How to Prevent Sore Joints When Pulling Weeds

Loosen up your joints and muscles by walking around your yard for 5 to 10 minutes. Another simple exercise is stretching your arms straight out in front of you and reaching forward as much as possible. Do arm circles to warm up joints and increase blood flow to the hands. Hold your arms straight out to your sides, and with your thumb pointed to the sky, move your arm backward in a circle. Repeat this exercise 10 to 15 times.

Purchase gardening gloves that have extra padding in the palm and fingers, which will cushion joints when weeding or picking up garden tools. These gloves increase your grip strength and allow you to exert greater force as you weed. And, the warmth in the glove can protect your hands from cold temperatures.

Use a kneeling pad, which is a foam platform that can stabilize your movements and cushion knee joints when you are pulling up weeds.

Use your palms instead of your fingers to pull the weeds. If you have arthritis, avoid squeezing, twisting or pinching with your hands.

Use raised flower beds so you don't have to kneel or sit on the ground as you weed. Sitting on a bench or stool prevents straining your back and knees. The best way to determine the right height is to stand with your hands to your sides. The height of the flower bed should be level with the tips of your fingers. The width of the garden bed should be 4 feet, because you can tend outside of it without straining.

Switch hands as you work. Avoid overusing one hand because it can overstress your joints and cause injury to your tendons and muscles. Keep track of how long you use each hand so you can strike a balance.

Purchase a gardening tool that uses a twisting motion to remove the weed instead of a pulling motion. Using a weed twister will allow you to remove weeds by using your shoulder muscles instead of your lower back muscles. Or, purchase a weed eater that uses a fast-moving nylon string to cut weeds. These tools have long handles so you can weed while standing or sitting on a bench.

Try to take a 15-minute break every hour. Relieve muscle tension and reduce stiffness with a stretching break periodically. If you begin to have joint pain, stop weeding until the pain eases and you feel better.