The big question is why do we have joints in the legs that fold?

Because we knee-d them 😂.

While myself and the siblings were all quite young, we were having a snack time and eating fruit.  My brother took his apple and extended his arm all the way out.  He then chomped the air, trying to eat his apple with a locked-out elbow.  With the joy of discovery, he turned to mom and said, “hey mom, I realized why God gave us elbows”.

In a similar way, a low back patient I was working with came in with a complaint of pain when picking things up from the floor.  He mentioned that he couldn’t pick up his phone if he accidentally dropped it.  When I asked him to show me how he picks up his phone, I realized we were in an elbow-apple situation; they were bending at the hips while keeping their knees completely locked. 

When we placed the phone on the ground again, I coached him to keep a neutral spine position when doing a squat.  Keeping this straight back posture he noticed that he could get lower to the ground and had no back pain.  This trick is important for the small, everyday pick-ups but even more so for any type of heavy lifting.

When anyone lifts or pick up something from the floor, low back posture is important for reducing pain or irritation to the tissues of the spine and hips.  Bending at the hips can increase the risk of a strain or sprain on the low back as well as increases the pressure on the discs between the vertebrae.  Using the bigger muscles, such as the thighs and glutes, can reduce the forces on the low back and keep the low back muscles happy and pain free. 

Move well, lift well

Dr. Cole Maranger