If you want to avoid a serious back injury — as we all do — then remember this one key piece of advice: Always lift with your legs, not your back.
This is so important because fitness professionals have labeled lifting incorrectly as one of the top causes of back injuries. It’s just a mistake people make all too often. And, when things go wrong, you can end up with an injury that changes your life.
The problem is that lifting with your back actually feels more natural as you do it. You bend at the waist, reach down with your arms, grab the item in question, and straighten back up. To lift with your legs, you have to awkwardly squat down next to that item, shuffle your hands under it while looking over it, and then stand straight up on the spot. It’s easy, safe and effective, but it does not feel natural to most people — outside of professional or at least consistent weightlifters.
But your back is strongest when your spine is in a straight vertical line. Then you can actually use all of the power in your legs and lift items that are far heavier than you could lift in any other fashion. As soon as you bend your back, the vertebrae start to move horizontally. This puts all of the pressure on one at a time, and it can pull them down and out of place. It also wastes your main sources of strength, which are the strong muscles in your calves and thighs, replacing it with the weaker muscles in your back.
Have you suffered a back injury while working? Be sure you understand all of your legal options if your workers’ compensation benefits are denied.
