Wheelbarrow Schmeelbarrow

I own a wheelbarrow. I own a cart attachment to the lawn tractor. I use them. But, when I feel vigorous I just use a trug and build some bulk. Many trips to the weed discard or rock piles carrying a full bucket builds strong arm, leg, butt and back muscles. Walking to the piles provides aerobic activity. I call it "trugging."
















Most of us know to lift with your legs and keep your back straight. However, Jane Petrin, NASM Certified Personal Trainer and Corrective Exercise Specialist, has advice to work specific muscles when trugging. (Jane is my massage therapist. I use the money I save on a gym to get massages.)

"Grab the trug, bend at the knee and squat down with feet straight ahead. Just this action works the gluteus medius & minimus, quadriceps, TFL (tensor fascia latae), psoas major, and adductors." (Translation: butt & legs muscles.)

"Lift the trug with your legs by pushing off with your heels. Keep your shoulders back and square. Pull your arms at a 45° angle (see picture.) Just this motion works the gluteous maximus, erector spinae, transversospinalis, latissimus dorsi, quadratus lumborum, abdominals, rhomboids and trapiezius muscles." (Translation: butt, back, legs and stomach muscles.)

"You can swing the bucket from side to side as you walk, touching your forward-moving leg to really work off your gut. Never carry too much weight, always protect your back and stop if it doesn’t feel good."Always perform any “trugging” at your own risk. Jane provides personal training, corrective exercise and massage here in CT.

A Perfect Pair

I revealed in an April post Clipping for Cleavage that my chest is not well endowed. I can still attain a perfect pair, however, with plants. I will periodically post some of my favorite plant combinations under the title "A Perfect Pair."

I recently planted these two beauties in a new bed I am working on. I love the fuzzy gray leaves of Big Lambs Ears (Stachys byzantina Helen Von Stein) in front of the ethereal glow of Spirea Golden Sunrise™. This particular Lambs Ear doesn't bloom at all and the flowers of this newer Spirea are fine. But this foliage combination displays a three-season, full sun feast for the eyes that a gardener of any level can maintain.