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Lower Back Support for Serious Snowmobilers
A Rider's 3 day Test Ride - Ride More Comfortably
Snowmobile-Online
The last back belt
you'll ever buy.
Back-A-Line
By Matthew
Baynard
.....Product Report
Give your
back a break.
If you ride a snowmobile, ATV
or motorcycle, you've undoubtedly overheard someone at a pit stop complaining
that his or her back is killing them. Complaining about the trail conditions as
the culprit and blaming the manufacturer for making buckboard suspensions. It
may be more on the grounds of, "I hurt my back at work lifting whatever and the
riding just aggravates the injury", making the riding painful. The discussion is
normally louder and more passionate after a long day in the saddle and you're at
your favorite watering hole at your destination.
Here's some news, did you
ever think that the suspension is working and the trails/roads aren't that bad,
but your posture is? You've all heard Dear 'Ole Mom, say, "Don't slouch; young
men should sit up straight." My Mother was a stickler for making sure that I sat
up straight and walked with good posture.
The Statistics
The experts are agreeing with
your dear Mother too, after years of study, organization like the American
Orthopedic Academy of Sports Medicine (AOASM), The National Institute for
Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) and the University of Miami have
concluded that - bad posture attributes to more back injuries and complaints
that trauma from an actual injury. They've concluded that only 10% of back
injuries are directly attributed to injury cause by strenuous lifting or trauma.
What was the culprit for the other 90% with injuries? We'll go into more detail
later. The studies also concluded that 33% of the population is currently
experiencing back problems (keeping the chiropractors business brisk no doubt)
and 85% of the population will experience back pain and/or injury at one time in
their life.
Most of these injuries fall
into the strains and sprains category and not the more serious rupture or
herniation injuries where the discs of the spine become out of alignment. The
strains is sprains are in most cases the result of poor posture.
Basically, what the
statistics are reinforcing is that only 10% of the population lifts enough to
actually injure your back, but a whopping 85% will experience an injury which is
assumed to be attributed to lifting related trauma. The reality is that this
astounding number can be reduced or eliminated by simply improving your posture.
In a nut shell, 90% of all back injuries are preventable.
The Reality
Proper posture was identified
as the single most attributing factor in a University of Miami study on posture.
This study along with a NIOSH study commissioned by Wal-Mart which studied
elastic belts, which provided to be ineffective for preventing lifting injuries,
concluded that the wearer needed to maintain a proper back alignment to prevent
injury. When you back is aligned it can function as designed, but when you're
posture is poor, you're more prone to injury. When your suspension is set up
properly, it can handle the bumps and impacts better. Your back is the same way,
when your posture is correct, it's better able to handle the bumps and impacts
of riding and while lifting.
Unfortunately, mankind is a
creature of habit, so when you learn a bad habit like slouching you're
predisposed to continue slouching. The same goes for how you sit, stand, walk,
and lift. Even for the desk jockeys, poor posture while sitting all day will
attribute to back injury. The same goes for long distance drivers like truckers
and commuters.
The
Solution
The belts polyester construction will last and the sew in foam pad is the secret
weapon in improving you posture and preventing back injuries. The belt is
machine washable and also available in a toolbelt configuration.
The solution to protecting you back is not an elastic girdle, the NIOSH Wal-Mart
study proved such devices are useless in preventing back injuries. The solution
is to correct your posture which allows you back to function properly.
Back-A-Line is aware of this
fact and fully exploits it by improving your posture and thus protecting your
back. Unlike the 'girdle products' that are nothing more than heavy elastic that
Velcros around your waist, the Back-A-Line design is a sturdy polyester design
that doesn't give as your back puts more pressure on it. The elastic belts
simply flex more when you need them to support you. The Back-A-Line belt also
incorporates a firm lumbar foam pad sew into the belt that supports the entire
lumbo-sacral area on your lower back.
The belt also capitalizes on
you being creatures of habit via the lumbar pad. The belt cradles the lower back
applying a slight pressure that increase as you bend and move. This pressure is
a subconscious clue to your body to standup straighter. This phenomenon is
called proprioceptivity which was the basis of the Pavlov dog experiments to
condition a response from a given stimulus. Basically, the belt is conditioning
your lower back to straighten up. When your back is straight, it's capability to
handle the impacts better.
