Anterior Pelvic Tilt And Training

Bigger Stronger Leaner
1

I think it’s a shame how mechanical issues such as anterior pelvic tilt (APT) (and it’s less common counterpart posterior pelvic tilt) that quite a significant number of lifters suffer from don’t get discussed as much as some of the other stuff on here.

I’m one of those lifters that has to deal with APT. I’ve read all the articles I’ve found on this website concerning APT and I’ve incorporated the training adjustments into my routines for a couple of years now. The thing about rehabilitating mechanical imbalances like APT is that there isn’t any magical quick fix where you “instantly” see results. It’s a long continuous journey that I’m still on.

It doesn’t help when there isn’t really any go to program out there that comprehensively lays out how to address APT. Nearly every article points out the completely logical conjecture of strengthening the opposing muscles in cases of imbalance, so for APT, the posterior chain (glutes and hammies) needs to get worked while the tense anterior muscles need stretching.

Where I’m kind of stuck is asking if I should be doing deadlifts and squats. There was a point 2 years ago when I said fuck it and resumed deadlifting and front squatting (gave up back squats a long time ago) and made pretty solid progress. However, I soon started getting pain in my lower back and placed it to excessive tension in my lower back muscles, particularly with deadlifts. I stopped deadlifting figuring I could drastically improve my deadlift if I took a break and focused on fixing my APT to improve my mechanics (that would also eliminate the pain).

I also reluctantly stopped squatting and you can see the effect. I looked at my quads the other day and squirmed. Apparently there’s a disagreement between coaches about whether those with APT should (front) squat. So now I’m wondering how to build my quads if part of the strategy in combating APT is to weaken and stretch the quads.

Any insight about APT and preventive therapy (particularly regarding front squats), including experiences and maybe what’s worked for you, is greatly appreciated.

2

I had a less serious case of APT not long ago, its not so bad now though…
I’m no expert, but i’d say back off the quad-dominant exercises and focus on really bringing up your glutes. Getting my glutes to turn on more actually helped pulled my hips back down and reverse the tilt. I used exercises like glut bridges and also single leg romanian deadlifts.

Another thing that I found actually worked well was the ‘Thoracic Bridge’, here’s the URL to an article on it The 30 Second Mobility Cure
Also, continue to stretch out your hip flexors (including your quads) and lower back, I stretched them just about every night before I went to bed.
Hope this helps, good luck!

3

As much as I believe this belongs in the Injuries and Rehab forum, I would have never seen it so I would never have been able to provide advice and tell you what worked for me.

Here’s me around a year ago

http://img853.imageshack.us/img853/9084/pelvictilt.png

Here’s me today

http://imageshack.us/a/img138/341/20q4.jpg

There was a period in there where I wasn’t lifting because I had injured my hip, due to a lack of glute activation. So it all stemmed from that. I would say that the progress started happening 8 months ago back in December when I saw my PT. He gave me this daily routine to follow which I can only credit all of my progress to:

3x20 lying side clamshells
3x10 lying side leg raises
3x10 1-legged glute bridges while keeping the hips in a level position and raising the knee of the non-stationary leg to touch the hands a foot above the stationary knee

With the clams and leg raises, it’s not about range of motion. On glute exercises, you need to do your absolute best to keep your posture neutral. If my reasoning serves me correctly, you’ll probably naturally let tilt your pelvis forward, your lordosis accentuate, and let your hip flexors take over. Don’t do that. This is a glute exercise, not hip flexor exercise. Keep the glutes tight and your back as straight as possible without letting your pelvis tilt forward too much, if at all. Best way to do that is squeeze the glutes hard as piss when you’re doing these.

Good luck, OP.

FTR - I kept squatting when I got back into lifting. I just have to make sure I keep doing my glute activation exercises.

Also, I firmly believe that increased upper back volume has helped tremendously.

Also also, strengthening the hamstring at the origin will help pull the rear of the pelvis down. So do that. Basically, for every quad exercise you do, do 2 glute exercises and 2 hammy exercises. Honestly, that’s really about all I can say. I think. I’ll probably think of something again and edit my post later.

