J:
While learning exercises for strength training, especially the squat
and deadlift, I've also finally learned how to pick up ordinary heavy
things with less risk of injury. I wish I had learned at a younger age,
but I'm happy to learn now, before my back is ruined from lifting
incorrectly.
In the past, I tried to follow vague snippets of
lifting advice like, "don't bend over," "keep your back straight," and
"lift with your legs, not with your back." None of these pieces of
advice are quite accurate, and it was always difficult for me to
translate the instructions into decent mental pictures of Lifting
Correctly. I often need to lean over when picking up heavy things. For
a correct deadlift or squat, one's back should be curved slightly
toward the back, and the only way to lift heavy things always involes
the legs, glutes, abs, and, yes, even the back. The trick, when
lifting, is transforming the rather bendy spinal cord into a solid,
supportive spinal column.
So, now that I've learned a better idea of how to lift, I have come up with my own (hopefully easier to understand) advice:
Pretend
you are a gorilla. Bend your legs, stick your butt out, and make a
proud chest. This way, you can lean over like a gorilla, grunt like a
gorilla, and lift massive objects— um, like a human. Actually, gorillas
are massive objects; they have
to lift themselves all the time. Unless sitting or lying down, a large
gorilla's back becomes a rigid support structure for the rest of his
400+ pound body.
With the image of a gorilla in my mind, it's easier to assume the correct stance for heavy lifting.
More lifting info:
Your
back muscles play an important role in aligning your spine and keeping
it in the correct position. But the spine needs to be entirely
surrounded with support, and the back muscles primarily provide support
from behind. The chest, abdominal muscles, and trapezus muscles in the
upper back also contribute, the trapezus lending tension to the top of
the torso while the abs and chest exert pressure against the spine from
the front and sides. This is why it's actually good to take a breath
and hold it while lifting. The filled lungs help keep your spine in
place. Turn up the tension in all the lifting and support muscles— the
chest, back, abs, glutes, hamstrings, etc. For very heavy loads,
practically every muscle in your body is contributing to the lift.
Because
so many of your muscles contribute, there are plenty of simple
"assistance exercises" that help out a lot toward preparing to lift
heavy things. Abdominal exercises like the bicycle crunch and plank
build core muscles. For your back, the "superman" extension is great
for building erector spinae muscles and tendons, and it also can give
you a good feel for the shape your back should take while lifting.
Of
course, the best exercises for lifting are lifting exercises, and the
best of these are the squat and deadlift. Both of these exercises
should be approached carefully, however, since slight errors in
technique can lead to long lasting pain. Start with bodyweight squats
and add small increments of weight each session. Give yourself a day or
two of rest between exercise sessions, and eat good food. If you want
to start real strength training, read some books, visit web sites (like
Crossfit,
StrongLifts, and
PhysicalFitNet), and ask your weightlifting friends for advice. These kinds of sources have helped me a lot.
