This is quite an exciting one, full of innuendo and mystery. There are various uses for this position; you can pick things up, stroke cats, talk at eye level with small children, even tie your shoelaces at a stretch – the world is actually your oyster. It is easily done, all you have to do is bend your body at the waist and maintain a firm balance with your lower body. Simple really, although one should take reasonable care when bending, a hasty bend may be too much for the beginner and could cause strain.
It is now that we begin to discover the benefit of additional appendages when assuming various positions. Arms may be implemented when taking the bending over stance. Lozenge, our model as you can see has chosen to pocket them for stylistic purposes but you can let them hang if you wish. The hanging hand can be immensely valuable for extra balance control, practise will of course make perfect.
Despite its applications being wide and wondrous, the bend over does offer some visibility challenges, so make sure you are well aware of your space before entering into it.Bending over is one you should do several times a day for practice, and it will be employed regularly as a semi-transitional position.
Later on in this series we’ll explain further into manual handling procedures, they’re a bit complex to be dealing with at this stage. For the moment however, I must stress the importance of not trying to lift heavy objects by bending over. Serious damage may occur so for the time being, until we get to it, the heavy objects will just have to stay there. Or maybe get a more competent associate to assist you.
