Back pain is one of the most common reasons that people go to see their doctor. Many times the pain is the result of bad technique in lifting or carrying. It’s important to use proper technique for anything you carry whether it’s a backpack, firewood, the baby or a pet.

Back Pain #1 Leaning forward when carrying things in front
A common bad habit is to lean back or arch your back when carrying something in front of you, like a package or the baby. Leaning back does make things easier to carry because you don’t have to support the load with your muscles. Instead, you shift the weight of the load plus all the weight of your upper body onto your low back. This means your low back does the work instead of your muscles. To prevent this problem and get free exercise at the same time try this:

• Stand up and pick up and hold any load in front of you.
• If you notice yourself arching or leaning back, straighten your body to an upright position by curling forward enough to take the excessive arch out of your low back. Don’t curl forward so much that you round your shoulders or crane your neck. This is how to stand up using your abdominal muscles to maintain good posture against any anterior load.
• A surprising way to help your back is to strengthen your arms.

Back Pain #2 Leaning Back when Lifting Overhead
When reaching your arms overhead to do anything from stretching to reach a shelf, to taking a photograph, check to see if you are arching your back. This shifts weight to your low back. Instead, tuck your hips under you to reduce the arch of your low back, then reach up again. You may be surprised at the difference.

Back Pain #3 Leaning Back when Carrying Things on your Back
Heavy bags and backpacks don’t make you arch your back or have bad posture. Not using your abdominal muscles to counter the pull, and allowing your back to arch is the problem. Try this:

• Stand up wearing a backpack. Notice if you arch or lean back. Straighten your body by beginning to curl your torso as if you were doing abdominal crunches, but don’t lean forward, round your shoulders, or crane your neck. You will feel your abs working to do this. Your backpack becomes a built-in abdominal muscle exercise.
• Check to make sure you don’t stick your behind out to hold the bag. Keep your hips tucked in enough to straighten your body. But, don’t tuck so much that you lean back or stick your hips forward.

With extremely heavy weights, it is normal to bend under the weight. It is not healthy, but is sometimes the only way. For example, when rescuing a heavy person or getting a truck out of a ditch. Strengthen your muscles and learn good positioning skills so you can minimize damage to your back during the few situations where the weight is just too heavy. Use your muscles to hold your body in healthy positions when standing and carrying gear and not only will you get great exercise, you’ll save your back from giving you a backache.