Well, first of all, the muscles running up and down our backs can become overly tight and their vertical orientation causes a compressive force on the spine.

This compression is applied to both the disks and the joints of the vertebrae.

This can essentially squeeze out the water in the disc as well as reduce the already limited blood supply of the outer annulus. Long term, this can lead to a degenerative disc.

Of course, poor posture is a major contributing factor to tightness in the paraspinal muscles. If you’re not properly aligned, they have to work extremely hard to support you against gravity and they are not designed to support. It is the muscles that comprise your core that should be supporting your spine.

The paraspinals are intended primarily for movement, not stability.

As a group, the core muscles act as a corset drawing in and up to not only stabilize the spine but to decompress it.

***Imagine a Chinese-finger-trap: as it is pulled tight, it narrows and lengthens!

So, with constant, resting tension in our core, breathing should occur in the ribcage.

One of the reasons that the upper back becomes so tight is that we breathe through our bellies, which reduces our core stability, and we do not utilize the upward and downward movement of the ribs for breathing!

As the ribs move up and down they act as mobilizers of the thoracic spine!

To take it one step further, an immobile thoracic spine will negatively affect the shoulders and the neck as joint alignment in these areas is subsequently altered and therefore destructive movement patterns are created to compensate.

***Hunch forward just a little bit and see how high you can raise your arms. Also notice what happens to the neck and head in order to keep looking forwards!

So be careful when you shovel snow as this is a combined bend and twist against a load.

We often shovel in the morning when hopefully our discs are hopefully the most hydrated, and overall, our body is stiff from sleeping and therefore may not move efficiently.

Whenever you have to bend forward, hip hinge.

This is the traditional mechanics of a deadlift.

You send your hips and butt backward while reaching the upper body forward in a “long line “.

***Of course, your knees should be slightly bent and your stance wide.

You can also utilize your breathing to optimize course stability.

The core tightens on an exhale. So, inhale as you place the shovel down, and exhale as you lift it full of snow.