot of time of shoveling. Dr. Jim Sears: Yeah, a lot of — Dr. Travis Stork: So shoveling, it is good exercise and I like to do it but men and women have to be aware, some people say that the chance of heart attack is tripled while you are shoveling snow. Dr. Jim Sears: Because you really exert yourself. Dr. Travis Stork: Big time! So if you have chest pain or anything like that, call your doctor, stop shoveling, but here is the most important thing, a great tip. Shovel early. Do not get the snow get really condensed, because it is lighter initially. Good shoes, not the shoes we are wearing right now, shoulder width apart, okay, and when you grab the shovel, do not have your hands too close together, you want to create some twitch so spread them out and then the most important thing to protect your back is do not bend at your waist, bend with you legs. Dr. Jim Sears: Yeah, make sure you have a good shovel with a nice long handle, with that thing, you would probably hurt yourself, right? Dr. Travis Stork: Yeah, so you go ahead and start shoveling, Jim. Use your legs, do not bend at your back and the whole idea is to use your core. This is good snow. Dr. Jim Sears: Yeah, that’s nice.