Low Back Biomechanics during Repetitive Deadlifts: A Narrative Review

Details

• Alternative Title:
  IISE Trans Occup Ergon Hum Factors
• Personal Author:
  Ramirez, Vanessa Johan ; Bazrgari, Babak ; Gao, Fan ; Samaan, Michael
• Description:
  Background:
  
  Low back pain is a significant problem and one of the primary musculoskeletal conditions affecting active duty service members. There is a need to comprehensively assess the effects of repetitive deadlifts as a physical training modality on lumbar spine loads and the potential mechanisms involved in lumbosacral injuries among soldiers.
  
  Purpose:
  
  The purpose of this narrative review is to summarize studies of low back biomechanics during repetitive deadlifts as used in training programs to improve lifting capacity.
  
  Methods:
  
  PubMed and Google Scholar were searched for studies of lifting that met our inclusion and exclusion criteria. Only full text articles in English were included, and their reference lists were further searched.
  
  Results:
  
  Heavy deadlifts can result in large compressive and shearing spinal loads that range from 5 – 18 kN, and 1.3 – 3.2 kN, respectively. No studies of lower back biomechanics during repetitive deadlifts were found. However, findings of studies that investigated lower back biomechanics during other types of repetitive lifting suggest a high likelihood for adverse changes in lower back biomechanics that can increase risk of lower back injury.
  
  Conclusion:
  
  Repetitive deadlifting is increasingly implemented as a training modality to develop maximal lifting capacities required in military occupations. Further research is needed to understand the effects of such a training modality on lower back biomechanics and risk of injury.
  
  
• Subjects:
  Biomechanical Phenomena Biophysics Humans Spine
• Keywords:
  Biomechanics Deadlift Injury Prevention Lumbar Spine Repetitive Lifting
• Source:
  IISE Trans Occup Ergon Hum Factors. 10(1):34-46
• Pubmed ID:
  34875981
• Pubmed Central ID:
  PMC9837526
• Document Type:
  Journal Article
• Funding:
  KL2 TR001996/TR/NCATS NIH HHSUnited States/ ; T42 OH008455/OH/NIOSH CDC HHSUnited States/
• Volume:
  10
• Issue:
  1
• Collection(s):
  CDC Public Access
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:441205b72538e64b6992c5ef8547e5773477a895b4e787d5fe51291ab9e0448c81e0bca71ee4412b0e3a6498cd08fb5831059dbfbb852cf971e46ca7d9297ded
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/123816/cdc_123816_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 501.56 KB ]