{"id":5168,"date":"2020-12-18T08:12:49","date_gmt":"2020-12-18T08:12:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.deliveryquotecompare.com\/news\/?p=5168"},"modified":"2024-10-09T12:11:16","modified_gmt":"2024-10-09T11:11:16","slug":"lightening-the-load-how-to-put-less-stress-on-your-back-when-carrying-parcels","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.deliveryquotecompare.com\/news\/lightening-the-load-how-to-put-less-stress-on-your-back-when-carrying-parcels","title":{"rendered":"Lightening the load"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Working as a courier can put tremendous stress on your back for several reasons. For a start, you are usually sitting in a driver\u2019s seat for most of the day and prolonged periods of sitting can put a lot of strain on your lower spine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then you have the added task of loading and\nunloading large and heavy packages. All that bending over and stretching, as\nwell as carrying heavy loads, can do lasting damage to your back. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, you can lighten the load by\nfollowing some of these top tips:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prevention is better than cure<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Keeping yourself active and in good shape\ncan help prevent persistent back pain when working as a courier. Regular\nexercise can help strengthen the muscles around your spine, making it less\nlikely that you will experience pain when lifting heavy items. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of course, low impact activities are best\nas these won\u2019t put too much strain on your back. Walking and swimming are good\nactivities to build up the muscles around your spine without putting too much\nstress on your back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yoga and Pilates can help increase your\nflexibility and improve core stability, which benefits you when you are lifting\nlarge and heavy items.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Get some support<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Many people who work as couriers or in warehouses experience pain in their back and wrists due to the strenuous nature of the job. Wearing wrist and lumbar supports<\/a> can help ease the pain. A wrist support can help prevent damage to your wrists, which can experience a lot of movement in many different directions when lifting packages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lumbar support belts are also designed to\nprovide support for your lower back. It\u2019s worth remembering when you are\ngetting supports for your back or wrists to make sure they fit properly and\nprovide you with the support where you need it. What works for one person may\nnot work for you, so take your time when choosing the right supports.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lift properly<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

One of the major causes of strain on your\nback may come from the way you are lifting. For a start, if something feels too\nheavy, you shouldn\u2019t attempt to lift it as it will cause an injury. Use a\ntrolley or ask someone else to help.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When you are lifting items, make sure you keep your back straight and bend with your knees, keeping your head up too. You shouldn\u2019t have to lean over to pick up the item and you should keep it as close to you as possible when lifting it. This is where good core strength is beneficial. By pulling in your stomach muscles, you can keep your back straight without putting undue stress on it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Take a break\n\nAs many couriers spend a lot of their time\ndriving their vehicle and therefore sitting for prolonged periods, this puts\npressure on the back muscles and spinal discs. It is important, therefore, to\ntake regular breaks to stretch your legs and loosen out any tension or stress\nin your back\n\n\n\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Working as a courier can put tremendous stress on your back for several reasons. For a start, you are usually sitting in a driver\u2019s seat for most of the day and prolonged periods of sitting can put a lot of strain on your lower spine. Then you have the added task of loading and unloading […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[36,41,114,35,1],"tags":[253,55,115,243],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.deliveryquotecompare.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5168"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.deliveryquotecompare.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.deliveryquotecompare.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.deliveryquotecompare.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.deliveryquotecompare.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5168"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.deliveryquotecompare.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5168\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5910,"href":"https:\/\/www.deliveryquotecompare.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5168\/revisions\/5910"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.deliveryquotecompare.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5168"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.deliveryquotecompare.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5168"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.deliveryquotecompare.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5168"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}