Lifting, when done properly, is good exercise and especially for women who generally have weaker muscles than men. Today, we have so many labor-saving devices that when we do have to lift something substantial, back injuries often occur. A knowledge of proper body mechanics-and correct breathing-is necessary.

Take every opportunity to carry your own bags, to use a basket rather than a carriage at the store, and to hang the wash outside in this beautiful climate. Use it or lose it is absolutely true; as we age we lose muscle mass each year. Studies have shown that nursing home residents, for example, who lift just five pound weights each day, improve their strength and function. For women especially, it is important to perform weight-bearing exercise to prevent osteoporosis which in modern Western countries is a major cause of disability through fractures. These fractures can lead to early death from pneomonia in patients who become bed-ridden. ( The relatively recent epidemic of osteoporosis will be discussed in a later article.)

Rocks make excellent weights! Also free and readily available is your own body weight which can be used in exercises on your hands and knees. Push-ups is an obvious example, and this exercise strengthens the shoulders and arms as well as the abdomen. Many women will need a transitional exercise first, such as weight-bearing on their hands and knees and raising one arm, then one leg, then opposite arm and leg, to strengthen the supporting limb/s.

Points to remember when you lift heavy objects:

Stand close to the load and carry it close to your body.

Divide up loads so that you carry them equally on each side.

Have a firm footing; one foot in front of the other in a lunge position is easier when you are lifting with the opposite arm. Keep feet parallel for large objects requiring both arms.

Bend your knees, keeping your back straight.

Take a steady grip.

Move smoothly.

Pull in your abdominal muscles and tighten the muscles around the sphincter openings in your pelvis as you exhale. Rise up, straightening the knees.

Face the direction of movement.

Shift feet if the object turns out to be heavier than you thought.

Move the object with a sideways lunge rather than an upward lift.

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