H17 Treeplanting Info Form & Fitness Training Reminder
Hello Hybrid folx!
I hope y’all are having an excellent winter and are starting to get excited about the upcoming season! With a May 5 start date targeted, we are now about 10 weeks out from planting and so it is time to start thinking about a couple things...
There will be more pre-season email updates coming your way so stay tuned, and new this year, we will be posting all of our email updates on the H17 2023 season blog as well for easy reference, so you can find all the need-to-know in one spot.
Our Hybrid 17 facebook group can be a good place to stay connected as well.
Treeplanting Info Form
The thing that you must do now and that is of great importance, is to spend 5 minutes filling out our treeplanting info form:
2023 Treeplanting Info Form link
This form also acts as a list of all Hybrid employees for this coming season... so to confirm your spot with us, please fill it out ASAP! It will need to be filled out by everyone at Hybrid - crewbosses, planters, checkers, cooks, supervisors etc ... So, if you’re reading this, that means you!
Pre-Season Fitness Training
So, we've noticed a clear trend in our injury statistics over the years: each year, about 80% of our injuries happen in the first 2 shifts of the season. It's become very predictable. Essentially, planters get repetitive strain injuries, like tendonitis, for example, because their bodies are not prepared to handle all the stress that treeplanting puts on certain parts of the body. And being injured = less production = less money. If this has happened to you, you know. It sucks.
^ From the archives: The stub arm, claw hand, robot arm, hook hand, i-didn’t-train-before-the-season-so-I’m-trying-to-plant-one-handed wrist (not a currently approved approach to injury management)
Because this trend is predictable, it follows that it should also be preventable. This is where you come in. It is an expectation that you arrive for treeplanting in good physical (and mental, for that matter) condition, ready to plant.
You will be asking your body to perform like an athlete, so you might want to consider training like an athlete. Now is the time to start. Here are some resources to help guide your training:
10 Week Conditioning Program:
There are a couple programs put together by an athletic therapist and former planter by the name of Kerri Dunsmore that are available specifically for planting training. Both programs are in the $75-$90 range, and if you have history with a planting injury, we would be happy to pay for this course to help you get ready for this coming season. There is still time to start this program if you act soon!
https://kdathletictherapy.ca/dashboard/tree-planters-hub/
Total Physio Pre-Season Training:
Total Physio has put together a great training workout to test your "fit to plant” readiness. If you can pass this test, it means you will be much less susceptible to an injury while planting. As you train, incorporate this benchmark test regularly to see where you are at and where you need to improve to be ready.
Total Physio Pre-season Training Workout Video link
See the attached pdf for the accompanying Total Physio exercise worksheet
Fit to Plant Program:
This is an amazing planting-specific pre-season training program put together by a researcher at Selkirk College named Delia Roberts. The 8-week training program called Fit to Plant has been shown to increase production and decrease injuries in planters who have done it.
The Fit to Plant program and additional resources can be found at:
https://www.bcforestsafe.org/resource/silviculture-fit-to-plant-resources/