01/09/2026
Of course there will always be that one person who pipes up with something like "if someone squats with one foot facing forward and the other foot facing backward, there is obviously a high risk of injury!".
And that is true, in exactly the same way that plyometrics are inherently not high-risk, but that isn't to suggest that a drop jump from a 20 story building is a good idea.
For those struggling to grasp the message that the post is trying to drive home, the post isn't suggesting that lifting technique or biomechanics don't matter.
It's highlighting the fact that there is no single specific lifting technique that will reduce the risk of injury.
It's highlighting the fact that blanket statements that there is one 'right' way to lift and that deviations from this require 'correcting' or 'fixing' to reduce risk of injury/pain are inaccurate and misleading.
It's highlighting the fact that injury mechanisms are complex and multifactorial (Bittencourt et al., 2016; Meeuwisse et al., 2007).
It's highlighting the fact that pain is complex and multifactorial, involving interconnected physiological and psychological mechanisms with substantial individual variability (Belfer et al., 2013; Cholewicki et al., 2019; Dunn et al., 2024; Kela et al., 2021; Marchand et al., 2021).
It's highlighting the fact that rather being a major risk factor for injury, your lifting technique or biomechanics are actually far more important in the context of trying to achieve a specific outcome (Lehman, 2018; Washmuth et al., 2022).
