A day of gardening is several hours of repeated loaded forward bending, interspersed with lifting awkward objects, usually done by someone who has spent the preceding week sitting down. The back complaint that follows is not a sign of weakness or age. It is a predictable response to a sudden change in load.
The two things that help most are preparing for ten minutes beforehand and breaking up the bending during, not the stretching afterwards that everyone concentrates on.
Why it happens
Three mechanisms, all mundane.
Sustained flexion. Weeding, planting and digging all involve holding the spine in a forward bend, sometimes for minutes at a time. Held flexion is tiring for the tissues at the back of the spine in a way that repeated movement is not.
Sudden unaccustomed load. A bag of compost is twenty-five kilos lifted from ground level, at an awkward angle, by someone whose heaviest lift that month was a laptop bag.
Kneeling and squatting for hours. Which the knees and hips of a mostly sedentary week have not been asked for.
The spring and autumn pattern in the UK makes it worse: five months of doing very little outdoors, then a full Saturday of it the first weekend it is dry.
Before you start: ten minutes
Genuinely the highest-return part of this article.
Get the spine moving in every direction, cat and cow, side bends, gentle rotations both ways. Two or three minutes.
Open the front of the hips, half-kneeling with the tailbone tucked, both sides. Two minutes. Hips that extend properly mean the back does less of the bending.
Squat and stand a few times, and practise a hip hinge, hands on the front of the thighs, sliding down as the hips go back and the spine stays long. That pattern is the one you want to use all day instead of rounding.
Wake the glutes up with a couple of sets of bridges. Ninety seconds, and it changes which muscles do the lifting.
During: the part that actually matters
Change position every fifteen or twenty minutes. Kneel, then stand, then squat, then walk somewhere. Nothing about gardening is harmful; staying in one loaded position for forty minutes is.
Stand up and extend gently backwards a few times an hour, hands on the lower back, a small arch. It takes five seconds and it directly counters the accumulated flexion.
Use a kneeler or a folded cushion. Knees, again, are the most easily solved problem here.
Lift with the hips: feet close to the object, hips back, spine long, and let the legs do it. And split heavy bags rather than carrying them whole, which is the least macho and most effective advice on this page.
Afterwards
Gentle, not aggressive. A spine that has been in flexion all day does not want a deep forward fold at the end of it.
Lie down and let the knees drop side to side slowly. Gentle extension, lying on your front propped on your forearms for a minute or two, if comfortable. Hip flexor length both sides. Legs up the wall for five minutes. Slow breathing.
If you are sore the next morning, move gently rather than resting completely. General stiffness after unaccustomed activity settles faster with movement.
When it is not just stiffness
Back pain with numbness, pins and needles or weakness in a leg, pain following a fall, pain that is severe or getting worse, or any change in bladder or bowel function needs medical attention rather than stretching. Ordinary post-gardening stiffness eases over a couple of days; these do not.
Questions people ask
Why does gardening hurt my back?
Mainly because it combines hours of sustained forward bending with occasional heavy, awkward lifting, done by people who have been much less active in the preceding weeks. It is a response to an abrupt change in load rather than a sign of damage.
What should I do before a day of gardening?
Ten minutes: spinal movement in all directions, hip flexor length on both sides, a few squats, and practising a hip hinge so you bend from the hips rather than rounding the back. Plus a couple of sets of glute bridges.
Is it better to stretch before or after gardening?
Before matters more, and so does breaking up the position during. Afterwards, keep it gentle. A spine that has been flexed all day does not want a deep forward fold. Gentle extension and hip work suit it better.
How do I lift heavy bags safely?
Feet close to the bag, hips back, spine long, and let the legs do the work rather than the lower back. Split heavy bags into smaller loads where possible; two trips is considerably cheaper than a week of back pain.
A senior yoga teacher at IndieVeda, teaching one-to-one sessions live from India.