By the second week of October, the leaves along Ottawa’s older neighbourhoods have usually turned, and so has the to-do list. Thanksgiving weekend has a way of turning an ordinary Saturday into a full-body workout: bagging leaves that seem to multiply overnight, wrestling patio furniture into the shed, hauling in the last of the porch pumpkins, and then standing at the stove for hours getting a turkey and all its sides ready for a house full of family. It’s not really a coincidence that the Tuesday after Thanksgiving tends to be one of the busier days of the year in our clinics.
The Thanksgiving Sprint
Unlike a gradual seasonal shift, Thanksgiving weekend compresses a lot of physical work into one or two days: yard work, cooking, hosting, and often travel, all stacked together. That compression is what makes it different from an ordinary weekend of chores: there’s little time between tasks for the body to recover, and less patience for warming up properly before diving in.
Why Raking Hurts More Than You’d Think
Raking involves a lot of repetitive rotation and forward bending, often with an awkward one-sided grip that isn’t switched often enough. Add in twisting to bag leaves, reaching to clear gutters, and working on uneven or slippery ground, and it’s easy to see why the low back and shoulders end up carrying more strain than most people expect from what looks like a simple chore.
The Kitchen Marathon
Cooking for a crowd is its own kind of physical demand: hours of standing on a hard floor, reaching into high cabinets and low ovens, and carrying a heavy roasting pan or turkey more than once over the course of the day. It’s rarely thought of as strenuous, but the cumulative strain on the feet, low back, and shoulders by the end of a hosting day is very real.
Smart Techniques for the Weekend Ahead
- Bend at the knees rather than the waist when lifting bags, pots, or furniture
- Switch sides and grip regularly while raking to avoid one-sided overload
- Take short breaks during yard work instead of finishing the whole yard in one push
- Use a kneeling pad for lower garden tasks like clearing beds or planting bulbs
- Wear supportive, slip-resistant footwear on wet leaves and steps
- Ask for help lifting heavier items, such as patio furniture or full leaf bags
When It’s More Than Just Being Sore
Some next-day soreness after a big weekend is normal and usually settles within a couple of days. Pain that’s sharp, lingers beyond that window, or limits movement is worth having looked at rather than waiting it out. Many people also find that a massage therapy session before or after the Thanksgiving push helps loosen tight muscles and take some of the edge off a physically demanding weekend.
If yard work or a long day of hosting has left you stiff and sore, our Ottawa physiotherapy and massage therapy teams across Ottawa are ready to help you recover before the next round of fall chores arrives.