Bending Over Forwards

So I think I will start to post things, little epiphanies if you will, of things I come to understand. Even though these things might be obvious to some, every animator learns them at some point.(I hope)

As a class assignment we had to take a series of frames in an action sequence from a book by Ed Muybridge and animate it. I chose one of a lady bending over with a flower pot in her hand and then standing up into the upright position again.
In this study I learned in order to give the illusion that there is actual weight in the character's hands, I had to have it pivot off of the hips and not just curl the back and lower the hips.


Also I learned it is important to keep the hips directly over the supporting foot to help give the look of weight and resistance. To keep the hand steady on the board I keyed it in FK/IK mode.
Here is the result: