If you live in an area that gets a lot of snow, you may invest in a snowblower to clear your driveway and walkways. But if you live somewhere that only gets snow occasionally or you simply like the fresh-air exercise that comes from removing snow manually, then you’ll be clearing the white stuff with a trusty shovel.
Anyone who’s ever shoveled snow knows that the task requires a lot of effort — equivalent to running. Along with that effort comes the risk of injuries and even death. Each year roughly 11,500 people visit the emergency room for snow-shoveling-related incidents, and around 100 die from a snow-shoveling-triggered heart attack. The job is hard on the ticker not only because it gets the heart pumping vigorously, but because cold weather also raises blood pressure, restricts arteries, and increases the likelihood of blood clots.
You should only be shoveling if you’re healthy, and even then, to avoid throwing your back out and to simply make the job quicker and less arduous, it pays to know how to shovel efficiently and effectively. The above tips can help with that.
If you’re expecting a lot of snow, don’t wait for it to stop falling before you start shoveling. It will be easier to shovel one fresh layer off and then a second a few hours later, then it will be to face a thick accumulated mass of it, especially if you allow it to be packed and trampled down before you begin the removal process.
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