Weight Lifting and Spinal Health

A popular opinion in health circles is that the spine is somewhat of a liability. Susceptible to degeneration, overly fragile and barely able to cope with the stresses so common in everyday life, the spine, particularly the lumbar spine simply cannot cut it. But a new study by the National Institute of Health blows the doors off that notion.

The study, reported in the International Journal of Sports Medicine 2000; 21(7):469-470 was designed to examine the relationship of physical weight bearing, spinal bone density and spinal health. As a subject, the researchers chose one of the strongest athletes in the world. They chose the current record holder of the squat lift. This 250-pound athlete has lifted an incredible 1032 pounds from a squat and 947 pounds in a deadlift. He is often referred to as the “world’s strongest man”.

The study was set up to look at two hypotheses regarding physical load and spinal strength. Studies performed on cadavers resulted in theoretical limits of weight bearing after which point it was thought that the spine would simply collapse. This world-class weight lifter has proven these calculations to be false.

A series of lab tests and various imaging examinations were conducted on this individual. He had no obvious spinal problem, normal spinal alignment, no disc problems or signs of degeneration. However, he tested at the highest lumbar bone density ever recorded. This unheard of level of spinal density was obviously a response to this person’s training program of repeating enormous weight lifts. This should be proof enough that if you desire increased bone density, along with dietary improvements and taking a good quality calcium supplement, weight-bearing exercise is vital to the strengthening of bone.

Researchers in the field of biomechanics will have to go back to the drawing board over this one. It is now clear that the upper limit of spinal load bearing has yet to be reached. Studying cadavers simply isn’t good enough. The study pointed out that a squat lift of 469 kilograms is double the point at which researchers thought the spine would collapse. So much for theoretical calculations. These folks should go to the gym more often.

I have frequently witnessed feats of athletic weight lifting that astound me. It seems somehow impossible that the joints and tendons that I see causing people disabling pain caused from such innocuous movements as reaching in the rear seat of a car or bending forward to tie one’s shoes could withstand the stress of lifting 400 or 500 pounds at the gym. True, the feats seen in a gymnasium are performed by people in better shape than my average patient. However, after dealing with pain and disability all day, one does tend to think of the musculoskeletal system as a liability at times. It is studies such as this that give clinicians and researcher alike somewhat of a reality check.

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