Most people have heard the phrase “lift with your legs”, but what does it truly mean? In this post I’m going to discuss how to correctly lift something with your legs, and the biomechanics behind why this is important.
To lift with your legs, you need to get close to what you’re lifting and squat down if it’s on the floor.
It’s pretty simple, but in the moment most people don’t naturally do this. Most people bend over to lift something up from the floor. I’d like to mention that this is not inherently unsafe in any way! It’s just that if you bend over to lift something that’s HEAVY, the muscles in your back will probably protest after a while.
So here’s what you do – let’s say you’re trying to lift a box off the floor. Walk up to the box and stand very close to it. It usually helps if your feet can go on each side of a corner of the box (unless it’s small enough to have one foot completely on each side). Next, perform a deep squat so that you have a good grip on the box. Holding the box close to your body, stand up. There you go, you did it!
When something heavy is positioned off the ground, there are still things you can do to optimize your lifting position.
Most of the time I hear people complain of pain when they lift something heavy off the back of the stove or out of the back of a pickup truck. Here is the reason for this: pick up an object that weighs 5 – 10 pounds. Hold it out in front of you with your arm straight. Now bring your arm in and hold the object closer to your chest. It feels a lot lighter when it’s closer, right?
When we lift a heavy object keeping it far away from the torso, it’s much more difficult for our muscles to support us. How do we remedy this? Very simple. Just SLIDE the object closer to you. When it’s nice and close, pick it up.
If you realize you haven’t been lifting with your legs don’t worry, you’re not “doomed”!
If you’ve ever lifted something improperly and felt back pain shortly afterwards, don’t worry. Some people freak out and think that they herniated a disc or ruined their back. I can assure you, none of these things happened in that split second. Having a history of improper lifting doesn’t mean that you are damaged or that you can’t lift without pain moving forward.
I hope you found this post helpful. If you’re struggling with low back pain I offer virtual assessments. Click here to discuss your options.
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