Lift Safe! Tips on how to lift heavy objects and avoid injury from Dr. Peter Holst

As a consultant for Backsafe, Dr. Holst knows a thing or two about the best way to lift. The specialized training he has received will not only help people who work in an industrial environment avoid injury, it is also great for us regular folks in our everyday life! In a recent Facebook live Dr. Holst reviewed his rules for lifting to avoid injury and we thought it would be great to share them here! Before you get out there and shovel snow, you might want to take a moment to review them!

  • Keep The Load Close – For every foot out from your body you lift a box, it increases the impact to your back 100 times! So, when you go to lift a heavy object, bring it close to you or you go closer to it!
  • Keep Your Head Up – Looking down changes the dynamic of your spine and can lead to injury. It is natural to look down at the object you are about to lift, but once you have it centered, just be for you pick it up, lift your head up.
  • Keep Your Nose Between Your Toes – You also want to keep your nose facing front to help keep your spine in line. The object you are lifting should be right in front of you and not to the side!
  • Keep Your Spine Straight – The goal is to avoid twisting your spine! You want to be sure that when you go to lift, you are pivoting at the hip and keeping your spine straight.
  • Activate Your Abs – When you lift, you want to be sure that you don’t arch your back and you activate your core. It is vitally important to develop a strong core! Dr. Peter has a core strength playlist on youtube. If you want a strong core, take some time to check it out!

If you have any questions on how to avoid an injury when lifting, please give us a call. We are always ready to help you achieve better health, naturally! If you have done some lifting and injured yourself, please call us. We would love the opportunity to help you feel better.

If you manage a team that does lifting as part of their daily tasks and would like to have Dr. Holst provide some training on how to lift while avoiding injury, give us a call and inquire about his Backsafe Training!

Finally, if you want to learn more, or if you simply take information in better by watching rather than reading, take a look at Dr. Holst’s video about the rules of safe lifting.