I was working through a quick 9 minute kettle bell routine (exercise doesn't have to take long!) with Katie in the room. Anytime she sees me doing some sort of exercise she usually joins in, which I love. Afterwards, I gave her a quick lesson on how to lift safely via a dead lift. Check her out:
I can't tell you how many times people express fear of lifting something from the floor. I've had people ask me to write them a letter vouching for the fact that they "can't" lift things at work. Perhaps some are simply looking for an excuse to avoid the full job responsibilities. Others may genuinely be afraid because lifting is how they injured themselves in the first place. Or they have been told by another health care provider to "avoid lifting heavy things".
What is heavy, anyway? I've had folks freeze when asked to pick up 10 pounds! This really ought to be an insignificant weight for almost everybody. We are designed way too sturdily to go around life fearful of lifting a measly 10 pounds from the floor.
Katie's dead lift above was 20 kg (44.1 lbs).
Granted, my daughter has never had a pain seed planted in her brain due to a lifting mishap, so she has no fear. But if a 7 year-old girl can safely pick up something nearly matching her body weight, it ought to make one question a fear of lifting significantly less.
If you ever find yourself unwilling or unable to perform a routine task like picking something up, get to work figuring out why. Then, develop a safe strategy for relearning the task so that you no longer live with fear avoidance. Life's too short for that.
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