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Twelve Raking Leaves Safety Tips

By Margaret Martin 4 Comments

Here are twelve safety tip for raking leaves. When fall arrives and the leaves accumulate in the yard, I encourage my patients to follow these tips — especially those with osteoporosis, osteopenia, or low back pain.

This article was last updated on October 4, 2019
  1. Face your leaves while you rake.
  2. Make a point of knowing where you are and what is around you so that you can walk backwards safely without tripping and falling.
  3. Always rake the leaves towards you.
  4. Keep your upper arms close to your body.
  5. Pull the rake using movement from your legs (not just your arms) and step back as you rake.
  6. Halfway through your job you should shift your raking activity to your other side. In other words, if you start raking from your left side then you should shift the raking effort to the right side as you cross the halfway mark of your job. This distributes the workload across your body avoiding fatigue or strain on one side of your body.
  7. Avoid movements that involve flexion of the spine and adjust (or avoid) movements that involve extreme rotation.
  8. Rotation of the body, while raking, can aggravate the back or bring on low back pain. I suggest you avoid this movement while raking.
  9. Reaching out to rake leaves and extending your body places stress on your spine. Instead, move closer to the leaves.
  10. In the video you will see that I am using a rake with a wide fan. You will also notice that I have a lot of leaves to gather and hence the need for the large fan. The challenge for many people who use large fans is that it requires a fair amount of strength.
  11. If you do not regularly include strength training in your exercise program you would be safer to use a rake with a smaller fan.
  12. It is best to rake when the leaves are dry (and light) and not when they are wet and heavy.

Benefits of Raking Leaves Safety Tips

raking leaves safety tips

Follow these twelve raking leaves safety tips and you will:

  • Reduce your risk of a compression fracture.
  • Avoid aggravating your back or neck pain raking your garden.

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About Margaret Martin

Margaret Martin is a Physical Therapist with 35 years of clinical experience. Her expertise is in the treatment and prevention of osteoporosis through exercise, safe movement and fall prevention. For the last 15 years, she has concentrated on bone health and has treated thousands of patients for their osteoporosis, osteopenia and low bone density.

Margaret is the author of three books on osteoporosis and exercise. All books are available on Amazon in both print and Kindle formats. Recently she produced an exercise workout video DVD on safe exercise for people with osteoporosis.

She is the creator of the continuing education course, Working with Osteoporosis and Osteopenia. This course is accredited by all Physical Therapy Licensing boards across the United States. Thousands of Physical Therapists in the United States, Canada and around the world have completed her training course. Margaret has trained physicians, Physical Therapists and other healthcare staff at Genesis Rehab Services, Jewish General Hospital in Montreal, Charles Lemoyne Hospital in Montreal, Ottawa Hospital Rehabilitation Centre, Bruyere Hospital in Ottawa, Osteoporosis Canada, and West Carleton Family Health in Ottawa.

Margaret graduated from the School of Physical and Occupational Therapy at McGill University in Montreal, Canada in 1984. She is licensed to practice Physical Therapy in Ontario and California.

Margaret's work in osteoporosis and Physical Therapy has been cited in a number of Physical Therapy textbooks. She has been interviewed as an expert in osteoporosis prevention and treatment by the Toronto Star, CTV Ottawa Morning Live, the Senior Rehab Project podcast, and Dr. Rebecca Risk's podcast, Falling Through the Cracks.

She has done research with McGill School of Physical Therapy into the use of a web-based exercise program for patients with osteoporosis. Margaret has presented at the Canadian Physiotherapy Association and the Ontario Physiotherapy Association on treating aging adults and osteoporosis.

She is the proud recipient of the 2011 Award of Distinction from the College of Physiotherapists of Ontario for her significant contributions and achievements as a Physiotherapist.

Margaret operates her Physical Therapy clinic, MelioGuide Physical Therapy, in Ottawa, Ontario where she focuses on patients with osteoporosis, osteopenia and low bone density.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Susan Breakiron-Lowe says

    Thank you so much for your insights to safety first. Love this article “How to Rake Leaves.” I have been following you since I found out I had osteopenia in 2008 which now advanced to osteoporosis in 2018.

  3. Richard Martin says

    Hi Susan. Thank you for your kind comments and following Margaret’s posts. It is important that you follow many of the suggested guidelines in light of the change in your bone health.

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