Different ways of carrying the bag, the weight of the bag, the length of the strap, the angle and the placement of items, all affect the body posture and the degree of effort. Years of wrong bag holding posture may be the cause of your shoulder, neck and lower back pain, or may bring your body posture out of alignment. The following is a guide for healthy people to carry their bags. Patients with related diseases should follow the advice of their doctors.
1. The weight of the bag should be light
The lighter the total weight of the bag, the better, try not to exceed 10% of body weight, up to 20%. Relatively thin people, more need to reduce the burden. Because no matter how to take, the greater the weight of the bag the more crooked the body. Not only does the head stretch forward, the angle of the body leaning forward becomes larger, the discs in the middle of the spine will also be compressed more flat. These will increase the pressure on the tissues around the spine and the joints of the lower limbs, leading to pain in various places as well as damage to the joints.
If the things you want to carry are too heavy, use a box instead. Under the same weight, the body posture is better than the backpack when pulling or pushing the case, so it is comfortable and saves effort, especially if you need to stand for a long time (the case lever is long enough to pull it straight). But when there are many ramps and steps on the road, backpacks are easier than carrying a suitcase
2. Try to double backpack
In addition to weight, the way you carry your backpack has the greatest impact on your body. Some people dislike double backpack ugly, but both sides of the symmetrical posture than a single shoulder back health.
(1) Double side is better than single side
When carried unilaterally, the bag on one side will pull the body out of alignment, causing scoliosis and high and low shoulders, and unbalanced leg forces, making it easy to experience joint pain in the head, shoulders and neck, lower back and lower limbs. The same weight of the bag, changed to double shoulder back can significantly reduce these discomfort.
(2) Alternating front and back, walking back
Often people hang their duffel bags on their chests for the convenience or safety of carrying things. This is not easy to bend over and hunch over, but the body leans back more than when the back is behind, and the lumbar pressure is greater. When the backpack stands for a long time, you can alternate back and forth, but when walking around, it is still more comfortable to carry behind you.
(3) The shoulder strap is wide and soft, and the spacing is narrow
Shoulder pain when backpacking, often related to the shoulder straps. Wide and padded soft straps are more comfortable. The distance between the two shoulder straps should not be too large, the angle is best in 48 ° ~ 60 °, the spacing or angle is too large will increase the pressure on the shoulder, may cause shoulder pain.
(4) Make the center of the bag flush with the waist height
When adjusting the shoulder straps, first ensure that both sides are the same length, and then adjust the length of the straps according to your height so that the center of the bag is at the waist. If the shoulder straps are too short, the bag on the upper back, may be difficult to shoulder and neck, breathing is not smooth. If the shoulder straps are too long and the bag is placed on the hip, the waist is easily uncomfortable and the bag will sway when walking, making it more laborious. If the backpack has a waist belt, tying it tightly can reduce shoulder pressure by nearly a third and make the pack more stable on foot.
3. Non-unilateral, try to shoulder carry not hand carry
If you prefer to carry the bag unilaterally, it is better to carry it on your shoulder. Because the bag hanging on the forearm or in the hand, people will unconsciously more hunchback, body shaking more, so uncomfortable and unstable to walk.
When carrying a backpack on one shoulder, you can adjust the shoulder strap to a longer length and carry it diagonally across the back, which is better than carrying it on one side. If you can't lean across, adjust the shoulder straps shorter, so that the left and right sides of your body are more balanced when you walk.
4. The items in the bag, do not just stuff
When loading things into the bag, you need to pay extra attention to the location of heavy items. First, try to fix the heaviest items in the closest place to the body, such as inserting the computer into the separation close to the back, do not let it slide to the back of the bag. As long as the center of gravity of the items in the bag is shifted forward by 5 cm, the pressure on the shoulders will be significantly reduced.
The next is the height of the heavy object. When standing still or walking on a flat road, it is less stressful to put the heavy object in the backpack in the upper position. But when going up and down ramps or steps, put the heavy things in the bag in the lower middle position, you can walk more stable.
5. Shopping bags, try to evenly divided into two hands to take
Buy a lot of things from the supermarket, can not be put into the backpack, try to divide into two bags, the weight is equally divided into two hands. If you only use your right hand to carry, the force on your left leg will be significantly greater than your right leg when you walk, and your joints will be easily damaged, and the impact will be greater when you go up and down steps. In addition, the same weight of things, one-handed carry the pressure on the spine than two hands, the intervertebral discs are more likely to be damaged.
In short, no matter how to carry the bag, remember to keep the core stable and put the body in the right position.
