NAMASTE, GARDENERS, AND WELCOME TO LEVEL 3 ADVANCED YOGA. Or so it feels after a spring day in the garden when the body isn’t really ready for such shock, and you have that “maybe I should have taken the beginner class” feeling. Ouch! Apparently Mr. and Mrs. Andre have some experience with this phenomenon.
“Over the last two weekends, Mrs. Andre and I have weeded the front of the house and dug up a square patch in the side garden in preparation for a simple gravel/pavers patio,” Mr. Andre the Doodler wrote the other day. “On Sunday, neither one of us could move. We had forgotten how physically exhausting gardening was. But oh we were pleased with what we did.”
And that last bit, kind reader, is what really counts. Om.
How timely! I spent yesterday weeding, cultivating, and pulling out many woody vines from the backyard with bare hands and elbow grease. When I woke up this morning and couldn’t hardly move I thought, “By the end of the summer I will probably have a rockin’ body. This hurts.” Yep, it’s that time of year again, but all the work is so worth it.
To heck with “maybe I should have taken the beginner class”! What about “maybe I should have taken some Advil”?!!!
Oh, yeah, the first forays reintroduce so many muscles I forgot I had. But you’re right, Emily, it will all be back in tune by the end of the summer!
My hubby is doing Weight Watchers online, and he was all “you get one exercise point for weeding??” And I said, “hell yes – try *planting!*” :)
After a whole day of “Garden Yoga” I look like Andre’s little exhausted bulbs. Can’t move, can hardly stay upright, can’t wait for some Advil and some heat on my aching back.
And then CAN’T WAIT to go out and do it all again!!
I love this post and the cartoon! I know the feeling well!!
Welcome, Carol; hilarious, right? I am always startled the first weeks of active garden chores at how out of it I am, and how all these places I forgot having now hurt. See you soon again, after we both get off the heating pad. :)
Looks like me last night after I spent a couple hours planting tomatoes. I couldn’t straighten up afterwards. Oh the price we pay for fresh veggies!
Suzanne
My wife and i are preparing to do it all again this weekend. Apart from walking the dog i think it is one of most favorite things to do – one of the only things that stops my brain from thinking about everything and anything.
My chiropractor loves me during this time of the year.
Love the doodle!
I fear that one day I won’t be able to bend back up, and will in effect have planted myself in a perennial bed. They may find me. They may not.
I’m with you sister! We also have the horrific winds to fight with, so standing up straight is risky business. Ah… at least it isn’t snowing like it is at my daughter’s place.
I had this wonderful plan to sign up for a 1/2 marathon for May 2nd, it would keep me out of the flower beds while they were still too wet to work in. So I really can’t go out and do major garden chores until after Sunday. I will recover from the run and then watch out garden! Right now I just bend over and look, no digging.
Oh, it has been a long time since I have bent over like that, I am reduced to a little stool and even that does not help these days!
On top of that the feet-yikes! Getting older and gardening is a hard combo.
Every spring I wonder where some of the muscles that ache so much came from. Did they decide to spend the winter in the Bahamas? And if they did why didn’t they take the rest of me with them?
I am so with Terryk!!! Even the sitting is hard on the knees and feet (all that bracing to pull the lovely weeds). I use an old metal milk crate and have had to add a pillow for cushioning. Any suggestions, Margaret? Besides four foot high raised beds?
I hate to hear that you are experiencing post-gardening soreness, but would like to know what specific areas are sore. Low back, knees, legs? I’m working on my next Fit to Garden program and would absolutely love your feedback. How do you relax following a long day of gardening? Hot bath, stretch, faint on the couch?
Love your site! :)
Welcome, Stacy. Nothing tragic here, or unexpected. I garden on a steep piece of land, so getting back in training pushing things uphill is one issue after winter. As for aches, the first days I just always laugh at all the temporary Achilles’ heels (though not in the foot). If you rake all day, you get one-sided aches; if you bend pulling thousands of weeds you get another. For many people I think it’s the crouching/kneeling that’s hardest (not my problem, but I hear a lot of those complaints).
I’ve noticed that weeding behind plants while standing on the lawn is a lot like downward facing dog.
After finishing up the herb garden earlier today, I can barely move my fingers. I’m afraid to start dinner because I will probably cut myself. At least I don’t have to cut snap peas!
I did a post a few months ago on exercises for gardeners for exactly this reason. :) http://www.nwedible.com/2012/03/the-7-best-strength-exercises-for-gardeners.html
Thanks, Erica. Probably better than aspirin every night! :)