Core Engagement for Safe Lifting
I got to sit on an airplane for 9 hours recently with a lengthy buffet of movies to distract me from the middle-seat squish. I watched three movies about heroic women; one of them was “RBG”, the documentary about the diminutive legal powerhouse, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who turns 86 this month. The film is largely about her law career launching in 1959 when firms had unabashed policies against hiring women attorneys. Her reticent personality and razor legal mind make her the very definition of the “strong, silent type.” And strong she is. I loved the scenes of her lifting weights with her trainer, including the greatest of all strength training exercises; the plank.
To say Ruth Bader Ginsburg is inspiring is an understatement. I particularly appreciate how she demonstrates how absolutely possible and appropriate it is for people of all ages to strengthen their muscles safely and effectively. Weight lifting for older adults is a safe and effective way to maintain vitality, independence, physical and mental health. With proper technique, the risk of injury is far less than the risk of injury from day –to-day activities done without the benefit of strength training.
Key to good technique is proper structural alignment and core muscle engagement. By structural alignment I mean one’s hips stay plumb under the shoulders. For example, if one is pushing a weight up over their head with a shoulder press, there’s a temptation for the hips to move forward, increasing arch in the lumbar spine. This is risky for the low back. Attention to this and core muscle engagement keeps the hips where they should be. The core muscles are the muscles of the torso and hips, one of particular importance is the tranverse abdominus which are the deepest abdominal muscles that surround the spine providing stability. It takes some practice to consciously contract these muscles, but everyone can do it, and in fact we all do it regularly, you just might not recognize it. A straightforward way to describe this engagement is to sit or stand and draw the navel towards the spine. It’s a muscular engagement, not “sucking in the stomach.” I’ve also heard it described as imagining you’re zipping up jeans that fit quite snugly. While engaging the transverse abdominus, engage the muscles of the pelvic floor, candidly described as holding a full bladder.
Continuing to strong alignment and engagement, level the pelvis which for most people means dropping the tailbone slightly, effectively rocking the hip bones upward toward the bottom rib; note: not forward. With a slight engagement of the glutes, depression of the scapula and slight lowering of the chin you have strong, safe alignment. Reading anatomical directions is not an intuitive or appealing way to learn, but it is important to note that none of this is hard to do, however it is easy to forget to do it. It’s in the unknowing or simply forgetting that creates greater risk factors for injury with anykind of weight lifting, whether it’s with dumbbells or pulling the electric mixer out of the pantry for Sunday morning waffles.
If an 85 year old woman who was 40 years old when Title IX passed can plank and lift weights, anyone can. One of the aspects of Ginsburg that I found infinitely admirable is her commitment to hard work and fortitude to say and do what she believes is right under any circumstances, whether it’s articulating a minority dissent or getting in the gym with a trainer to maintain the hard work of physical vitality. Her tenacity is titanium, and in our overwhelming world, her light is a beacon worth following. Do it safely, and reap the rewards. See you out there.