Do you suffer from either or both of the following:

• low back pain?
• belly pooch?

Because maybe, just maybe, you've got an excessive anterior pelvic tilt situation going on.  This is a situation you do not want to allow to persist, because the problems with discomfort and the potential for increasingly poor posture will only grow.

I've already shown you some very effective stretches for offsetting muscle tightness that can contribute to the over tilt of the top of the pelvis back:  See Stretches To Correct Excessive Anterior Pelvic Tilt.

The stretches are important because of common, chronic tightness in these muscles:

• Psoas
• Rectus Femoris
• Lumbar Erectors

Here's the thing. The relative tightness of these muscles creates excessive tension that "shuts off" other muscles that are crucial to posture and alignment, specifically:

• Gluteals
• Hamstrings
• Abdominals

Strengthen as well as stretch for best results!

This means that not only do you need to address stretching those over tight muscles, you need to develop strength in the group that has become weakened.

7 Seconds to a Flat Belly targets the deep abdominal muscles;  the variation in the video clip above will add to your expertise and contribute to effective abdominal girdling.  That means flatter abs.

In addition, the gluteals and hamstrings, believe it or not, are quite often weak in women.  As large muscles on our bodies, and engaged in locomotion as they are, you'd think they'd be quite strong.

But think about it. We spend far more time sitting our our backsides than working them.  When means the glutes have checked out of the game and the lower back ends up propping up the spine.

No wonder that low back hurts and the glutes have dropped to the floor!

There are several Fit Quickies™ that target glutes and hamstrings – with good reason.  They are critical to core strength, beautiful body shaping, and burning calories galore.

Once you've watched the video descriptions above, it's easy to tuck these 2 tighteners into your routine.  Here's how:

1) Practice Trasversus Abdominus strengtheners, either on the floor (as above) or in 7 Seconds to a Flat Belly 3 – 5 days a week, and

2)  Practice Gluteal and Hamstrings squeezes, either is directed in the video above or  in other elements of  your body shaping and strengthening routine, 5 days a week.  Fit Quickies™ #4 and #5 isolate and overload these muscles for very effective body strengthening and shaping.
And see if you don't enjoy a low back that just plain feels better. And a profile that just plain looks better!

© Lani Muelrath, M.A. 2010 All Rights Reserved

Creating the right weight loss and body shaping plan for you is simple, but it must be at the top of your to-do list. Once you have this mastered, your fitness, energy, and confidence is going to take off, which is going to spell more confidence, productivity, and business success for you.

Would you like the surefire formula that quickly makes it possible for you to abandon ineffective workouts, obsessive dieting, and habits that keep sabotaging your success?  Find out more here.

Yay, stretches to the rescue!

In this Part 4 of Pelvic Tilt talk, I've got some easy, effective stretches that anyone can do to help relieve muscle tightness that contributes to an excessive anterior pelvic tilt.

If you missed part 3, complete with an illustration of anterior pelvic tilt, you can pop in to take a quick look here:  Pelvic Tilt Talk Part 3.

In Parts 4 and 5, I promised some specific stretching and strengthening exercises you can do to bring balance to the muscles contributing to proper alignment of the pelvis.

We'll start with the stretches.

Stretching Specifics To Alleviate Excessive Anterior Pelvic Tilt

When muscles are too tight, they shorten,  pull and tug on bone and can easily bring them out of proper anatomical alignment. Let's see if we can't fix it.

There are specifically three muscles that contribute, through tightness, to the excessive anterior pelvic tilt. Fortunately,  these respond well to precise stretches:

• Psoas
• Rectus Femoris
• Lumbar Erectors
  

Psoas: The psoas muscle is a hip flexing muscle.  The psoas muscle attaches to all five lumbar vertebrae, and thus takes part in forward movement of the lumbar spine.

As a consequence, when the psoas muscle is too tight – or too strong relative to other muscles of the pelvic area – it contributes to excessive extension of the upper lumbar area, and deeper flexion in the lower lumbar area.

This simply means that there is an increased "sway" in the lower back. This is stressful to the lumbar region contributes to excessive anterior pelvic tilt.

This is why it is important to keep the psoas muscle from being over strengthened, and why it is also important to keep it from being too tight by implementing stretches specific to the psoas muscle.

Rectus Femoris: The rectus femoris,  commonly known as part of the quadriceps muscles group, aids in flexing the hip as well as extending the knee.

Unlike the psoas, the rectus femoris doesn't attach to the lumbar region, but rather to the front of the pelvis.

This muscle can easily become tight due to repeated lifting of the leg forward and/or specific sports activities.  It also responds well to stretching – and stretching it feels good, too!

