Are Bending over Backward?

To bend over backwards is to work extra hard to make something happen, particularly to help someone or to make them happy. If your smart friend bends over backwards to help you pass your math test, you owe her a huge thanks.

Is bending over backwards bad?

Bending over incorrectly for many years can cause slipped and herniated disks—both of which can contribute to chronic back pain and could require surgery to repair. Outside of Europe and America, people tend to bend over differently. They do what experts call a “hip hinge.”

Why do we say bend over backwards?

It's not at all surprising that the origin of the idiom “bend over backwards” is in gymnastics. The term was used as early as 920 CE to compare the athletic act of back bending with an expenditure of effort to ensure that something went as planned.