Gardening with lower back pain and the positions and habits that help
Nicola Tik
Lower back pain is the most common MSK complaint among gardeners, and it is easy to understand why. Many of the most fundamental gardening tasks ask the lower back to sustain positions and manage loads that are genuinely challenging for that area. This article looks at what tends to load the lower back during gardening and the practical adjustments that make a real difference.
The lower back is most challenged when it is held in a flexed or rotated position under load for a sustained period. Gardening delivers exactly that combination repeatedly. Weeding, planting, and working at ground level all involve leaning forward from the waist for extended periods. Digging asks the lower back to manage significant force through rotation and flexion simultaneously. Even tasks that seem relatively light, like raking or hoeing, involve sustained forward lean that loads the lower back continuously over time.
The problem is not usually any single movement but the accumulation of that demand across a session. A lower back that manages the first hour of gardening comfortably can become significantly more uncomfortable by the third hour as the muscles fatigue and the joints have been sustaining load for an extended period.
Getting lower to the work rather than bending down to it makes one of the most consistent differences to lower back load during gardening. Kneeling rather than bending forward, using a low stool or gardening seat for ground-level tasks, and working from a half-kneel rather than a forward bend all reduce the sustained flexion through the lower back considerably.
For tasks at ground level, alternating between kneeling on one knee and the other, and taking regular short breaks to stand and move gently, prevents the build-up of fatigue in the lower back muscles that comes from maintaining any single position for too long.
Digging is one of the most demanding tasks for the lower back and worth approaching deliberately. Keeping the dig short and controlled rather than attempting to move large volumes of earth in one effort, using the legs to drive the spade rather than the lower back, and switching the leading foot regularly to distribute the rotational demand more evenly across both sides of the body all reduce the load on the lower back through this task.
Tool length is a practical factor worth considering. Tools with longer handles allow more upright working positions for tasks like hoeing, raking, and planting, which reduces the sustained forward lean that shorter tools tend to require.
During a period of lower back pain, choosing tasks that allow more upright working positions and avoiding sustained ground-level work gives the lower back a chance to settle without stepping away from the garden entirely. Deadheading, light pruning at waist height, and watering are all tasks that can often be managed comfortably even during a flare-up.
Breaking sessions into shorter efforts with rest in between, rather than a single long session, tends to keep the lower back from reaching the point of significant fatigue that is when pain tends to worsen most.
Many people find that some gentle movement before a gardening session, a short walk or some easy hip and trunk mobility work, helps the lower back feel more comfortable from the outset rather than stiffening up through the early part of a session.
If you would like to try a guided exercise for the lower back and hips, VIDA has a short video you can follow at your own pace.