Another Myth Exposed - The “Straight” Back

No, I’m not going to sit here and say that keeping your back straight is a bad thing.  In fact, my clients will tell you it’s probably the single most common correction I make with them during sessions.  However, there is a problem in our industry that not only is a typically short sighted partial truth, but the resultant movements are quite dangerous.

It’s the usage of two different words that are used synonymously, when they are simply not synonyms.  When describing the back and position of the spine, many fitness professionals use the term “straight” to mean “upright” and vice versa.  Not only should these words not be used interchangeably, but the lack of clarity leads to a dangerous movement pattern.

When performing lower body movements*, generally speaking, keeping your back “straight” is a very good idea.  Keeping your back “upright” is NOT a very good idea.

What’s the difference you ask?

Many fitness instructors/athletic coaches/fitness magazines say to keep the back “straight” but demonstrate or display an “upright” back (see figure 1).  As you can see in the picture, the result of keeping the back upright is that nothing on the body moves except the knees.  Now you don’t need a degree in biomechanics to figure this one out – if your knees are the only joint flexing and supporting your entire body weight (plus any weights you’re holding) this is going to put a LOT of pressure and stress on the knee.  From a bio-mechanical standpoint, what has happened as a result of keeping the back “upright” is the exerciser has prevented the hips from flexing.  This in turn has eliminated all contributions from the hips and glutes.  Generally speaking, if you want to hurt your knees and back, taking the hips and glutes out of a squat is a good start.

                                  Figure 1        (pics coming soon)               Figure 2

When you squat, it is IMPERATIVE that you flex the hips to involve them and the glutes into the movement.  If you don’t you are asking for knee and/or back issues.  However, as a result of flexing the hips, there will be a slight forward lean of the spine – this is perfectly normal.  Look at figure 2 closely; although the back is no longer “upright”, it is still very “straight”.  Dina’s spine only has the slight normal curve in the lower back - this is perfectly normal.  Some people will tell you that this forward lean constitutes not keeping your back straight – this sentiment is far from accurate – Dina’s back in figure 2 is perfectly straight, it’s just not upright.   If you’ve been told that the manner in which she is squatting in figure 2 is wrong, then you’ve received some pretty dangerous advice.

(In fact, the idea for this article, as with most of my articles, came from having this discussion umpteen million times with various individuals.  The last two individuals with whom I had this discussion are people for whom I have a great deal of respect.  And because they listened to their respective fitness professionals, squatted with their backs upright for many years.  The result?  Both have knee problems today.)

So please, please, please – flex your hips when squatting and keep your back straight.  Just don’t keep it upright!

*For the sake of brevity, a squat is used as an example in this article.  The same rules apply for lunges, dead lifts, etc.

**This article is for informational purposes only – reader assumes all risk of application of the described movements.

***This article and photos are the property of The Training Rim, LLC.  Reproduction and/or dissemination without permission is prohibited.