Body Mechanics
Lifting Techniques
Ruth Pandolph, PT
Herzing University
PT 130 – Basic Patient Care
What Are Body Mechanics?
 The
use of one’s body to produce motion that is safe,
energy conserving, and anatomically and physiologically
efficient and maintain body balance and control
 Protects you and the patient from injury
Why Study Body Mechanics?
 Required
to lift in our profession
 Will conserve energy
 Reduce stress and strain on the body
 Reduce occurrence of personal injury
 Produce safe movements of the spine
The Lumbar Spine
 The
primary cause of disability in the middle-aged
working class adult is related to low back pain.
 Accounts
for approximately $50 billion in health care
costs annually in the United States.
 Lumbar
spine injuries are also to blame for literally
millions of lost work days per year in the United States
and internationally.
 Prevalence
of low back pain in the population is
close to that of the common cold.
Valsalva
 The
Valsalva maneuver is performed by forcible
exhalation against a closed airway, usually done by
closing one's mouth and pinching one's nose shut.
 Like
when you "clear" the ears and sinuses (that is, to
equalize pressure between them) when ambient pressure
changes, as in diving or flying.
Valsalva: con’t
 Should
not be done during transfers or therapeutic
exercise
 Pts should be instructed to breathe normally during lifts
 Increase pressure decreases cardiac output and
increases peripheral blood pressure  CVA/ruptured
blood vessel
Lifting Techniques
 Poor
lifting techniques lead to those lumbar injury
 Injury usually not from lifting one heavy object, by
improper lifting, or by repetitive lifting
 Lumbar spine should be maintained in its normal, position
of lordosis when lifting
 Use a squat to get close to the object
Principles of Proper Body Mechanics
 Want
to select techniques that will reduce or enhance
the effects of gravity or friction
 Position yourself close to the pt or object/place the
object so it is close to you (shorter lever arm)

Practice with book on table
Principles of Proper Body Mechanics:
COG
 center
of gravity (COG) – where the mass of your or an
object is concentrated
-located approximately at the level of the
second sacral segment in the center of your
pelvis
 Position


COG as close to the object’s COG as possible
Reduces the torque required to move or carry the object
Muscles require less energy to contract
Principles of Proper Body Mechanics: BOS
 What
is your base of support?
 Increase your stability before lifting, reaching, pulling, or
carrying




Widen your base of support (BOS)
Lower your COG
Maintain vertical gravity line within your BOS
Position feet according to the direction of movement you
will use to perform the activity
Principles of Proper Body Mechanics:
con’t
 What
happens to BOS when you add AD, SLS, amputee?
 What happens to COG with pregnancy, when reaching
for an object, squat, stoop, kneel?
Principles of Proper Body Mechanics:
con’t
Summary:
1. position yourself close to object
2. increase BOS
3. put COG close to other COG
4. keep vertical gravity line inside BOS
Tips for Proper Body Mechanics
 Plan
out activity before performing
 Instruct those around to help with specific
commands (can have them repeat back to you)
 Use 1, 2, 3, technique: “Okay, we are going to lift on
3. One, two, three.”
 Secure any equipment needed before you perform
the activity
 DO NOT bend with rotation when you lift
 Use proper equipment especially in no lift facilities
Principles of Proper Body Mechanics:
con’t
 Stoop
or squat if object is below you
 Use a ladder if object is too high
 Use mechanical lifts when appropriate
 Clear pathway before lifting, carrying, or push/pulling
Lifts: technique
Let’s Do It!
Lifts Technique Group Work:
 Break
 On
up into 7 groups (we’ll count off by 7’s)
the poster paper:
Name of given lift technique
 What are the indications for that lift
 Steps in the sequence for performing the technique correctly
 Include/describe posture/proper alignment

 Limitations/contraindications
for that lift
 Draw a picture depicting the lift (“stick man”, etc.)
 You
and your group will demonstrate your given lift, in detail, to
the class.
Deep Squat
 Position
the hips below the knees
 Lifters feet straddle the object
 UE are parallel to each other
 Trunk maintains vertical in
lumbar neutral
 Maintain anterior pelvic tilt
Power lift
 Half-squat
is performed (hips above level of the knees)
 Feet parallel behind the object
 Trunk is vertical
 Lumbar spine lordosis
 Anterior pelvic tilt
Lifting Techniques: Strait Leg Lift
 Lifter’s
knees are slightly flexed or fully extended
 LE stradle the object
 Trunk vertical or horizontal
 Lumbar spine lordosis
Lifting Techniques: One-Leg Stance
(golfers lift)
 Used
for light objects
 WS onto FW extremity
 Lean over to pick up item
Lifting Techniques: Half-kneeling Lift
 Kneel
one knee behind object with foot at 90 degrees
 Object is lifted by UE, placed on the thigh, moved close
to the body, and
person stands
 Lumbar spine
neutral
Lifting Techniques: Traditional lift
 Face
object with feet on either side of the object
 Squat position
 UE lift object while LE extend to stand
Lifting Techniques: Stoop Lift
 Partially
flex the hips and knees
 Maintain lumbar lordosis
 Grasp object and raise the
body and object
Let’s Summarize
(This part is done verbally with the class without the below portion being on
the powerpoint)
- Open discussion with written points on a poster paper on what they’ve
learned
- Write down their “Clinical Pearl(s)” and “Muddiest Point” of the day
- Turn it in
- Class dismissed
Resources:

Fairchild SL. Pierson and Fairchild’s Principles & Techniques of
Patient Care, 5th ed. St. Louis, MO: Elsevier; 2008.

Shankman G, Manske R. Fundamental Orthopedic
Management for the Physical Therapist Assistant. 3rd ed. St.
Louis, MS: Elsevier; 2011.

US Department of Labor. Back Injuries: Nation’s #1 Workplace
Safety Problem.
https://ehs.okstate.edu/training/oshaback.htm. Accessed July
18, 2014.