Basically I have a pretty pronounced lordosis with anteriorly rotated pelvis. I’m sure this is in part due to genetic factors, but I’ve been working hard to correct it without much success. I do abdominal strengthening exercises like planks, reverse crunches and some of the ones Eric Cressey/Mike Robertson reccomend; glute strengthening exercises like stepups, bridges, 1 leg squats, sumo deadlifts; and stretch my quads and hip flexors as often as I can, but I was wondering
if anyone had any other suggestions for how to correct this posture? Nothing I’ve done so far seems to make much difference. Unfortunately it’s often difficult for me to make it to the gym as I’m a medical student, and I also do a lot of cycling which no doubt contributes to tigh hip flexors. Anyway, any and all suggestions/programs welcome to help me sort this out. Thanks guys!
You need to learn how to relax the lower back muscles while simultaneously tightening the abs. Have someone push their thumb deep into your QL as you suck in your stomach muscles.
Essentially it’s a process of relaxing one set of muscles and contracting another. It’s kinda hard but you can do it.
[quote]beebuddy wrote:
You need to learn how to relax the lower back muscles while simultaneously tightening the abs. Have someone push their thumb deep into your QL as you suck in your stomach muscles.
Essentially it’s a process of relaxing one set of muscles and contracting another. It’s kinda hard but you can do it.[/quote]
I forgot to mention that you have to keep your chest up while you do the above. The scapulae will naturally fall back. Go for it.
You mentioned some of Cressey/Robertson stuff so I am assuming you have searched the site already. But, make sure you read all the parts of “Neaderthal no more”. You could look into the “Egoscue Method”, some people have given it good reviews. Unfortunately. some people may not be as correctable as the next guy.
I have kyphosis and I have been trying to correect it for 20 years. I don’t want to dissapoint you, but there just may be a limit to what you can acheive. Especially if these imbalances are not from simple overall weakness or an imbalance in training.
Tight erectors and hip flexors can contribute to lordosis… I’ve been dealing with a mild case myself. I’ve found that foam rolling my back (not the lumbar spine), lots of hip mobility work, ab strengthening, and stretching my hip flexors every day have helped quite a bit.
Hi there,
I also tried the exercises posted here for about 2 months and didn’t see any results, I think I will now concentrate more on just stretching my hip flexors and also on strengthening my abs through pilates. I am 28 years old now and this thing has been bothering me for 15 years. I always thought I had a fat butt but since the beginning of this year I’ve realized it is lordosis. I sit at work with a straight back against the chair with no curve in the lower back.
I really hope it can be fixed because I want to be able to wear tight clothes and tuck them in my pants because I have a good upper body but my lordosis makes it look as if I’m fat from the bottom and so I always wear my clothes not tucked in.
I would stretch alot on hip flexors to correct the excessive anterior pelvic tilt. Make sure you do hip extension and trunk side flexion to get the psoas and illiacus.
To flatten your back out, do crunches with your back flat on the floor. Deadlifts for you hammys and glutes should help alot. Maybe some bird dogs with a good broomstick operator.
I have an unusual situation where my back is too flat, but I have excessive anterior pelivc tilt… Make sure you know exactly wats tight and loose before embarking on a corrective exercise and stretch program.
Don’t forget you can do some of your stretching during lifting between sets(static or pnf is fine)and some after so you can save time and concentrate on both.
I found some nasty adhesions in the upper right (and left, respectively) sections of my glutes. They seem to work with the QL to increase lordosis. Don’t forget to stretch and massage this part, if you have adhesions there. It might be the gluteus minimus but my anatomy knowledge is not the greatest.
I’ve tried to correct lordosis in the past and failed, but this might be the missing piece of the puzzle. For our sake let’s hope it is.
For anyone that might jump the gun on me, it’s not because of weak glutes. My glutes are proportionally larger than my legs right now (damn you squats) and I’m still in a pretty bad lordosis.
Thanks for the heads up. I myself don’t know much about the inner workings around the hip and legs and am so following the tips and suggestions here on T-Nation for stretching the hip flexors to help with the exagerrated (sp) lordosis. I just wanted to still find out how long it can take to see any results before I give up?
It’s just that when I look at myself in the mirror performing let’s say the runners stretch I see a big butt sticking out but my upper body pretty slim and muscular. I hate having a lower body like this, I would also like to hear back from someone who has performed these stretches and exercises and has overcome lordosis. I just hope and feel that these certain stretches and exercises can help.
Thanks!
Have you tried or do you know how to do “posterior pelvic tilts”?[/quote]
Is that when you lie down with your knees bent and lift your lower body, or you can just sit against a chair and pull your pelvis forward pushing your lower back flat against the chair? If that is then I’ve been doing that also, but if not then can you please explain it to me?
Thanks
[quote]reptile wrote:
obatiger11 wrote:
To the OP:
Have you tried or do you know how to do “posterior pelvic tilts”?
Is that when you lie down with your knees bent and lift your lower body, or you can just sit against a chair and pull your pelvis forward pushing your lower back flat against the chair? If that is then I’ve been doing that also, but if not then can you please explain it to me?
Thanks[/quote]
Basically, you lie down on your back and bend your knees so that they are flat on the floor. You can begin by putting one of your hands under your lumbar spine. What you are trying to do is flatten your lower back into your hand by tilting your pelvis back and into the floor. Once you can flatten your lower back into the floor you want to contract your abdominals as tight as possible and hold it for anywhere from 5 seconds up to a minute and you can do as many as 3 sets of 10-20 reps. Essentially what you are trying to do is decrease the lordotic curve and then train your abdominal muscles to keep you in that position. You do not lift up like you are doing a bridge. It’s been my experience that men have more trouble with this than women. So you may not get it on the first attempt.
I think in your state, the best thing to do would be to hire a professional. You can shoot Cressey an e-mail, to set up something with him. I’m pretty sure he does online/phone consultations.
Hi there,
want to improve my lordosis so that my butt doesn’t stick out. I’m trying hip flexor stretches but should I do both parts IV and V of the neanderthal program or just one? Also should I do the core program with it? Like I posted above I really want to make my lower back more flatter since the curve is pretty deep right now and want to make the pelvis posteriorally (sp) tilt?