What convinced me to start stretching before crawling under trucks

I thought stretching before work was just for gym people. Last month, I was tightening a fuel line on a big rig and felt a sharp pain in my shoulder. It took me out for two days. My buddy said he always stretches his arms and back before getting under a hood. I began doing it the next day, and wow, what a difference. Now I spend five minutes loosening up, and I haven't had any more strains. It sounds small, but it saves a lot of hassle.

3 comments

3 Comments

allen.amy15d ago

Did you see that article about warm ups for tradespeople? It said even five minutes of arm circles and torso twists helps a lot before crawling under a chassis. They called it dynamic stretching, way better than just holding a static stretch cold. Made a lot of sense for avoiding those sharp pains.

ray_park15d ago

Wish I learned that before throwing my back out.

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spencer_wood7d ago

Was it a specific move that did it, or just the general wear and tear catching up? Those little twists under a sink or lifting something at a bad angle seem fine until they really, really aren't. The article Amy mentioned is right, but it's hard to remember to do all that when you're already running late.