How heavy is your snow shovel?

December 12, 2019: Have you ever wondered how much a shovel of snow weighs? What is an appropriate amount of snow to lift?

Here is approximately what your snow shovel weighs:

• Empty Snow Shovel: 3 pounds
• Snow Shovel with Fresh Fluffy Snow: 5 pounds
• Snow Shovel with Settled Snow: 10 pounds
• Snow Shovel with wind Packed Snow: 15 pounds
• Snow Shovel with Wet Snow: 25 pounds
• Snow Shovel with Ice, Water, and Snow: 32 pounds                                                                             

By themselves some of these amounts don’t seem too big. But how many scoops of a snow shovel does it take to clear your driveway? Let’s assume the average driveway is 20 feet wide and 40 feet long. It would take several hundred shovel scoops to clear that driveway. Now instead of lifting 10 pounds one time you are lifting thousands of pounds over the course of the snow removal.

If you remember our last post on MET levels and energy expenditure this shows that these are only increasing more. If we are not prepared to move the snow correctly to save our backs and joints and we are not prepared to handle the energy required to move the snow, we are opening our bodies up to several stresses that can cause bigger problems down the road.

For any further questions please contact us in Louisville at 402-234-3333 or in Plattsmouth at 402-298-4747 or ask us about our Wellness Center options.

Your Witte Physical Therapy team #homegrown #backtolife