Many workers are often faced with the daily task of lifting a box. Lifting procedures can include packing, stacking or simply loading/ unloading pallets. Although in many cases a box may not be seen as excessively heavy, it is the repetitive nature of the task which is often the problem. It is not uncommon for a worker to injury their lower backs when lifting boxes incorrectly and therefore it is essential that the correct lifting procedure is undertaken.

Step One: It is first necessary to position yourself next to the box with a shoulder width stance.

Step Two: When lowering yourself down to the box, it is essential that you bend your knees. Please note: your upper body should stay straight and your waist should not twist.

Step Three: When gripping the box, it is crucial to firmly hold the box with both hands.

Step Four: When standing up, it is necessary to slowly straighten your legs without twisting the upper body.

Step Five: Once the box is raised to the same level as the chest, it is essential that the box is kept as close to the body as possible, therefore minimising the level of stress being placed to the lower back.

Step Six: When walking with the box, it is essential that all changes of direction are done by pivoting the feet rather than twisting the upper body.

As well as following the above procedure, lifting systems such as vacuum box lifter have been developed to both reduce the risk of back injuries and to increase productivity.

For more information please see Box Lifter

This is a great warm up for beginners and intermediate trumpet players. Warm ups for professionals are easily obtained on the internet. This warm up is useful for players who have less time or who are not playing every day. It covers some of the basic skills in a short time. If you are just taking out your trumpet for a quick session, these exercises will get you playing at your optimum in a hurry.

The following steps can be extended as time permits. Note: optimum warm ups should be between thirty and forty minutes.

A good pre warm up is to listen to some professional players warming up before you start. Try to emulate the warmth and tone, not just on the trumpet but on the mouthpiece and even in the lip buzzing.

Breathing – this is probably the single most important exercise and forms the basis of all wind instrument skills.

1. Start by expelling all air out from lungs then take a full breath, hold air in lungs without the use of throat or lips using just your diaphragm. Do this for 20 seconds and extend the time with practice.

2. Remove mouthpiece and first slide. Now take full breaths and expel air directly into trumpet tube as quickly as possible. Repeat 3 times.

3. I have combined three skills into this exercise. Singing, buzzing on mouth piece and buzzing on lips. Start with nine crochets at 80 beats per minute. From C-G and then down to C again. Sing, then buzz then play mouth piece. Then take it up a tone and so on. As high as is comfortable. Don’t neglect to sing with a good tone as this is good warm up for the ear. Do this for 3-4 minutes.

4. Have a short rest, then blow the lips like a horse, then say Ahhh and Ohhh with lips stretched and mouth as wide as possible for Ahhh and rounded for Ohhh

5. Buzz mouthpiece from low C as high as possible and back down again. Do this within 5 seconds and as smoothly as possible applying NO lip pressure. Repeat  for about 1 minute.

6. Soft long tones at 60 beats per min.  Play 4 beats on low C then slur down to B for 4 beats and then back to C for 4 beats. Play as softly as possible. Now take it down a tone and repeat, and then up a tone and repeat.  Continue in this pattern as low and high as possible for about 5 minutes.

7. Expanding scales at 80 bts per min.  Play crochets from lowest G to Mid C and back down again in G Major. Rest and go up to D, etc. Apply no lip pressure and continue until you find your range. Repeat for 3 minutes.

By this point you should be breathing well and playing with a full tone. Do not play beyond your range and apply no lip pressure. Don’t forget to listen to some good trumpet players like Louis Armstrong and Miles Davis and try to emulate their tone. Play along and memorise phrases and songs. Check out a reutable music download site like the kazaa or put on a good album.

Mental Stimulation, like exercise, becomes increasingly more important as one ages. And, the good news is, that in our well wired and curious culture there are wonderful ways to stimulate one’s mind.

It is fascinating that, not unlike adolescents, seniors often cave in to the “there is nothing to do” syndrome. But, there is. Now whether there is desire, motivation, and willingness to discover the many options, is quite another thing. Research now suggests that finding something to do contributes to both better cognitive functioning as well as longer life.

Sudoku, Scrabble, Chess, a virtual box full of games and thought stimulating exercises are literally available at one’s finger tips. And, the good news? You can play them in the privacy of your home, with no one present but you and your computer. Research is now telling us that mental stimulation with puzzle games may even help slow down cognitive impairment in seniors. So in addition to just being fun, such puzzles may have a health benefit.

A side effect of Scrabble and Chess, and puzzles/games like them, is the necessity of interaction with other people. Seniors often isolate themselves and lose out on the benefits of social intercourse with others. Most lists of “How to Stay Younger Longer” include communication with friends on a frequent and regular basis. Although Sudoku can be played in isolation, two of my wife’s sisters choose to do Sudoku puzzles together and have created an interaction that usually leaves them laughing hysterically! They even get most puzzles solved.

So, don’t let “rainy days and Mondays” get you down. Get in there, wander around, seek and search and eventually find that retinue which will follow you in discovering and sharing common interests. Your assignment, if you choose to accept it, is to investigate, explore, uncover, penetrate the wide variety of possibilities. I leave to you the initiative and the specific areas of interest which may catch your eye.

You and your new friends will thank me. Trust me!