Garden shears are a vital tool for the avid gardener. The problem with them is they are actually a really daft piece of kit. The weight of the shears in addition to your arm length makes a very long lever. This is fine if you have the shoulder and arm strength of an Olympic weight lifter, but for us lesser mortals it can be an issue.
In this episode of Functional Fitness, Ali is showing you a great exercise to help strengthen your arms and shoulder girdle, so when your pesky shrubs need pruning you can brandish your garden shears effectively. https://fl-exercise.com/wp-content/uploads/Functional-Fitness-Garden-shears-final.mp4
Don’t forget, you should always be safe when pruning http://www.safegardening.co.uk/secateursshears.html
- always make sure the safety catch is on when the shears aren’t in use
- wear eye protection to stop bits of shrub falling in your eyes
- wear protective gardening gloves to prevent thorns from getting into your thumbs
- pay particular care around children and animals (they are often keen to help and the potential for snipping bits off said child or animal is high)
Shrubs get very tall so you may need to climb a ladder. Do make sure your ladder is stable before climbing. It is a good idea to have someone holding the bottom of the ladder where possible. Not only to help stabilise it but to make sure no-one comes close enough to knock you off.
Remember, we showed you Marcus’s excellent exercise for strengthening the legs for ladder work a couple of weeks ago. Here’s the link again https://fl-exercise.com/wp-content/uploads/Functional-Fitness-Climbing-a-ladder.mp4
Happy clipping !!