Proper Lifting
Hi I’m Dr. Williams with Cedar City Chiropractic and Rehabilitation. Today what I want to talk about is proper lifting with your knees, err, legs and not your back. A lot of people say that, but they really don't know what that means. People will go down and they are like, "Oh, lift with your knees and not your back." So they go clear down like that and they are balancing on the balls of their feet. What that does, is that makes you very unstable and your muscles work harder and fight harder to keep you balanced from tipping over when you are lifting that load. As well as it puts more stress on the knees. So, proper way to do it and a little trick that I learned over the years is you put a thumb in your sternum right there and thumb in your belly button and you always want to keep them parallel to each other. So when you go to squat down, that's how it should look like. Okay. So you are using your legs, but your back is neutral and straight and you can pick up what you are meaning to move. Worst thing to do, is if you got to move something from here to there.
A lot of people will twist, especially if they are in a hurry. They'll twist and then bend over and pick it up like that then bend and twist and bend over again. What that does is that it makes you lose half of your strength in your discs of your low back. That being said, you want to point your feet, your hips, and your shoulders towards what you are picking up. You are gonna pick it up and then you’re gonna pick it up and rotate your whole body and put it down. It takes an extra one or two seconds, but it really saves your back and you will get a whole lot more mileage out of your low back. Toddlers if you see how they do this, they will squat down, they will play with stuff on the floor, and they can do this. They can get up and they won't have back issues. We get lazy as adults and we bend over like this. That puts a lot more stress on that low back, and makes it so we get injured a lot quicker and easier. So, thanks for listening just remember to lift with your legs properly and not with your back.
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At Cedar City Chiropractic and Rehabilitation, Chiropractic Physicians Dr Josh Williams and Dr. M. Curtis Hobson have the solution to more than just your back. With professional, on-hand dietitians, health coaches, massage therapist, and Chiropractic physicians, we can focus on your overall health and wellness that will allow you to run FASTER, jump HIGHER, recover QUICKER, and will ultimately achieve your greatest health and wellness goals. At Cedar City Chiropractic and Rehab... We have MORE than just your back!
