This study investigated the effects of the verbal instructions on lifting motion after holding an object with the hip and knee flexion in healthy men. The instructions consisted of the following four conditions; no instruction, instruction on the upper body posture (UB), instruction on the distance between the object and the body, and instruction on the direction of gaze. The results suggest that the UB condition prevented greater knee extension and trunk tilting forward at the beginning of the lift compared to the other three conditions. Therefore, instructions such as ʻhold the object by lowering the hips (squatting) and lift by keeping the trunk (or back) straightʼ may be effective in preventing back-straining work, whereas lifting without instructions could put strain on the lower back.
