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.
To quote the former mayor of Bridgeport Connecticut when questioned why he didn’t put snow removal in the city budget:
“The good Lord put it there, the good Lord will take it away”
I have one of those but with a much bigger “bucket”. The handle shape allows you to lift a lot of snow in one scoop.
FYI, a little Pam cooking spray on the shovel helps when the snow is really sticky.
I have a rake like that an it sucks.
I’ve been blessed with a pretty good back but man did I screw something shoveling a foot of wet cement snow in a late season storm last year. Still not completely normal.
A power snow blower is better.
I need one of those handles on a grain scoop for snow.
I have a Toro power shovel. Shoveling snow off the driveway is like vacuuming a living room carpet. So nice.
“A University of Calgary grad student says a “goose-neck” shovel is the best way to deal with snow.”
Never heard of a snow blower?
20+ years ago, Mayor Marion Barry of Washington DC, when asked about a blizzard that closed down DC in February, what his snow removal plan was responded: “April.”
He wrote me back asking me if I will one day come to appreciate and miss the times when I was 10 and was up working with him until 1am rebuilding the transaxle on his Sears garden tractor... or our FAVORITE... “Desludging the oil tank”. We all grew up being subjected to dad's “hobby” of full annual teardowns of the oil burners for the hot water heater and furnace...
I wrote back reminiscing how all those years of holding droplights perfectly still... until my arms were about to fall off didn't really seem to prepare me for how unappreciative the work is of people that do or make. Seeing this post... all I can think is... shovelling snow? THAT'S WHY WE PUT UP WITH WOMEN AND HAVE KIDS... SO THEY CAN SHOVEL SNOW WHILE I AM REBUILDING THE OIL BURNER FOR THE HOT WATER HEATER! Hahahaha!
A snow blower works well depending on the snow.
Then again a shovel works faster. My neighbor has a snow blower and a 30 foot driveway. My driveway is 70 feet. I always finish shoveling first with a manual shovel and my driveway looks neater.
The most painless way of snow removal is an endless bank account to hire grunts to do it!
#2, don’t live where it snows, EVER!!!!!!
“Lewinson focused solely on which is best for lifting the snow...”
Are you sure you are using your rake properly?
JK. I can see what a rake designer using this might be after, but I wonder if in doing so they got rid of the “angular force” - or leverage or whatever it would be called that a straight handle at a 45 degree angle creates.
They need one with a teaspoon on the end of it.
I prefer the Snowsport plow on front of my Jeep Cherokee, but my driveway is a 1600’ and goes up about 220’. When it gets too high I have a mid-size tractor with a front end loader, chains, and a back blade.
“Shovel handle key to painless snow removal: researcher”
Nope. Powered snow blower is the key to painless snow removal.
That photo shows a piece of junk. It looks to be either aluminum or plastic plus has a short handle with a loop on the end.
You need steel.
Something like this
http://www.officedepot.com/a/products/970564/General-Purpose-Street-Shovel/
or this
http://www.grainger.com/product/TRUE-TEMPER-Square-Point-Street-Shovel-4W500?s_pp=false
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