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Learn how to lift without hurting your back

LAURA LUNDQUIST laura@zoomershealth.ca @SaltWireNetwork

From time to time, we all have to lift heavy objects.

In the spring and summer months, lifting can be required while we are working in the yard or garden, decluttering our homes, heaving a suitcase into the trunk or any number of other tasks.

Injuries to the lower back are commonly associated with excessive or improper lifting. Sometimes, the injuries are relatively minor and resolve within one or two days. However, significant injuries can also occur and can linger for weeks or months.

Recognizing challenging lifting situations ahead of time can minimize our risk of injury. Lifts that involve forceful exertion, awkward postures or repetitive motions tend to be more problematic.

Most of us have likely heard the old adage, “Lift with your knees.”

Although this is certainly great advice, lifting safely isn’t that simple. There are other steps you can take to help safeguard yourself against injury while lifting.

When faced with lifting heavier objects, we can adjust our body position and abdominal muscle recruitment to reduce risk of injury.

BODY POSITION

The farther away the weight is from our body, the more strain it will place on our muscles and joints as we lift. By hinging at the hips and

bending the knees into a partial (or full) squat or lunge, we should be able to get our body close to the object.

It’s essential to try to keep the elbows as close as possible to our body so that we aren’t reaching forward and lifting simultaneously. Ensuring we have the weight as close as possible to our body as we lift reduces the effort required to move it.

ABDOMINAL MUSCLE RECRUITMENT

It’s very common to hold our breath when lifting a heavy object. However, breath holding artificially splints our core and prevents the deep abdominal muscle (transversus abdominis) from stabilizing our spine effectively.

When lifting, we should gently engage the deep abdominal muscles to support and protect the spine. I often describe this abdominal engagement as the same action we use when pulling our bellybutton up and in gently when buttoning up a pair of pants that have become snug. The abdominal contraction should not cause body movement; it simply creates tension that stabilizes the spine while you move.

A good sequence to follow when lifting is:

• gently tighten the abdominals

• get as close as possible to the object

• inhale as you lower/adjust your body position to get a firm grip on the object

• lift the object up as you exhale

By recognizing high-risk situations and adjusting our body position and muscle recruitment, we can reduce our risk of sustaining a liftingrelated injury. Once we have lifted the object, if we need to carry it any distance, there are other strategies that should be used to further safeguard ourselves.

Watch for my next column, which will cover safety guidelines to follow while carrying heavier objects.

Laura Lundquist is a physiotherapist whose passion for healthy active aging prompted her to open Zoomers Physiotherapy and Health Solutions in Halifax. More information about Zoomers’ healthcare and fitness services can be found at www. zoomershealth.ca or by calling 902-453-1525. Located at 291 Horseshoe Lake Dr., Halifax.

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2021-05-05T07:00:00.0000000Z

2021-05-05T07:00:00.0000000Z

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