Most low back pain comes because of lifting and moving improperly. When this happened you may have pains and aches come and go in a matter of days. Of y r movement a d lifting techniques are not corrected then this you may experience low back that will come and go for the next months to years. If still not corrected that can lead to major injuries that can be debilitating like a disc herniation. The first thing to do is to know proper movement and technique, that is the Hip Hinge. Save your back from future injury, pains and aches by mastering the hip hinge in these 3 steps.
- Find Neutral Pelvis
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- Standing with feet shoulder width apart, put your hands on your hips. Tilt your hips forwards, arching your low back (anterior pelvic tilt), then tilt your hips back, flattening your low back (posterior pelvic tilt). Go back and forth a couple times then find a position between the two extremes and find the position in the middle that is comfortable to you. The middle position is Neutral Pelvis.
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- Abdominal bracing
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- Slightly contract your core/abdominal muscles (as if you are preparing for a sucker punch to the gut from a friend or brother). Slight enough that you can still breath comfortably but firm enough that you build a brace to stabilize your low back.
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- Hip Hinge
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- Grab a broom still or PVC poll, something long and straight. With both hands, hold it behind your back parallel to your spine. There are 3 points that you want to be in contact with the poll. 1) back of your head (occipital) 2) between your shoulder blades (thoracic spine), and 3) below your belt line (sacrum).
- The motion: with neutral pelvis, abdominal bracing and all 3 points in contact with your spine, put your hips back (horizontally) bending at the waist and your torso towards the floor.
Follow this link to a video of me talking you through this and demonstrating it step-by-step.
What not to do:
Bend at your low back. When doing the Hip Hinge, do not let the poll come away from your sacrum. This will be the hardest and most important step correct. Hardest because you want to bend your low back to get down low enough to sit or pick up the object. Most important because the bending over and over again is was can injure your low back.
Master the hip hinge and your back will thank you.