15/07/2025
RESEARCH SPOTLIGHT 🧐
A common belief with prevention of low back pain is that lifting with a straight back and bent knees (‘squat lifting’) helps protect the lower back from injury, but this may not be true.
This study compared how people with and without a history of lifting-related low back pain (LBP) moved during a repetitive lifting task, all participants were manual workers.
Surprisingly, those with LBP used more squat style lifts - slower and deeper knee bends - but still experienced pain through movement.
What They Found:
👉 People with LBP bent their knees more and moved slower, but still had pain
👉 No major differences in spinal forces or flexion between the LBP and non-LBP groups
👉 Over time, everyone shifted toward a more ‘stooped’/‘hunched over’ lift, likely due to fatigue
👉 Pain during lifting wasn’t linked clearly to how they moved.
Big Take Away:
✅ This research challenges the ‘right way to lift’ idea. It suggests that lifting technique alone doesn’t predict back pain and a more individualised approach may be better.
Reference: Saraceni, N., Campbell, A., Kent, P., Ng, L., Straker, L., & O’Sullivan, P. (n.d.). Exploring lumbar and lower limb kinematics and kinetics for evidence that lifting technique is associated with LBP.
