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[link] shows how bad posture causes back strain. In part (a), we see a person with good posture. Note that her upper body’s cg is directly above the pivot point in the hips, which in turn is directly above the base of support at her feet. Because of this, her upper body’s weight exerts no torque about the hips. The only force needed is a vertical force at the hips equal to the weight supported. No muscle action is required, since the bones are rigid and transmit this force from the floor. This is a position of unstable equilibrium, but only small forces are needed to bring the upper body back to vertical if it is slightly displaced. Bad posture is shown in part (b); we see that the upper body’s cg is in front of the pivot in the hips. This creates a clockwise torque around the hips that is counteracted by muscles in the lower back. These muscles must exert large forces, since they have typically small mechanical advantages. (In other words, the perpendicular lever arm for the muscles is much smaller than for the cg.) Poor posture can also cause muscle strain for people sitting at their desks using computers. Special chairs are available that allow the body’s CG to be more easily situated above the seat, to reduce back pain. Prolonged muscle action produces muscle strain. Note that the cg of the entire body is still directly above the base of support in part (b) of [link] . This is compulsory; otherwise the person would not be in equilibrium. We lean forward for the same reason when carrying a load on our backs, to the side when carrying a load in one arm, and backward when carrying a load in front of us, as seen in [link] .

In part a of the figure, a side view of a girl standing on a surface is shown. The weight of the girl is acting vertically downward and is in the line with her hips. A point above her legs is marked as the pivot point. The weight vector is in the direction of the pivot. In part b, a side view of a girl standing on a surface is shown. The girl is bending slightly toward her front. The weight of her upper body is acting downward and the line of action of weight is not passing through the upper body pivot point.
(a) Good posture places the upper body’s cg over the pivots in the hips, eliminating the need for muscle action to balance the body. (b) Poor posture requires exertion by the back muscles to counteract the clockwise torque produced around the pivot by the upper body’s weight. The back muscles have a small effective perpendicular lever arm, r b size 12{r rSub { size 8{b ortho } } } {} , and must therefore exert a large force F b size 12{F rSub { size 8{b} } } {} . Note that the legs lean backward to keep the cg of the entire body above the base of support in the feet.

You have probably been warned against lifting objects with your back. This action, even more than bad posture, can cause muscle strain and damage discs and vertebrae, since abnormally large forces are created in the back muscles and spine.

In image a, a man with a child on his shoulders is shown in which the child is holding the head of the man. The center of gravity is marked at the center of his body. In image b, a man with a long bag on his left shoulder and leaning toward the right is shown. The center of gravity is marked at the center of his body slightly left of the middle. In image c, a lady walking toward the right is shown. She is holding books in her hands. The center of gravity is marked at the center of her body above her legs.
People adjust their stance to maintain balance. (a) A father carrying his son piggyback leans forward to position their overall cg above the base of support at his feet. (b) A student carrying a shoulder bag leans to the side to keep the overall cg over his feet. (c) Another student carrying a load of books in her arms leans backward for the same reason.

Do not lift with your back

Consider the person lifting a heavy box with his back, shown in [link] . (a) Calculate the magnitude of the force F B size 12{F rSub { size 8{v} } } {} in the back muscles that is needed to support the upper body plus the box and compare this with his weight. The mass of the upper body is 55.0 kg and the mass of the box is 30.0 kg. (b) Calculate the magnitude and direction of the force F V size 12{F rSub { size 8{v} } } {} exerted by the vertebrae on the spine at the indicated pivot point. Again, data in the figure may be taken to be accurate to three significant figures.

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Source:  OpenStax, College physics. OpenStax CNX. Jul 27, 2015 Download for free at http://legacy.cnx.org/content/col11406/1.9
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