Take precautions for your heart while snow shoveling, cardiovascular experts say – CTV
February 17, 2025
TORONTO — Bev Gilbert was thinking about his heart as he and his wife dug their daughter’s car out of its snow prison on a Toronto side street.
“I take it really easy,” the 71-year-old said Monday as he gestured toward a vehicle almost entirely encased in snow.
“I got a small shovel. I’m not taking great big piles (of snow).”
Gilbert was among many people across Eastern Canada digging themselves out from more snowfall than many have seen in years. Cardiovascular experts would approve of his precautions — along with the fact that he keeps in good shape overall by walking throughout the winter.
“If you’re not doing any physical activity, it’s not a good idea from one day to the other to go and (be) shoveling snow,” said Francine Forget Marin, director of health promotion and research for the Heart and Stroke Foundation in Quebec.
“You have to be physically active, you know, all year long.”
