5 ways to prep your body for Victoria Day gardening

Victoria Day marks the beginning of Ontario's gardening season and local green-thumbs are ready to put their shovels in the ground, but a Kitchener chiropractor is reminding residents to prepare their bodies before they tackle any gardening project.

• 5 gardening tips for Victoria Day weekend

Dr. Steven Murdoch of Fairway Chiropractic Centre said gardeners should keep the acronym B-A-C-K-S in mind this May long weekend:

B: Bendyour knees

"Whenever you're lifting, you bend the knees, because the strength comes from thigh, the core muscles and the buttock muscles as well. That's where your strength comes from. So, if your knees are not bent, then you're not using those big strong muscles."

A: move Around

"Move your feet like a basketball player does. You don't twist your spine, because a lot of injuries take place with that twisting action."

C:keep things Close

"Keep things as close to your body as you possibly can, because if you reach for something it's like 100 times the force generated on your spine. I often tell people to imagine velcro-ing their elbows to their body. By doing that, you're forced to use your body, and you're not reaching for things."

K: Keepfit

"Do some jumping jacks. Take a break from the action and take a walk. Maybe sit back and appreciate all the work you've done and what it looks like. That's what I like about cutting the grass. It takes half-an-hour and I look at it and think, 'Wow. It really looks great!'"

S: Spinalcare

"It's important to get your spine checked. It's not always about pain, but often people have problems in their spine and they don't even realize it until they go to a chiropractor. Then they're glad they went, because they can correct problems before they actually are a major issue."