Lifting technique article upgrade ∞

Last week my article about back-safe lifting got shared around a lot... and I was deluged with feedback, especially from powerlifters, which inspired a major upgrade.

Many of my updates to articles and tutorials are very focused: a single new study, a key point, a specific correction. This one was wide-ranging and took DAYS of discussion, study, writing, and citing; it’s practically all I’ve done all this week. The article is like new. Although I didn’t actually change any significant positions, I did change the title, which had been a bit oversimplified and clickbaity.

OLD: “Lifting Technique Doesn’t Matter”

NEW: “Don’t Worry About Lifting Technique”

Not a huge difference, but an important one I think. Other changes:

• added the idea that most good lifting technique is simple and intuitive and cannot be improved by teaching (full credit to Todd Hargrove for that refinement)
• clarified the scope of the article (just about stoop vs squat lifting for most people, most of the time... no athletic extremes, no rehab, no special occupational challenges like nursing)
• linked prominently to Greg Lehman’s more thorough and technical review of [both sides of the spinal flexion debate](http://www.greglehman.ca/blog/2016/01/31/revisiting-the-spinal-flexion-debate-prepare-for-doubt)
• added [video of a strongman stone lift](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=69m9QvTogMg) showing *extreme* stoop lifting (holy cow)
• added evidence that there’s surprisingly little difference in forces on the spine in stoop vs squat lifting
• revised the powerlifting section in a way that I hope powerlifters will think is more acceptable, but I did double down on the most contentious point: I think the evidence is clear that spinal flexion is impossible to avoid, and I added citations to shore that up