This article has kindly been shared by Alison Richmond of Provention
We’ve all heard it: “Keep your back straight and bend your knees.”
It’s on safety posters, repeated in training courses, and drilled into us since childhood.
The problem?
It’s completely backwards.
Not only does it fail to support natural movement, it actually creates more tension, more wear and tear, and a higher risk of injury over time.
The Myth of the Straight Back
Locking your back and bending your knees pushes you off balance. Your weight shifts forward, your body panics, and your muscles brace hard to stop you tipping over. That bracing might feel subtle, but over years it creates tightness, fatigue, and injury risk.
Why It Hurts Your Knees
Leading with your knees also forces your body weight through them, creating a shearing effect that grinds cartilage and stresses ligaments. This “knees-first” approach is one reason knee arthritis is so common in Western cultures.
What Physically Intelligent Movers Do Instead
Children and people in traditional cultures don’t move this way. They hinge from the hips, not the knees:
- Weight stays balanced and centred
- Knees stack safely over the ankles
- The spine stays long and relaxed
- Muscles don’t brace unnecessarily
- Knees are spared from forward-driving forces
It feels easier – because it’s how your body was designed to move.
The Real Instruction Manual
Your body isn’t broken. The outdated instructions are. By relearning natural hip-hinging, you can reduce pain, protect your joints, and move with confidence.
Alison, at Provention, and through the First Move Trainings that AIM run, focus on restoring natural movement as part of effective injury prevention strategies.
It’s not about bracing harder – it’s about moving smarter.
You don’t need to brace and suffer through bending forward. You need to balance and hinge like a five-year-old would.
Take a look at this video where Alison gives instructions on what moving at your hips – ‘moving with balance’ – actually looks like.
This is your real instruction manual. Let’s get back to it.
