How to Make Idaho Snow Shoveling Less of a Pain

Some people do it repeatedly a little at a time. Some people wait and do it all at once. Whichever way you choose to do it, if you don’t do it very often, you are going to get sore. Shoveling snow isn’t a year-round activity in Idaho. There may be a muscle learning curve every winter.

Get our free mobile app

For the first few minutes, there isn’t much effect. Then as the muscles warm up, it feels pretty good. But by the end of the driveway, you are regretting buying a house on the corner because you still have to shovel all the snow on the sidewalks too. Oh, the 3-car garage sounded good for the extra storage space? Ha! Enjoy the extra ton of snow you’ll be shoveling.

You are a purist. You have decided to forego the snowplow attachment on your ATV. You don’t think a snow blower is necessary in the Magic Valley. You may be right. You may be crazy. Your back, arms, stomach, and legs will let you know if your decision was the right one.

Did you strengthen your core muscles before and practice proper posture during your outdoor winter activity? If you didn’t, one of these helpful hints may be necessary in the near future.

6 Methods to Relieve Snow Shoveling Pain

Diving into the glaciers of snow you just created in your front yard is a bit extreme, but cooling can improve healing. Using ice packs for the first 48 hours will help reduce swelling. Have you ever seen athletes use ice baths or pitchers wrap their shoulders in ice packs? There’s a reason they do that.

Sometimes the old methods are the best. A warm bath in Epsom Salt will help relax muscles and reduce swelling. Maybe one of the scented ones can help relax your mind as well. If anything, at least your skin will be softer.

Rest yourself. You just used muscle groups that haven’t been utilized for the past 9 months. Rest now. The healing can’t happen without it.

Try exercising to get the blood pumping through the sore muscles. Light stretches and gentle workouts can help loosen up stiff muscles. It’ll hurt so good. You earned those sore muscles by doing some great exercise. Now do it again.

Don’t wait until you can’t move to get a massage. It’s not just a treat for your birthday or vacation. Massage can help stimulate blood flow into tight muscles and pull out toxins causing swelling and pain.

As always, eat well. The better you feed your body, the speedier the recovery. Maybe have some salad before you drown your pain in chocolate.