Shoveling snow isn’t very fun. But when you get unexpected snowstorms, shoveling snow is often unavoidable. In areas where snow is no stranger, it’s ill-advised to allow even the most meager snowfall to go unshoveled in your driveway, lest it later melt and refreeze. The resulting sheet of ice becomes a slipping hazard. While you can apply ice-melt products to it after the fact, why waste the money?
The stretching you had you do above is just step #1 in snow shoveling the safe way. Once you step outside and start wielding your shovel, remember the following:
- Bend your knees and lift with your legs.
- As you lift the snow, keep the shovel blade close to you, to reduce back strain.
- Switch off between snow shoveling right-handed and left-handed, so that you’re working different muscles.
- Periodically change your grip on the hand holding the bar (palm under vs. palm over).
When the snowfall is heavy (1 foot in depth, let’s say), don’t try to clean right down to the ground with a single scoop. Instead, skim the top 6 inches off, then scoop up the bottom 6 inches. Otherwise, you could be hurting yourself by lifting too much.