It's a lot of information
about scientific study and knowing the anatomy of your spine, but sometimes the
background information as to why a product works is more than you ever wanted to
know. You really only wanted to know if it works right?
The
Results
I walk straight and sit
straight, but when I ride a motorcycle or snowmobile, it all goes out the door.
My posture is not optimal and I know it. I heard about the Back-A-Line belt and
I wanted to try it. The belt is very comfortable while on and wearing it all day
is not a torture sentence. That can't be said for the other kidney - back
support belts that are available for snowmobilers. If I have a full days ride,
I'm not on my back the next day, but I can feel it the entire next day. If I'm
riding multi high mileage days, the discomfort just rises.
For me the testing was pretty
simple. I didn't need to have a back to back comparison with other products,
I've used just about all of them on the market. I didn't need to ride a closed
course with them all either. If I ride, I feel sore in the lower back the next
day, pretty simple.
The testing was a three day
trip on some of New York's 8700 miles of groomed trails. Groomed is a vague
description since some of the local clubs are not as diligent as others.
I really liked the feel of
the belt on the lower back and the gentle pressure from the lumbar pad felt like
a pair of hands kneading the lower back. At the end of the day I felt great and
the next morning, no lower back twinge at all. I was sold and after two more
days I felt just as good.
After having worn the belt
for the better part of this riding season, I'm a firm believer in the
Back-A-Line belt. I've found that my riding posture has improved and the fatigue
I normally experienced in my back is gone. I wouldn't ride without the belt now.
I've also started wearing the belt on long road trips to upstate NY and Canada
when we test in those areas. Simply put, the belt works. That's more than I can
say for any of the elastic wonders, it's a bargain.
Contact the
Snowmobile-Online Staff
Snow
Forever Seeking Snow
Back A Line Belts
- Maintaining good posture ALL THE TIME,
whether lifting or not, overcomes the cause of back pain. But how can you
do that?
- The Back-A-Line belt incorporates a curved, firm lumbar pad to which
the spine will naturally conform. More importantly, several studies have
shown that the pressure of such a firm curved surface against the muscles
reduces back pain.
Look here for our complete line of
lower back
supports
Testimonials for Back-A-Line
Sports Medicine-In
receiving the Seal of Acceptance (their only endorsement ever granted),
Back-A-Line was reviewed by several noted physicians. Some of their
comments:
"The rigid, firm lumbar support is ideal.. I like a non-stretch belt with a
lumbar curve added."
"The belt promotes good postural alignment, creating balanced muscle
activity for proper muscle function."
Ergonomic- The Industrial
Hygiene Association's Ergonomist of the year-1994, a consistent critic of
industrial back belts, writes:
"Your concept of a stiffer form-fitted back belt is appealing, and is much
more consistent with my own thinking than many of the soft pliable belts."
Chiropractic- International
lecturer, Inventor of the "Back Companion" and other health related
products, Dr. Guy Doran writes:
"The stiff, rounded quality of your lumbar pad maintains the proper lordotic
alignment to protect the lower spine. Promoting good posture alone should be
a major contributor to back pain reduction, but the pressure of your pad
against the back muscles seems to provide a further alleviating effect.
AOASM-In a later endorsement, the academy addressed the most controversial
issue in back support, muscle atrophy (weakening of the muscles from
disuse).
"We particularly like Back-A-Line's design when compared with the common
elastic belts.The risk of muscle atrophy is caused by elastic belts doing
the work that the muscles would normally be recruited to do.In contrast,
Back-A-Line, with its non-stretch belt, will stimulate the abdominal muscles
by providing resistance for them. Similarly, with its lumbar pad to promote
lordosis, the belt should stimulate the erector muscles as well."
The Industrial Athlete
- A national network of physicians advising corporations to adopt sports
medicine principles for industrial employees, providing them with
conditioning, personal protective equipment and effective rehabilitation. To
that end, they write:
"The Back-A-Line belt helps accomplish these three functions". As the
#1 category of industrial injury costs, the low back should be given a high
priority. Back-A-Line, along with an effective exercise program, helps to
significantly reduce that risk."
Orthopedic- A major
medical school study states, conceptually:
"A smoothly contoured, firm surface therefore appears to be a desirable
feature of an orthosis."
"It provides a proprioceptive and apparent pain blocking effect."
Patents
The Back-A-Link belt is so unique that its
design is patented! U.S. PATENTS #5,429,587 and #5,651,763.
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