For as long as time, lifting technique has been a discussion point in the fitness industry.
In this article, I’m going to tell you everything you need to know about lifting technique and our current understanding of its link to performance and injury.
Lifting technique and Injury
SPOILER: No lifting techniques are understood to be inherently a risk of injury.
Despite the contrary being preached in the fitness industry for years, and probably for years to come, there doesn’t appear any large bodies of research supporting specific lifting techniques as a significant cause or risk of injury.
The best example is spinal flexion in a squat or a deadlift, which is yet to receive any support as an injury risk from highly credible sources (relative to the evidence pyramid) (1, 2).
Not only this, but we struggle to avoid spinal flexion during these movements, even when we try to (3, 4). And even when it looks like we aren’t flexing our spines, we probably are, given that further research suggests that visually we are very poor at detecting spinal flexion, with a need for up to 34 degrees of flexion before we can reliably visually detect it.
With this in mind, and the fact that squats and deadlifts are repeatedly used with success in rehabilitation and strength programmes (5, 6), it makes no sense to dichotomise movements like spinal flexion as inherently bad.
What does all this mean about lifting injuries?
Research, like that shown above, supports the growing notion that injuries are simply, from a physical perspective, an equation of LOAD vs CAPACITY; no technique is inherently bad and the technique that you are using while you get injured is not either, you just exceeded your current capacity for load within that technique.
Moving forward, you should progress a little slower to give your body more time to adapt, avoiding huge spikes in workload to hit the training load sweet spot [zone].
Is Lifting Technique Still Important?
Yes. The technique we use during an exercise affects the subsequent adaptation incurred because it effects the areas of the body being exposed to load and to what degree. For instance, a squatting technique versus a deadlift technique will vastly change the loading from more quad dominant to more hip dominant (7). Meanwhile, a deeper squat versus a shallower squat will increase the muscle activation in the glutes (8).
You may be asking yourself ‘why doesn’t this affect injury?’
Injury is widely accepted to be incredibly multi-factorial, so pinning injuries down to a singular lifting technique will always be tough because of the many contributing factors.
However, we do often see links between poor load management and injury (9, 10), hence this should be the predominant focus.
For example, you could have less extreme technique in a deadlift or squat but poor load management versus someone with more extreme lifting technique and good load management and then, in this case, you may get injured and someone else might not, even though you appear to have more conservative lifting techniques.
I’ll leave you with a few cringey one-liners that can help you understand all the above, so that you could explain it to even the most novice lifter:
- There is no bad technique, only load versus capacity.
- There is no good or bad, just better or worse for your specific goal.
- No exercises are bad, they are just different.
- All exercises are unique and different but not inherently bad.
And with that, I bid you good day xxx
Author:
Ewan Hammond (Bsc; PhD Researcher; Professional Fitness Writer; Personal Trainer; Online Coach)
References:
1. Saraceni, N., Kent, P., Ng, L., Campbell, A., Straker, L. and O'Sullivan, P., 2020. To flex or not to flex? Is there a relationship between lumbar spine flexion during lifting and low back pain? A systematic review with meta-analysis. journal of orthopaedic & sports physical therapy, 50(3), pp.121-130.
2. Washmuth, N.B., McAfee, A.D. and Bickel, C.S., 2022. Lifting Techniques: Why Are We Not Using Evidence To Optimize Movement?. International Journal of Sports Physical Therapy, 17(1), p.104.
3. Howe, L. and Lehman, G., 2021. Getting out of neutral: The risks and rewards of lumbar spine flexion during lifting exercises. Prof. Strength Cond. J, 60, pp.19-31.
4. Falk, J., Aasa, U. and Berglund, L., 2021. How accurate are visual assessments by physical therapists of lumbo-pelvic movements during the squat and deadlift?. Physical Therapy in Sport, 50, pp.195-200.
5. Vecchio, L.D., Daewoud, H. and Green, S., 2018. The health and performance benefits of the squat, deadlift. and bench press. MOJ Yoga & Physical Therapy, 3(2), pp.40-47.
6. Gibbs, M.T., Morrison, N.M., Raftry, S., Jones, M.D. and Marshall, P.W., 2022. Does a powerlifting inspired exercise programme better compliment pain education compared to bodyweight exercise for people with chronic low back pain? A multicentre, single-blind, randomised controlled trial. Clinical Rehabilitation, p.02692155221095484.
7. Delgado, J., Drinkwater, E.J., Banyard, H.G., Haff, G.G. and Nosaka, K., 2019. Comparison between back squat, Romanian deadlift, and barbell hip thrust for leg and hip muscle activities during hip extension. The Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research, 33(10), pp.2595-2601.
8. Caterisano, A., Moss, R.E., Pellinger, T.K., Woodruff, K., Lewis, V.C., Booth, W. and Khadra, T., 2002. The effect of back squat depth on the EMG activity of 4 superficial hip and thigh muscles. The Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research, 16(3), pp.428-432.
9. Windt, J. and Gabbett, T.J., 2017. How do training and competition workloads relate to injury? The workload—injury aetiology model. British journal of sports medicine, 51(5), pp.428-435.
10. Gabbett, T.J., Hulin, B.T., Blanch, P. and Whiteley, R., 2016. High training workloads alone do not cause sports injuries: how you get there is the real issue. British journal of sports medicine, 50(8), pp.444-445.
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