15/06/2023
Bend your knees and keep your back straight is a Mantra that we are all familiar with. But the truth is that 1. Lifting in this way is not shown to reduce the incidence of low back pain, 2. Allowing spinal flexion during lifting does not increase the incidence of low back pain.
So, what we thought helped doesn’t!
What we thought increased the incidence doesn’t!
So where does that leave us? Well studies suggest we can generate more force, we are more efficient, we require less fitness when we bend our backs with our legs; that makes sense. But more importantly if you have back pain then it will not improve if we simply protect it, if we want to mend it, we have no option but to bend it.
Another factor that influences back pain is our belief; fear avoidance increases low back pain.
So, the evidence suggests that lifting technique does not influence back pain, fearing injury during lifting does, and once you have back pain, rendering bending painful, the only way to mend it is to bend it! (A back bends in many ways)
So, bend your knees and keep your back straight lifting technique is not what its cracked up to be, and once we have back pain we have to bend it to mend it, (with graded exposure).
The opposite of the Mantra!
If you need help negotiating a graded exposure of bending in order to mend then please contact me at stablepelvis@gmail.com or 07955568507
