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Old May 31, 2008, 06:24 PM
MichaelRoss
 
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Default It's Not about Brute Force

Cash4notes,

Thanks for wanting to know about lifting heavy things.

First, let me say, this is Not about lifting heavy weights at the gym. It is about lifting heavy Objects around the home - and moving them.

Ok. In the Ikea example, the woman was looking at it all wrong. In her Head she was trying to LIFT 94kg. But what she wanted to do was Move it. To Move it all she had to do was... reposition her Ikea trolley so it faces the short side of the flat box. Walk to the other side of the pallet of boxes and push it / slide it onto her trolley. Now it is on her trolley she can Move it - to the checkout (Ikea trolley is not like what a removalist uses, it is more like a typical shopping cart without a front or back but with sides).

Now she needs to get it into her vehicle. As this object was like 2 meters in length, it was not likely to fit In her vehicle but would need to fit On her roof racks.

If she had a Van, she could get it off the Ikea trolley the same way she got it on - slide it into the Van. At no point is she Lifting 94kgs.

If she has to get it onto her roof racks she needs a slightly different approach. The same approach I used to single handedly lift a 200kg buffet&hutch one piece unit onto the roof racks of a van...

Place a blanket on the corner of the roof. Lean the item against the corner. Lift the base and move it Out until you Feel it is at a weight you can manage - the further away the base is, the more Weight is transfered onto the corner. Lift the base to your thighs and rest there if needs be to get a better/different grip - a slight split stance with your weight leaning forward might be needed at this point if the object is quite heavy. Now step forward and lift as you go - stepping forward alters the Balance point taking more weight off of you and making it easier to Lift your end higher. It also Slides the items into position on the roof racks.

Using this Technique you do NOT take the full weight.

At home, if she did not have a removalist trolley, from the leaning against the vehicle position she could Walk it to where she needed to go - rock the item from corner to corner and push one corner forward and then the other. Again, at no point is She Lifting 94kgs.

Sometimes, though, an item might be shorter and have more depth - like a washing machine. In this case there are Two methods to actually Lift the entire weight. They are similar.

Method one. Stand facing the machine. Place your left hand to the back corner so your thumb is up and your right hand to the front right corner so your thumb is pointing away from you.

Method two. Same as method but standing to the left. So your are slightly straddling the corner. In this position your right hand will have the thumb up and you are grasping both corners.

Obviously, there are no handles to grab so what you do is... crouch down a little, pull it tight into you and stand a little while leaning back (make sure your hands are dry)

What's going on here is Interesting. And while it makes you look Strong, it's actually a play on... momentum and positioning and balance.

More easily explained with this...

If you are trying to move a long/tall thin object with some weight - lets say a piece of 8 foot long pipe or bit of scaffold http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scaffolding a Standard or Ledger. And this is awkward and heavy to Lift as a Vertical thing. You Lean it back onto your shoulder around midway (the balance point) and let the momentum of it leaning over your should Lift the end that was on the ground. You are now Standing with a weight on your shoulders which you might have had troubles to Lift.

In the case of the washing machine. Your solid point is your stance and the point of contact is the corner and the inside of your leg (groin area). This is a Solid Position. As you lean back the weight moves in this direction. Your Lift was actually a transference of weight, using momentum, to a place where strength is not as important as Balance and Position.

One time when I had my removal business I was moving a washing machine for two women. One watched me take it to the van with the trolley, remove the trolley then pick it up and put it into the van - from which point I walked it into position. She was gobsmacked and exclaimed to her friend... "did you see that, did you see that, he just picked up the washing machine. He picked up the washing machine. Just like that. He picked it up like it didn't weight anything. Oh my god. He just picked it up."

As a child of 7 I once lifted my father off the ground - at school in front of my friends. A child of 7 does Not have the Strength to Lift his father. But with a semi squat stance and my father piggyback style way down low near my buttock, his Weight was Easily supported to the Amazement of my friends.

It is ALL about Positioning, Balance Point and Momentum. The same way the Ikea Box could have been Walked - from balance point to balance point with the aid of momentum.

You can use Brute Force and that requires tremendous strength as you are trying to Lift the entire thing and give it Upward Momentum at the same time. Or you can use Balance Points, Positioning and Momentum. How much of each depends on the dimensions of the object and where you want to move it to.

Also remember Archimedes' advice... use a Lever. Which Gives Strength dependent on the Length of the Lever and the Lever point (fulcrum). And a lever can be anything - a screw driver, piece of 4x2, crow bar or pry bar or Burke Bar.

And above all, remember my tag line - near my photo.

Michael Ross
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