4

I have been in the same boat. Since January though, my pain has nearly disappeared. I found a lot of my APT resulted from several issues as follows:

-Weak core
-Weak glutes
-Extremely tight piraformis and gluteus-minimus (spelling?)
-Kyphosis (thoracic mobility issues)
-Tight hip flexors

Over the past 7 months, I switched to a performance/fat-loss program so I could stop worrying so much about how much weight I was putting on the bar, and focusing on HOW I was performing exercises. All my workouts started out about 75 minutes with 30 minutes of foam rolling/lacrosse ball work and mobility work and then my weight lifting workout which focused more on perfect form (i.e. lighter weight, moving at a very controlled speed, keeping core stabilized, shoulder blades down and back, long neck, full range of motion, etc.) and high pace.

Over time, as it got better, my mobility and foam rolling is now only 15 minutes with a 45-60 minute workout. I’m back to lifting heavier weights, and surprise surprise, it feels completely different than before all of this. It’s hard to explain the difference in the feeling of the entire body working in unison and aiding each other as compared to before where my body would cheat itself by working around mechanical issues.

5

[quote]Gettnitdone wrote:
I think it’s a shame how mechanical issues such as anterior pelvic tilt (APT) (and it’s less common counterpart posterior pelvic tilt) that quite a significant number of lifters suffer from don’t get discussed as much as some of the other stuff on here.

I’m one of those lifters that has to deal with APT. I’ve read all the articles I’ve found on this website concerning APT and I’ve incorporated the training adjustments into my routines for a couple of years now. The thing about rehabilitating mechanical imbalances like APT is that there isn’t any magical quick fix where you “instantly” see results. It’s a long continuous journey that I’m still on.

It doesn’t help when there isn’t really any go to program out there that comprehensively lays out how to address APT. Nearly every article points out the completely logical conjecture of strengthening the opposing muscles in cases of imbalance, so for APT, the posterior chain (glutes and hammies) needs to get worked while the tense anterior muscles need stretching.

Where I’m kind of stuck is asking if I should be doing deadlifts and squats. There was a point 2 years ago when I said fuck it and resumed deadlifting and front squatting (gave up back squats a long time ago) and made pretty solid progress. However, I soon started getting pain in my lower back and placed it to excessive tension in my lower back muscles, particularly with deadlifts. I stopped deadlifting figuring I could drastically improve my deadlift if I took a break and focused on fixing my APT to improve my mechanics (that would also eliminate the pain).

I also reluctantly stopped squatting and you can see the effect. I looked at my quads the other day and squirmed. Apparently there’s a disagreement between coaches about whether those with APT should (front) squat. So now I’m wondering how to build my quads if part of the strategy in combating APT is to weaken and stretch the quads.

Any insight about APT and preventive therapy (particularly regarding front squats), including experiences and maybe what’s worked for you, is greatly appreciated. [/quote]

Good advice so far, especially by Z, so I won’t try to reiterate. Given concentrated effort, APT can be fixed more rapidly than you might think IMHO. My 2 cents is that you should not weaken the quads in the first place. Mobility is separate from strength. Tight quads can contribute to APT obviously, but it doesn’t mean they need to get weaker–it means they need to be loosened and stretchable/mobilized routinely. You should strengthen the glutes and abs primarily, loosen hip flexors which may contribute to tilt, and leave quads on maintenance–not atrophy. Glutes are very overlooked and abs as well, as most people focus on hamstrings. You should also work on thoracic spine mobility because a lack of mobility there can be translated down the chain–instead of extending the T spine like you should you will end up working at the lower back and hip.

Work lunges and step ups man. These, if done conscientiously, will involve the glutes and the central load distribution means that the APT will not be as exaggerated as on an anterior loaded deadlift or a back squat. However as others have noted the rehab movements and glute activation exercises are absolutely paramount. I would do them every day, and I would do sets of glute activation work in between sets of front squats or lunges or step-ups, or whatever leg work you have in your workout. Use it as a “pre-fatigue” almost–because you need to feel it working, then do the compound exercise and focus on the glutes.

