Hi everyone, this video is on proper squat and lifting technique to prevent back pain.  80% of the population suffers from low back pain at some point in their lives and in the US alone we spend over 50 Billion dollars every year on treating low back pain.

So this video will show you step by step techniques on how to:

1. Squat properly by hinging at your hips not at your spine.

2. To keep you back straight and in alignment.

3. Sequence bending your knees with hinging at your hips.

4. Position your head so your spine stays straight.

Proper squatting is essential to prevent back pain and injury. When done correctly these squatting and lifting techniques will definitely reduce your risk of back injury.

Herbal therapy for preventing back pain

Regular massage of the joint with Mahanarayan oil or warm sesame oil for pain, improving circulation and lymphatic flow.  Also helps clean out metabolic byproducts formed following injury.  Regular massage also helps keep the back strong.  There are a lot of very important acupressure/acupuncture points on the low back and upper buttock area.  Regular massage of these not only helps keep the back strong, it also helps strengthen the kidneys, bladder and other organs.

Herbal Supplements for back pain

Oral herbal supplements like Yograj Guggulu, Kaishore Guggulu, Punarnavadi Guggulu, Ashwagandha, Musta, Boswellia, Shilajit are also very helpful for low back pain and injury.  Regular use of herbs like Ashwagandha, Guggulu, Shilajit, etc. is very helpful for keeping joints, nerves and muscles strong and healthy.

Tweetables:

How To Squat Without Knee And Back Pain  [Click To Tweet]
How To Lift and Squat Correctly Without Back Pain [Click To Tweet]
Herbal therapy for preventing back pain  [Click To Tweet]

All right, thank you so much for watching this video, it has been real pleasure to share this with you and I’ll see you inside the next one.

Transcript Of Today’s Video

[spoiler]
How to do a proper squat and prevent back pain

My name is Manu Kalia, I’m a Physical Therapist and an Ayurvedic Herbalist. Ayurveda is an East Indian medical system, it has been practiced throughout India and Southeast Asia for the last 5,000 plus years.

I practice Integrative Medicine and today’s lecture is going to be on proper lifting mechanics – body mechanics, to prevent lower back injuries. 80% of the population suffers from low back problems. So, whether it’s injury to the disc, the joints and the nerves, we want to prevent these problems and so we’re going to go over lifting mechanics.

We are going to start with a step-by-step process and I’m going to guide you through squatting body mechanics first and then we’re going to do some lifting. I am going to use this stick here for that. Now, as long as the stick is touching my head, my spine and my butt, I reduce the chance of injury because it keeps my back straight, okay?

So, step number 1 is hinging at your hips. This is hinging at your hips. If I bend at my back, the stick goes away from my back, right? I increase the chance of injury to my back because I’m hinging at my lower back now. So, hinge at your hips. Step number 2, I bend at my knees, my back is straight and the load is on my legs, on my big muscles, alright.

I can bend my knees to take the load off. Though it’s important to bend your knees and use your legs, but if I bend my knees but I still bend at my low back, I can still get in trouble. So you have to follow both of those steps in order to accomplish the task properly. So, let’s do it again, step number 1, hinge at your hips, step number 2 bend at your knees. So now, my back is straight, I’m in a good solid position for lifting.

So, what you want to do is you want to think about Sumo wrestlers and football linemen, what position are they in always? They’re always in this solid position, Okay? So now, let’s go over to the actual lifting mechanics. So, we’re ready to use this box right here. Step number 1 – always close to the object, okay? Closer the object is to me, the less load on my spine. So, I walk right up to the object. I don’t start out here and try to lift this because I’ll be forced to bend at my back, I’m going to get in trouble. So, I walk right next to the object, wide base of support. So, feet are shoulder width or even a little further apart, so I’m in a solid position. Now, remember when we talked about squatting like a Sumo wrestler, right? So, wide base of support, I hinge at my hips again and I bend at my knees. I can look down while I’m grasping the object. Once I get this, look up. Where your head goes, your spine will follow. Just like riding a motorcycle, you turn your head and that’s the direction the motorcycle’s going to go.

So, I grab the object, I straighten up my head, it straightens out my back and I go straight up, push with my legs as I come up. The object stays close to my body, okay? So, once again, step number 1 – I have to get close to the object, wide base of support. I’m right over the object. And you don’t have to do this as a two step process, once you get the mechanics down, I don’t have to do this and then go down in this position. Once I have it down, I go straight down into that position, okay? I grab the object and lift my head up and I push straight up, okay?

The other thing you have to keep in mind is this – never ever lift and twist and to place this out here. So, you think about your poor spine, you’re compressing it, and you’re rotating it. You’re bent forward, you’re lifting something heavy and you’re turning and placing it out here.

So, it’s not just taking it from the ground and placing it out here. It’s also even if I grab something waist height and I try to rotate and twist and put it out here. I’ve broken all those rules – number 1: The object is too away from me, alright? Number 2: My back is twisting, back is not straight. So, make sure when you pick up something, walk up to it, take that one extra step, so your pelvis and hips are pointing in the direction that you’re going to go, and you’re going to put the object down, okay?

So, in terms of practicing this, remember, practice makes perfect. So, broomsticks work great at home, so you grab on to your broomstick, place the broomstick behind your head, right? This is to prevent problems, so you can watch this video but unless you practice this, you will never get a hang of what position your body needs to be in.

Ask your self these questions: Is my back straight? Is the stick going away from me? What am I doing? So, look at yourself in the mirror, in a long mirror view. So, grab on to the broomstick, one hand here, one back here and just work on squatting, just get used to those mechanics. After you get better at that, you get rid of the stick and then you can work on placing an object and going over on to lifting mechanics too, okay?

Now, you have to keep in mind that if you have lower back problems, disc injuries, joint injuries, arthritic problems, any kind of lower back pain, hip pain, knee problems, even ankle for that matter, you don’t want to practice these things, okay?

I’m going to say this again, if you have lower back problems, hip problem, knee problems, ankle problem and you have pain, you don’t want to practice these things, you want to make sure you see your doctor or even your physical therapist to address the problem first. Get those things addressed before you start to practice this. So for example, if I got a knee problem and I decide to start doing the squatting, you’re going to piss off that knee, okay? So, make sure you get that addressed, checked out by a physician and your physical therapist. You have to address it first and then you work on practicing. So, those of you who don’t and you just want to learn the proper mechanics, you can use the simple tool, okay?

So, I hope you found this lecture useful and if you want more information on health and wellness, you can check out my website, it’s http://www.tridoshawellness.com and I hope you practice what you learned today. Thank you! [/spoiler]