Posted on 12/14/2013 4:39:26 PM PST by rickmichaels
A University of Calgary grad student says a “goose-neck” shovel is the best way to deal with snow.
"Bending isn't what's causing lower back pain. It's not that you bend less, there has to be a load that is causing the pain. We went one step further to show that because of that lower flexion, there is that reduced load as well.”
American studies have shown roughly 12,000 people are treated in emergency rooms each year for snow-shovelling injuries, and the most common injury is to the lower-back.
"It was a very relevant topic to Canadians, so I thought it would be an interesting one to look at because no one’s really done that before,” said Lewinson, who studies biomechanics.
Lewinson focused solely on which is best for lifting the snow, since that motion is often the most backbreaking.
"We were primarily interested in looking at lower back flexion to see how much bending people were doing when using one type of snow shovel or the other," said Lewinson. "What we found is that when you use the bent shaft snow shovel, you don't bend over quite as much."
The bent shaft shovel also reduced mechanical loads on the lower back by 16 per cent.
"I think that's a pretty substantial reduction," says Lewinson. "Over the course of shovelling an entire driveway that probably would add up to something pretty meaningful."
Lewinson, who is part of the Faculty of Kinesiology's human performance lab, conducted the snow shovel study when he was an undergraduate at the University of Ottawa.
He says the study was limited at looking only at the lifting component of shovelling, which means he can't be sure if a "regular" shovel might be better for pushing, chopping or throwing snow.
The study was published in the latest edition of Applied Ergonomics.
Yeah plastic is ok for fluffy powder but that’s about it. The steel IS heavy but it gets the job done, stand up straight and scoop/toss scoop/toss scoop/toss. Hunching over with those short handles is for the birds and the big scoop is too much snow. I once lived east of Lake Ontario.
Worked for me!
I used Pam back in my shoveling days.
Magic for heavy,wet snow.
.
I knew someone would come along with your #2 solution. I thought of it myself a few decades ago, and never looked back.
Sheryle and I are both 5th generation Southern Californians and are here until the end!!!
My wife and I agree: You and yours are nice people. Say hello to her for us....
I think I’m going to try retrofitting my shovel with that. A piece of rope with a loop in it ought to do the trick.
With or without a teenager son to operate it....
Mr. Mercat gets a six foot dowel and duck tapes it to the handle of the shovel. He has made a study of snow shovels and knows that they have short handles because it’s easier to ship. He has a patent on one of the blades.
noisy obnoxious things and the snow blowers aren’t too good either.
Either way
Flamethrower works best....keep it away from the hedges.
But when you melt the snow, the water refreezes into ice.
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