Lumbar Erectors: The lumbar erectors run up the sides of your spine in the low curve of your back behind the waist, and are often shortened due to tightness in its anterior pelvic tilt bedfellows, the psoas and the rectus femoris.

These muscles respond best to a safe, gentle stretch initiated in the abdominal wall.

To help correct the excessive anterior pelvic tilt, perform each of these exercises for 3 times on each side for a 30 second hold.  You can start with one set a day and work your way up to 2 to 3 times a day, and maintenance at 3 days a week.

Note: Be sure the muscles are warm before you start to stretch.  See Stretching:  Don't Do It Cold!

In Part 5, some specific strengthening exercises to help!

© Lani Muelrath, M.A. 2010 All Rights Reserved

Lower back pain?

Might be due, at least in part, to the tilt of your pelvis.

Due to a variety of factors: lots of sitting, bad postural habits, and effects of gravity – the pelvis can become misaligned into an excessive anterior tilt.  Specifically, this means the top of the pelvis is tilted forward beyond its usual natural position.  See Pelvic Tilt Talk Part 1 and Part 2.

A little tilt forward is natural

Yes, a slight anterior tilt of the pelvis is natural to good posture of we upright humans, in what is known as neutral pelvis.  But it is very common for that tilt to go overboard creating an excessive anterior tilt, resulting in problems in the low back and abdominal wall.  These problems can work their effects all the way up the top of the back as well.

As the pelvic tilt is brought back into normal position, and out of excessive tilt, there is often a corresponding relief from back pain.  This is because it takes a load off the muscles that are being – well,  overloaded, and can also relieve compression on the discs of the spine.

There are specific muscles that have a tendency to shorten and tighten, thus contributing to the anterior tilt of the pelvis.  At the same time, the muscles that contribute to tilting the pelvis in a posterior direction can become lengthened and weakened. 

The trick is to bring the muscle activation around pelvic carriage back into balance for more functional movement, relief from pain, and the resulting drain of your energy that excessive tilt can bring.

Stretch, strengthen, or both?

A combination of stretching strategies AND strengthening exercises work together to bring balance and correct carriage to the pelvis.  Together, they correct the excessive anterior tilt of the pelvis.

Simultaneously, building strength in other specific, oppositional muscles assists in creating a better pelvic tilt profile.

In Parts 4 and 5 of this series, we’ll look at specific strengthening and stretching exercises that you can to do tame an over active anterior pelvic tilt.

© Lani Muelrath, M.A. 2010 All Rights Reserved

Previously, I addressed a client question regarding the "tuck", or posterior pelvic tilt position, outside of exercise sessions.  Click HERE to read Part 1:  "Is It Possible To Tuck Too Much?".

More on pelvic tilts and tucks

The backward, or posterior, pelvic tilt referred to by my client in Part 1 is an exercise position common to several rehabilitative-type workouts.  This position is meant to counter an exaggerated anterior pelvic tilt, where the top of the pelvis tilts forward.

Anterior pelvic tilt, or specifically the top of the pelvis tipping forward, is actually a quite normal postural position. The problem is an excessive anterior pelvic tilt.  Rehabilitative exercise works to counter the excessive tilt with consciously tilting the pelvis in the opposite direction.

Excessive anterior pelvic tilt can contribute mightily to postural dysfunction. It can set a chain of discomfort events into motion: with the deepening anterior tilt, the thigh bones rotate inward, placing increased stress on the inner knee.

This inward rotation of the thigh bone, results in increased weight bearing on the inside of the foot, which puts extra stress and strain on the muscles that roll the inside of the foot down and turn the outside of the foot out. Think fallen arches, and you’ve got the idea.  By the way, this problem can also start with the foot and work its way up to a pelvic tilt.

But the problems with excessive anterior tilt don’t stop there.  They have a way of working their way all the way up the rest of our posture. When the pelvis tips too far forward, the arch in the lower back increases. As goes the low back, so goes the neck.  So the next place for this postural dysfunction to show up is at the neck, resulting in what is called “forward head”.

The prescriptive posterior pelvic tilt

This explains the driving factor behind practicing a posterior pelvic tilt during exercise.  Actually, it takes a combination of strategies to correct the problems of the excessive anterior pelvic tilt, to be addressed in another article.

The point here is that though excessive anterior pelvic tilt is a problem that needs to be dealt with specifically to create good posture, overdoing a posterior tuck and countering the natural curves in the back can create problems of its own.

Watch for Part 3 of "Tuck" and Pelvic Tilt Talk:  6 Strategies For Correcting Excessive Anterior Pelvic Tilt

© Lani Muelrath, M.A. 2010 All Rights Reserved

Recently, the following question was presented to me by a client regarding implementation of the "tuck" position outside of exercise sessions.  As a topic that has needed addressing, no time like the present.

