Never Lift This Way
Welcome back! I wanted to show you something that almost everybody gets wrong… if you walked down any Edmonton street and asked everyone: Hey, how do you lift the right way? Every single person is gonna say: Well, you lift with your legs and not your back! The reality is: Even though everyone “knows” that, but almost nobody can actually do it right. As a chiropractor, I see people do it wrong every day, so let me show you the wrong way, then I’m gonna show you the right way.
The worst thing you can possibly do for your back is having your back bowed outwards while lifting. If you’re leaning over to pick something up with your lower back bowed out to the back of you, you’re going to kill your discs. Don’t do that!
When you’re lifting anything (even light things), get set with your feet, put your shoulders back, and have your back in a more neutral position so that your belly button pushes outwards like a pot-belly. I don’t care if it’s a pencil, or if it’s something heavy… you want to make sure that you get set first, pick it up with a neutral back (belly pushed out like a pot-belly) and then get the object right close to you because the farther away you hold something, the more strain it puts on your spine.
People just tend to get lazy and reach over while not thinking about their posture, and every time you do that you increase the chances of wrecking your back.
One of the main things that you’re gonna have trouble with is being at work. At work, you’re not going to be thinking about it because you’ll be doing this or that, and you won’t be focused. It does take a little bit of effort to be aware of your lifting posture, but it’s totally worth it. Keep practicing! It’s something I practice every day…lifting the right way engages your core muscles and it’s gonna save you a lot of pain and hassle down the road…. anyways that’s it for today.