Is Anterior Pelvic Tilt Causing You Pain?
IS ANTERIOR PELVIC TILT CAUSING YOU PAIN?
In this article you’ll discover how anterior pelvic tilt can cause not only physical aches and pains but also blocked energy, chronic fatigue and exhaustion. Is anterior pelvic tilt causing you pain? If you experience rounded upper body posture, tight hips, pain in the neck, shoulders, middle and lower back after sitting, this article can help.
Poor posture is all too common. Our lifestyles today, dictate that a lot of us spend most of our waking hours sitting down, slumped forward, looking down and stressed out. Is it any wonder many people find themselves living with chronic pain? It’s this repeated negative lifestyle pattern, practiced day in and day out that causes your head to shift forward, your shoulders to round, your hips to tighten and your glutes to weaken and atrophy. This chain of unfortunate events often leads to anterior pelvic tilt. Anterior pelvic tilt is an exaggerated forward shift of the pelvis. World renowned holistic trainer Paul Chek, describes this “bum out” posture as the Donald Duck.
ARE YOU A DONALD DUCK?
Take a moment to check yourself out, side on, in front of a full length mirror. Does your pelvis drop forward? Does your bum stick out? Are you a Donald Duck? If so, the good news is that with practice using specific exercises and stretches, you can fix it.
Now let’s do a quick test so you can feel the difference between a pelvis that’s out of whack and one that’s in alignment.
Stand up and face forward to the mirror. Completely relax your stomach muscles. Stand with your usual (poor) posture. Now, bring your awareness to your feet and notice that most of your weight is distributed along the inner side of your feet. This is because when your pelvis tilts excessively forward, it causes pronation. This means your feet roll in, placing your knees and hips out of alignment.
Now, stand tall, pull your belly button towards your spine to engage your core and squeeze your glutes. If you’re paying attention, you will have noticed that your weight distribution is now balanced and your feet and knees have magically moved back into correct alignment.
HOW TO FIX IT
With anterior pelvic tilt, the muscles at the front of your body, specifically your hip flexor group of muscles become tight and pull your pelvis forward. At the same time, the posterior (rear) muscles that support your pelvis, weaken and don’t have the strength to counteract that forward pulling. Prolonged sitting forward also causes the pelvis to drop forward and increases the lumbar curve. Lack of stretching and strengthening exercises and excessive weight gain also contribute to anterior pelvic tilt.
Anterior pelvic tilt affects the lower back at typically the lowest two levels—L4-5 and L5-S1. Chronic back, knee and hip pain, blocked energy flow and chronic fatigue are some of the potential long-term consequences if you leave your anterior pelvic tilt untreated. There are several exercises that can help you loosen up your hip flexors and strengthen your core and posterior chain.
BEST EXERCISES
Include a daily walk in your exercise regime and avoid wearing high heels. For core strengthening, the plank exercise is effective. For glute strengthening, do bridges, clamshells and side steps with a resistance band around your thighs. To release tight hip flexors, the lying quad stretch and psoas stretch are effective. Paul Chek discusses the impact poor posture has on your health and demonstrates a deep hip flexor stretch with progressions, in this article.
Is anterior pelvic tilt causing you pain? My own personal health journey is evidence that strength stabilisation exercise has the power to correct anterior pelvic tilt and heal the body. If you’re living with poor posture and chronic pain and not currently engaged in a corrective strength training program, I urge you to start. If you’re ready to build the strong pain-free body that you deserve, my FITBody Success program can help. Check it out HERE.
Love,
Simone