Ab rollouts help a lot IME, as well as crunches. Anything where you posteriorly tilt the pelvis while doing ab work.

6

DB lunges and Step-ups for the win!! Good advice there.

Something I do EVERY DAY is I walk the stairs in the office probably 8-10 times (up and down). Each time, I take 2 at a time, and make sure my body is perfectly erect. It helps ingrain the proper alignment.

Also do a lot of the “third world squat”. In the beginning of the year, I couldn’t do it without holding on to something. Now I can sit down in it for a while.

7

[quote]ZJStrope wrote:
DB lunges and Step-ups for the win!! Good advice there.

Something I do EVERY DAY is I walk the stairs in the office probably 8-10 times (up and down). Each time, I take 2 at a time, and make sure my body is perfectly erect. It helps ingrain the proper alignment.

Also do a lot of the “third world squat”. In the beginning of the year, I couldn’t do it without holding on to something. Now I can sit down in it for a while. [/quote]

walking the stairs is a great idea. often times under heavier load form gets compromised and as a result so does neuromuscular control of posture (a subtler form of “cheating” that goes unnoticed by almost all). you need to make sure in all things that you are maintaining a neutral spine AND HIP and not allowing it to sway and hyperextend, which will reinforce the APT. this is often overlooked and is critical esp. in lunges and hip flexor stretches, which completely degrades the mobility exercise effectiveness.

the other thing is, no matter how much you train to counteract apt, if your posture all day sitting, standing, and walking reinforces it you will be shooting yourself in the foot. so pay attention to daily activities consciously.

8

btw I will almost bet that if you focus extremely hard on maintaining perfect hip and spine posture and slowly and deliberately contracting the glutes durin your mobility exercises you will notice a more rapid improvement, and a better stretch.

9

Pretty much what everyone else has said.

Stretch the quads, activate the glutes.
Strengthen the posterior chain and core (specifically anterior core and obliques).

It won’t happen over night, but outside the gym you need to be conscience of your body position. Also, try to set a timer and stand up at least every 20-30 minutes if you work at a desk. When doing this, get your hips through, squeeze your glutes, and tighten your abs.

Mike Robertson has a new product, Bulletproof Athlete, that I bet could guide you in fixing some of your issues. I won’t post a link, but check out his website. Also, his YouTube videos are spot on for form. The thing with lunges/split squats/etc as been mentioned, they have to be done RIGHT. Vertical shins, sink into it, feet setup like railroad tracks. etc.

10

You guys fuckin’ rock, thanks for all the advice. I’m definitely more motivated, and prepared, to work on solving my APT after reading your guys’ posts.

Cheers.

11

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[quote]Gettnitdone wrote:
You guys fuckin’ rock, thanks for all the advice. I’m definitely more motivated, and prepared, to work on solving my APT after reading your guys’ posts.

Cheers.[/quote]

Awesome!! I’m glad we can be of some help. I was extremely lost in this too when I began. I attached a 6 month comparison to see you how much you can do in 6 months!

12

man, my hips are tilted way more than those in the before pic. I’ll get on this. Thanks everyone

13

are you incapable of standing without anterior pelvic tilt? are you not able to do the cat-camel stretch, for example?

trying to get at whether it is that your body is locked so you need to mobilize. or whether it is more that you are not able to hold your pelvic alignment while doing other things like… moving your limbs about.

14

LOL @ the before and after pic, if that’s a serious issue then I am a FREAK. I have vastly improved my own hip placement to somewhere near where you started.

Cable pull throughs for the ultimate glute-firing win. No question for me.
It helps that I love to deadlift, plus running a couple circuts of those Meadows leg routines that were hamstring-heavy did me favors, and not just to my legs (though they improved a startling amount in 8 weeks, no question.)
Consistently stretching hip flexors.
Med ball rolling hip flexors (HELLO PAIN) but you learn to love it…kind of. Just like any SMR.

I seriously cut my tilt by maybe 30% and I am now somewhere around that guy’s before picture.

15

Used to be worse than the before but the after feels so much better. Squatting is much easier to keep form