I noticed several of my neighbors were out mowing their yards in recent weeks. I also drove past a few other houses where neighbors were putting mulch around their yards. I am anticipating that we’ll soon be seeing some patients who say their backs hurt after doing yard. If you have been a relative couch potato all winter, and then get outside to mow, mulch, trim and prune, it is probably pretty obvious why your back hurts. Allowing yourself to become deconditioned and then doing repetitive activities you haven’t done for months hurts.If you are relatively fit and work out regularly, working in the yard is just one of those facts of life that tend to aggravate any weak spot you already have in your spine. Unlike working out at the gym, the forces on your body in the yard are less predictable (how much force will it take to pull that tree root out)? Yard projects also tend to last longer than workouts, and some people (myself included) just to rush through them without taking breaks to stretch.To prevent future back pain from yard work, here are some tips I have learned over the years. First, if you have a big project like a great big truck of wood chips that you want to install, commit to doing it for an hour and then taking a break. One hour, then take a break and kick your feet up, stretch a little, drink a lemonade and see how you feel before you go back to hour number two. Do this every hour. Six hours of doing repetitious activities that your body isn’t used to will hurt anyone.Also, identify the weak spots of your body and stretch them after you do your yard work. I am not suggesting a 45-minute stretch session, but do 3-4 stretches on the parts that you already know will bother you the most. Don’t have a weak link on your body? Yeah right, we all have one. If you really think that, you aren’t paying enough attention to your tight muscles. Those are the people who really get hurt when they hurt themselves because they don’t pay attention to the warning signs of an oncoming injury.