Lifting awkwardly as a risk factor for back pain
A weekly nugget or two of pain science news and ideas for patients and pros, usually 400–1000 words. The blog is the “director’s commentary” on the core content of PainScience.com: a library of major articles and books about common painful problems and popular treatments. See the blog archives or updates for the whole site.
Lifting with an awkward posture does seem to be a genuine risk factor for episodes of acute back pain. “Awkward” does not mean simply stooping, but more obvious awkwardness like twisting and unbalanced loading. Interestingly, the risk declines impressively with age. Are older people just a lot smarter (or more paranoid) about avoiding awkward postures? Once burned, twice shy?
See Steffens et al for the research, and Don’t Worry About Lifting Technique for more detailed analysis.