DU'er digging out of ice or snow this weekend-eat an apple, garlic, and/or onion

[underpants]

These contain quercetin which helps build the immune system
and have anti-inflammatory AND anti-histamine properties
http://nutrition.about.com/od/phytochemicals/p/quercetinprofil.htm

Also cover your mouth or try to breath through your nose
this provides a little bit of warmth to the cold air before it hits your lungs.

Read about these in Runner's World concerning winter workouts.

Also, VERY important--TAKE BREAKS. There are a lot of heart attacks in people
in all levels of health from shoveling snow.

[carlyhippy]

1. thanks! Just about to dig out now.....8 inches on top of 6 inches from last weekend

-40 windchill.....

[DS1]

2. HA!

My landlord just left. He did the shoveling.

[underpants]

6. True story from back in the 90's

Big snow hit Richmond (we aren't prepared for it) my buddy was over at his girlfriend's house and went out to dig out her car.
She didn't have any kind of shovel (no surprise) so he improvised with a dustpan

Two guys with shovels came walking up on him and offered to dig out the car.
They were making the rounds of a neighborhood that tends to have disposable income (students, rich folks, etc.)
They said to him

"You need us to dig that out man?"

"No I think I got it"

"Oh man you ain't gonna get NOWHERE with that kitchen shovel"

:rofl:

[DS1]

7. hehe

I once had to dig my car out with a shallow baking pan. I'd have paid for a "kitchen shovel" at the point :D

[Mari333]

3. thanks underpants

i will tell the 2 teenagers who came over yesterday to shovel me out to do so..hahaha..hurrah for 16 yr old kids who need 10 bucks.
(but you are right..the snow is heavy and wet here in MI, and dangerous)

[flvegan]

4. Good advice. Also, shoveling snow is a compound exercise

that most bodies don't perform 8 months out of the year. As with any resistance exercise, start light.

[Liberal Veteran]

5. I eat onions and garlic all the time, but I really wish it would melt the damned snow!

We got about 30 inches of snow in 24 hours on Thursday and now it's minus 4 with more snow in the forecast.

But thanks for the great tip!

[underpants]

8. A couple of more tips

Stretching
After a few minutes, once your muscles are warmed up, once you have your plan of attack set
PUT DOWN THE SHOVEL
Stretch from the top down
-rotate your head 5 times in both directions
-rotate your shoulders front and back a few times
-reach up to the sky and then bend down and try to touch your toes (don't over do it)
-stretch out left and right with your arms back over your head

if you want to get your diaphragm opened do "snow angels" while standing on your feet-bending down (squatting)as your arms come down. 5 times or so.

DRINK WATER-your body is going to get dehydrated even if you are surrounded by water (swimmers dehydrate too)

Lastly-NO IBUPROFEN BEFORE EXERTING YOURSELF Acetomenophine (Tylenol) is okay but not Advil. Ibuprofen can cause stroke and kidney failure-I used to take it before runs before I read that it is a BIG NO NO

TAKE BREAKS

[Fireweed247]

9. ...and just take your time and enjoy it!

Freshly fallen snow is so beautiful, just shovel slowly and enjoy your surroundings!

I love shoveling snow, great way to get exercize in the winter. But then, we are having an extremely mild winter up here in Alaska, looks like the lower 48 is getting our storms hehe...

[HereSince1628]

10. Yes, please be careful not to wrench your back...

be sure that you check which gear the snow thrower is in before you engage the wheels. Also, don't have the gear set too high, you don't want to have a hear-attack from chasing a speeding snow thrower. Can you imagine your embarassment at the Pearly Gates?

15 inches wasn't terrible, and I am not going to complain. I grant all my rights to complain to folks who live in places where fire-plugs are marked with little flags on the ends of 10 ft long poles.

Some people are much more, or ever so much more, oh muchly, much, much more unlucky than I.