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 and for $39.95, it's a bargain.

Back-A-Line, Inc.
644 11th Avenue
San Francisco, CA 94118

1-800-905-BACK
Questions@backaline.com

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