Back Belt 2

More on Wearing Back Belts

 

 

The Valsalva Technique is a maneuver that people perform when they hold their breath and exert/squeeze/bear down.  Upon study, this technique creates an increase in Intra-Abdominal Pressure (IAP), which causes an increase in lumbar compression.  The prior theories stated that wearing a back belt would increase intra-abdominal pressure which would decrease compressive load.  However, this theory has been proven false.  As stated before, an increase in (IAP) pressure will increase lumbar compressive load.

 

The other theory was that the back belt will provide support to the lumbar extensor muscles.  The muscle activity of the extensors and the abdominals has been measured while a back belt was worn, and no significant change in muscle activity was shown. 

 

Also, when lifting and wearing a back belt, it was noted that blood pressure and heart rate rose significantly when compared to those lifting without a back belt.  With this, you would hope for a cardiovascular screening prior to any employer handing an employee a back belt to wear.  

 

Take home message:  The benefits of wearing the back belt are not as apparent as we once thought.  If a business requires its employees to wear these belts, their focus should be placed more on educating employees on overall fitness, body mechanics, lifting techniques and ergonomics so that they can rely on themselves for injury prevention rather than the back belt.  Interestingly, it was found that when wearing a back belt, the amount of weight a person was willing to lift rose 19%.  Does the back belt provide a false sense of security?  Either way, if you are used to wearing one, it is not advisable to eliminate it completely, but to wean yourself from it.     

Sit-Ups and Training

Sit-Ups and Training

 

It is somewhat common knowledge that sit-ups may not be the best exercise for anyone to perform, especially someone suffering from lower back pain.  Many people feel that this is due to the activation of the psoas or hip flexor muscle during the sit-up, which results in compression of the spine.  As a result, people have turned to performing sit-ups with bent knees, feeling that by placing the psoas muscle in a shortened position, that it will not contract as intensely, thereby decreasing the amount of spinal compression.  Unfortunately, research shows that just the opposite is true; the shortened psoas must contract at a higher level due to its new shorter length.  This places even higher compression force on the spine.  Many researchers agree that when training for health purposes, sit-ups should be avoided all together.  There are better ways to train the abdominals while sparing the spine.