Picking Up Pumpkins Without Pain

Hot chocolate in hand while you are walking through the pumpkin patch trying to find the perfect pumpkin for carving this Halloween. Then you see it, the large, round pumpkin that’s meant just for you. You go to pick it up and the pumpkin is a little heavier than you expect. The heaviness and the awkwardness of picking it up due to the shape of the pumpkin causes you to move in a way your body wasn’t expecting and thus you end up with back pain that makes you move slowly like a zombie. While picking up pumpkins may not be a common thing, it’s most definitely another opportunity to utilize lifting form that puts you less at risk of having back pain. Keep reading on to find out how you can prevent low back pain from haunting you this Halloween. 

Obviously the size of the pumpkin plays a role in how your lift will be performed, but this article will focus on form for large to even larger pumpkins. Before even going to lift the pumpkin, it is great to have an understanding of what’s called intra-abdominal pressure. Intra-abdominal pressure is referring to the pressure created within the abdominal cavity. This pressure created within the abdominal cavity can deload the spine which can prevent the spine from taking much of the stress of whatever you are lifting. This pressure should be distributed throughout the entire abdominal cavity and not one specific area, the same way you would want the air in your time to be in all of your tire and not just one specific part. If you are struggling to get this down, watch this video on Breathing and Workouts to see how you can use the concept of diaphragm breathing to assist you. 

Once you have the hang of intra-abdominal pressure, you move on to a proper hinge at the hips. A hinge motion from the hips works by pushing your hips back while keeping a neutral spine. This motion allows us to distribute a portion of the load we are lifting toward our hips as opposed to allowing the low back from retrieving a majority of the load. This will be very similar to a deadlift form. See the example below to help visualize this.

Let’s add these two important steps together and sprinkle a couple of other tips to create a step by step process for lifting a pumpkin without pain!

Large Pumpkin Lifting Form:

Step 1: Create intra-abdominal pressure

Step 2: Hinge at the hips

Step 3: With feet by the pumpkin, wrap hands underneath pumpkin while squatting lower

Step 4: Maintain pressure with neutral spine and drive hips forward while pulling up

Even Larger Pumpkin Lifting Form:

Repeat exact steps for the previous pumpkin! With heavier weight, be sure to consider pressurizing your abdominal cavity to accommodate!

While this is a form to help prevent risk of injury while lifting a pumpkin, this applies to many different objects! However, if these steps seem too vague or you would like assistance in getting further details on intra-abdominal pressure, hinging, squatting, or with any other motions that can assist you in lifting much better, come see us at Focus On Health Chiropractic or the Movement Lab. We will do our absolute best to make sure low back pain won’t be haunting you!!