Do you find yourself with back pain? I do and I can’t do everything I used to – alas no more walking lunges at the gym.
I’ve found a great article that explains how to bend properly. and you can read it online here.
Lost Art Of Bending Over: How Other Cultures Spare Their Spines
I thought this would be helpful. Too many of us move our head and look down when we want to pick something up which means that we bend from our stomach. This is typical of people living in the west, but in other cultures they bend differently; they will bend with their back straight, not squatting but with their backs parallel to the floor, more like a table. Apparently this is known as hip hinging.
To hip hinge:
1. Place your feet about 12 inches apart.
2. Keep your back straight.
3. As you bend your knees, allow your pubic bone to move backward.
4. Fold over by allowing your pubic bone to slide through your legs, down and back.
When i read about this technique I realised it was how I used to do Dead lifts at the gym, and I think it might help to start to do them again. This has an added benefit of stretching our hamstrings.
Image by Mabel Amber from Pixabay