Q.  Lani, today I'm having a soreness in my lower back that I usually don't have. I've been trying to really connect with "curling my core and keeping but" tucked during the day….not just when I exercise. I just started noticing this today….Today while doing my workout, on the curl up with hands on knees it really hurt. Any thoughts? Thanks a bunch.

My reply: If I understand you correctly, the "curling the core" is a reference to the pulling of the front of the torso in, while pressing the low and middle part of the back in the direction of the space behind you. And the tuck means the backward tilt of the pelvis that comes with a tuck of the tail.

In my practice, I teach that while these positions and exercises are important for correcting muscle imbalance, these are exercises not to be duplicated with intensity all day long. You should NOT be taking the deep tuck into all walking and standing movements. Rather, pull in the abdominal wall (as in 7 Seconds to a Flat Belly) which facilitates muscle balance through the waist, hip, and low back area, and provides a slight corrective direction to the tilt of the pelvis. It stabilizes the area and activates many of the core muscles in a functional, fluid manner. Save the deep tuck stuff for your training workouts.

Likewise, the pressing to flat the back, meant to counter an exaggerated curve in the back, should not be fought for all day long. We have a natural curve in the lumbar area of the back (see image, left) and we should not be maneuvering to get rid of it.  The natural curves in the spine are designed to effectively cushion and distribute impact as well as facilitate functional movement.  By no means should we be trying to eradicate them with excessive exercise.

Too much prolonged tuck and pressing the low back place a stress on the lumbar area and overwork the muscles at the top of the hip in back. This resulted in the soreness that you are experiencing. Some good training moves, but not meant to be sustained 24/7. Physical therapy is for building strength and countering imbalances, but not always for intense movement all day long.

I know that there are those who will disagree with me on this one, and who suggest that you should be implementing this movement intensely all day long to counter effects of gravity. I say no, because of just what happened to you.

Do the work during workouts. Combine it with strengthening the muscles through the middle and upper back, hips, abdominals and backs of the legs. Let it train you to walk erect , with stronger back muscles, stronger glutes and abs, and shoulders rolled back into open chest position. Then let the awareness of functional posture and strength of muscles gained during workouts carry you forward into beautiful movement.

You want to dance and flow through life, for heaven's sake -not be crimped and tucked!

Go to Part 2 of 5:  More Pelvic Tilt Talk:  Anterior Pelvic Tilt

© Lani Muelrath, M.A. 2010 All Rights Reserved

Make no mistake. YOU make your workout.

Let me explain.

I often get asked "Lani, what is the best workout for…."

And though workouts can be results specific, there is one piece of advice that reigns supreme over the other.

And it applies to ALL workouts.  And that is this:

Application of form is key

It doesn't matter if you are doing yoga,   T-Tapp, the Bar Method, lifting weights, practicing pilates-based exercise, or anything else.  Connecting with body alignment and applying focus to exercise form is the most industrious component of effective workouts.

Mind and body come together

To place the body in optimal body position for the most effective workouts, when it comes to body shaping, rebuilding, strengthening, and safety, you need focus. This is where the mind and the body come together to create effective intensity.

Keep in mind that muscle activation is largely a function of  alignment.

Read that again.

This is why any exercise approach worth a grain of salt will place this element at the top of the list.

It keeps you safe.

It builds functional fitness.

And it creates beautiful shape.

In other words,  just what you are after.

3 key alignment details that will create better body shaping, muscle balance, function, and beauty

1)  tuck your tailbone:  this stretches the over tight muscles of the low back.  These muscles are chronically tight due to over tight hamstrings (see the theme here?) and degenerated or imbalanced postural muscles of the back and torso.

2)  lift the ribcage vertically from the hips: gravity and bad posture sink the ribcage into the pelvis, thickening the waist and creating multiple other problems.

3)  keep the shoulders in alignment with the  hips: With the tuck of the tailbone to stretch the muscles of the low back and activate the muscles of the hips, abdominals, and entire pelvic region, it can be easy for the shoulders to shift back.  Lift the ribcage up and with the reference to the mirror, shift your ribs directly over the midline of the hips so that you are not leaning back. It may actually require a slight forward shift of the ribcage.  This creates activation of erector spinae muscles (your postural integrity machine) of the back as well as bringing the abdominal muscles into play.  Chest remains open with shoulders back.

Try it right now and you'll see what I mean

Go ahead. Stand up, and do these 3 steps.  You will notice right away that your body, though standing still and even without adding any isometric contraction or additional work load, begins to feel dynamically challenged.

THAT is what I mean by "muscle activation is largely a function of  alignment".

YOU make your workout. Not only by doing it (that's another topic altogether!) but also by bringing mind and body together with these 3 simple points of focus.

© Lani Muelrath 2009 All Rights Reserved