How to Rake Leaves Without Hurting Your Back

It’s the fall! Our favourite time of the year. You can’t beat the colours: those crisp oranges, bright yellows and stunning reds of the leaves that light up the parks and yards of Toronto (and Ontario for that matter) that make this such a beautiful time of the year.

Sadly, those same beautiful leaves eventually fall, ending up on our lawns and in our gardens and for most of us that means raking, lots and lots of raking. We bend, we twist and we lift – raking certainly isn’t easy and in fact is really hard on our bodies, specifically on our lower backs. Not to mention we normally rake outside in the cold and for hours on end. Yikes! But, those leaves won’t rake themselves and this is a job that has got to get done! 

The only win here comes immediately afterwards, when we look on with pride at our now clean and leaf-free lawns and gardens, not to mention all those leaf bags stacked high – trophy like – at the curb, proof of our efforts.

Unfortunately, the highs of our raking success are often short-lived. All that bending, twisting and lifting after a day (or even a few hours) of raking eventually catches up to us, usually in the form of low back pain. This pain, stiffness and tightness is often associated with reduced mobility and can last for a few days, to at most a week or two. Ouch!

So how do you rake all those heavy, wet leaves without hurting your back? Here are 6 tips to bulletproof your back while raking:

Tip #1 Warm up before you start raking 

One of the best ways to prevent injury with an exercise (and yes, raking is exercise) is to be properly warmed up. This can be going for a brisk 5-10 minute walk first or jogging on the spot for 2 minutes. 

Tip #2 Try to minimize how forward you are bent while you’re raking

Try to stay relatively upright while you rake to allow yourself  to maintain the proper curvatures in your spine, especially your low back, which are designed to support your spine, and to protect it.

Tip #3 Stand up and straighten up

As you rake, make sure every couple of minutes you fully stand up and straighten up. This will take pressure off your low back, and help it to stay healthy, and keep you out of pain.

Tip #4 Face the leaves straight on.

When you’re raking, instead of twisting to rake the leaves beside you, move your feet and take a small step. Less twisting will put less stress on your low back, and is less likely to cause an injury.

Tip #5 Lift with your knees, not your back

When you’re bending down to pick up the leaves, make sure you’re bending with your knees, to keep your spine as upright as possible. This allows you to maintain those healthy curves in your spine, which help to minimize disc compression and possible injury.

Tip #6 Cool down afterwards

Once you’re done raking, don’t collapse into a soft couch or soft chair. This is often how people end up hurting their back, because the muscles are tired. Instead, when you’re done, do a little cool down walk for 5 or 10 minutes.