In addition to being one of our amazing LMTs, Molly-Grace Rea also operates a cut flower CSA out of her farm-home in Sherwood, OR — so she’s no stranger to the work of tending a robustly growing garden throughout the summer. And if you’re a gardener yourself, you know we don’t use the word WORK lightly!
Though gardening is so rewarding and often gets us into the beneficial flow state (or, “in the zone” as some say), the day-in and day-out care for our chlorophylled kin can start to take a toll on our bodies if we’re not caring for ourselves as much as we care for our plants.
Using her training and experience as a bodyworker, athlete, and professional gardener, Molly offers up some stretches that can help carry us through our gardens prolific summer months.
Molly-Grace Rea, LMT in her cut flower garden
First things first:
The most important thing to be aware of as a gardener (or, more generally, a person being active in any way!) is that you should always stretch when your body is at its warmest, ideally post-activity. Your muscles will respond to stretching better when they’re warm and pliable.
If you’re a seasoned gardener, you already know that gardening is a laborious activity and definitely qualifies as a workout! Consider doing a light, 5 minute warm-up before starting your work in the garden. If you feel that stretching pre-activity feels good to your body, be sure to start with a brisk walk or light jog around your garden area or the block in your neighborhood while you make your gardening game plan for the day. Then, you can do your dynamic stretches — saving static stretches for after your gardening session when your body is ready for them.
POST WARM-UP / PRE-GARDENING DYNAMIC STRETCHING:
These stretches are intended to get your body going, lubricate your joints, and prepare yourself for the work you’re about to do.
1. Slow Roll Downs
Start by softening your knees and tucking your chin to your chest, letting each of your vertebrae bend forward one by one, really feeling the articulations of your spine. You have lots of little tiny muscles between your vertebrae, so it’s important to wake every single one up!
Forward fold as far as you can go without pain, and let gravity pull your chest closer to your legs without pushing into the stretch.
Add in a brief straightening of your back so it’s flat and your body is at 90 degrees to activate those muscles again, and then fold forward once more. You should be able to go just a tiny bit further this time.
Take a deep breath here, and slightly bend your knees and roll back up to a standing position.
Do this a few times, until your back begins to feel noticeably a bit looser.
2. Side Bends & Thoracic Rotations
Start standing in a wide stance with your toes facing forward and your feet hip width apart.
Take both arms out to your sides and take turns tilting your torso to the side, so your hand lightly touches the knee. Try to keep your hips still so you’re really bending the sides rather than sinking into your hips to achieve this motion.
For thoracic rotations, keep the arms and legs in this position, rotate and swing your torso from side to side like you're looking from right to left with your whole torso keeping the arms out like a plane. Again, keep your hips as still as possible so your thoracic spine is what’s doing the movement!
3. Forearm / Wrist Stretch
Bring your arm out straight in front of you, palm facing down.
Take the other hand and pull your fingers down toward the ground and up toward the ceiling to stretch your forearms.
4. Low Leg Swings
Holding on to something for support, stand on one leg.
Slightly bend the leg off the ground and swing it forward and backward. Really try to let the muscles go and let gravity and momentum create the swing.
Let momentum take your leg a little higher and higher every swing.
Open your leg out to the side and do this side to side as well, swinging your leg across your body and outward.
POST-GARDENING STATIC STRETCHING:
Now you get to relax and relieve those tight muscles! These stretches work best in 20-30 second intervals with rest in between. Remember not to sit in your stretches for more than 20-30 seconds at a time. I suggest doing the stretches in sets, visiting each one several times in rotation.
1. Lunges / Runner’s Stretch
This one is important for low back pain! If you’ve been bending over or kneeling, you may experience low back pain during or after spending time in the garden. It’s important to open the front of the hips if you’ve been spending a lot of time shortening them in these positions!
Lunge forward with the front knee tracking over the toes. * Don’t let your knee go past your toes! Keep your leg at a 90 degree angle.
If you want to deepen the stretch, slide your back leg out farther but don’t push into your front knee.
Intensify or specify the stretch further by raising the same arm as the back leg and reaching over to the opposite side, slightly arching the top of the back as though you’re lifting your chest to the sky. Feel free to hold onto something sturdy for balance so you can really relax into the stretch.
Hold for 20-30 seconds, taking deep belly breaths.
2. Child’s Pose
Another good one for low back pain!
Starting on your hands and knees, shift your weight back into your toes & fold in the front of the hips, sending your buttocks back to your heels and your face to your knees.
Keep your arms stretched out in front of you. Really reach the fingers as far as you can to intensify the stretch.
Try walking the hands over to each side to get into some of those oblique abdominal muscles.
3. Quads Stretch
This stretch is an oldie but a goodie.
Standing on one leg, pick up your foot with the same hand, bringing it as close as possible to your buttocks while keeping your knees as close together as possible. It’s important to try and keep the hips square & knees together!
4. Calf Stretches
Facing a wall, place one foot behind the other & push against the wall, bending the front knee.
Play around with the distance of your back foot from your front. Bringing the back foot farther away from the front will deepen the stretch.
Bend the back knee to access deeper muscles & the achilles tendon.
5. Glute Stretches / Figure 4 Pose
Sit with your legs straight in front of you. Bend one leg, turn it out, resting your ankle just above your opposite knee (like making a number 4).
Now, bend the knee that is straight on the floor, folding your hands behind your knee and pulling your knee to your chest. You can stay here in this positon, or intensify the stretch by laying on your back and pulling the knee even closer to your chest.
You should feel the stretch in glutes / on the sides of your buttocks or hips, or even deeper in your sits bones area depending on how tight you are in certain areas.
6. Pec Stretch
Standing in a door frame, make a field goal shape with the arms and hold onto the door frame on both sides.
Now start to walk through the door slightly, keeping tension on the door frame.
LAST BIT OF ADVICE: DON’T PUSH IT!
Something to always remember while stretching is that the intention is not to push your joints into positions where they are compromised. Rather, we are aiming to activate and release the muscles that support the joints, reminding the brain that muscles know how to function healthily! Pushing yourself into a stretch or staying in a stretch for too long can actually irritate the muscles, tendons, and ligaments surrounding your joints, putting you at higher risk for injury. So: don’t push it! Stretching should feel good (albeit somewhat uncomfortable), but not painful! If you start to feel pain, STOP!
Massage therapy, acupuncture, and cupping can support us in keeping our bodies feeling good as we garden! If you’re recovering from an injury, have a nagging pain spot, or want to get ahead by focusing on prevention, we’re here for you.
AUTHOR: Molly-Grace Rea, LMT. Learn more about Molly here.
