Tree Planting Fitness
Planting trees is one of the most physically demanding jobs in North America. The money you make is dependent 100% on how many trees you can plant - not only in a day but for the season. It is far too common that planters come to the start of the season expecting to get in shape while they are planting. Yes - they do get fitter and more productive as the season progresses, but the planting season is measured in days not weeks or months - if you spend your first two weeks of the season ramping up to peak performance -- or worse injured because you were not physically prepared for the season, you have lost the opportunity to make as much money as you possibly could. In two weeks there could be as many as 11 planting days which may not seem like much time but in reality this could be more than 1/6th of your entire season!
Make every day count and come out planting as fit as possible and you will make more money and spend less time sore and injured.
Make every day count and come out planting as fit as possible and you will make more money and spend less time sore and injured.
Preseason Fitness Program
In order to help planters come out for the season as fit and prepared as possible we have teamed up with Total Physio to put together our preseason fitness program. There are two main pieces to this program.
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Preseason strength and agility screen: This tool will help you determine if you have any muscle imbalances or mobility problems that will need to be addressed before you come out for the planting season. All planters who will be working with Summit need to be able to complete this program. If you have any issues with any of the exercises outlined you must let your crew boss know as soon as possible so we can remedy any strength or mobility issues you might have. Some issues may be minor and can be dealt with by adjusting planting technique or equipment - others may put you at serious risk of long term injury - please do this test as early as possible!
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SUmmit Pre-Season Conditioning
| Summit Physical Conditioning Program.pdf |
Physical Conditioning program: Our conditioning program is based off of the system developed by Dr. Delia Roberts at Selkirk College. We have made a few modifications to the original program adding a greater emphasis on regular very long low intensity cardio at least once a week, as well as adding an optional strength training regimen. If you would like, just do Delia's program as is - if you are really committed our program will take you to the next level.
You can find an older version of the video for that program here:
Reducing Shovel Side tendonitis
Given the success of the recent study on using the following thumb taping to reduce shovel side tendonitis. It is expected that all planters start the season using this taping procedure for at least 3 weeks at the start of the season
In Season injury reduction
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If you start the season in top physical condition you are more likely to finish it in good condition as well. However, there are several things you can do to help ensure this is the case. Proper planting technique is critical, so is maintaining flexibility throughout the season. As planters we are consistently putting unbalanced stresses on our bodies and without the proper flexibility and mobility exercises during the season you may end up with a very painful injury mid-season.
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External Resources
In Order to give you as much information as possible we have also compiled as many other planting fitness, nutrition and injury resources as we can find on the following pages.
