Is Lordosis Reversible?

[jaMiii]

hi,

I was doing some bodybuilding when I was about 16-17. I trained totally wrong: I didn’t train my hamstrings and my abs but my back and my quads. So I devolopped quite an impressive lordosis and a kyphosis.

I am now 20 and started training again a year ago. Both my lordosis and kyphosis got much better but there’s still much work to do…
As far as I know the kyphosis is caused by the lordosis and so I should concentrate on removing the lordosis.
I did some research on the internet and found out that a lordosis is causes by an imbalance of either

• glutes and hip flexors
• hamstrings and quads
• back and abs

Is there any way (test?) to find out which of these imbalances causes my lordosis? Or do I have to go to an experienced trainer?
I am really worried because I read that a lordosis is often not reversible. Is that true?

Do you need pictures?

Thanks, jaMiii

[Christian_Thibaudeau]

[quote]jaMiii wrote:
hi,

I was doing some bodybuilding when I was about 16-17. I trained totally wrong: I didn’t train my hamstrings and my abs but my back and my quads. So I devolopped quite an impressive lordosis and a kyphosis.

I am now 20 and started training again a year ago. Both my lordosis and kyphosis got much better but there’s still much work to do…
As far as I know the kyphosis is caused by the lordosis and so I should concentrate on removing the lordosis.
I did some research on the internet and found out that a lordosis is causes by an imbalance of either

• glutes and hip flexors
• hamstrings and quads
• back and abs

Is there any way (test?) to find out which of these imbalances causes my lordosis? Or do I have to go to an experienced trainer?
I am really worried because I read that a lordosis is often not reversible. Is that true?

Do you need pictures?

Thanks, jaMiii[/quote]

It can be ireversible if it is structural in nature and not caused by muscle imbalances. But if, as you imply it IS due ti imbalances, then it can be improved upon.

There are two important things to remember when it comes to postural correction:

1. What you developed in 10 years cannot be solved in 10 days, or even 10 months. The longer you’ve been with a postural problem, the longer it will take to correct it.

The muscle imbalances themselves are relatively quick to fix. It’s the neural aspect that takes some time. Basically over the years your body has learned to accept your current posture as ‘the norm’. There have thus been mechanical and neural adaptations to accomodate an easy maintenance of this posture. In other words, it is now harder for you to take a posture other than your ‘normal, yet incorrect’ one.

Correcting the muscle imbalances is only the first step, you also need to work on adopting the proper posture istelf.

2. Postural correction is a FULL TIME JOB. You can’t train for it in the gym 5 hours per week and expect it to change. You have to force yourself to adopt a better posture all day long, so that your body can adjust what it consider to be normal for it.

[Nima]

Thibs,

What do you think about adding load (such as the back squat) to people with bad posture? obviously correcting the posture would be the best thing to do first but would you still add load or just focus on different exercises that don’t put as much stress on the affected structure but focus on the muscle you are targeting?

would you eliminate deadlifts all together or use rack pulls instead?

Thanks!

[Cesium]

I’m not CT, but here are some tests to get you started. I’m sorry if I’m stepping on anyones toes.

1. Hip flexors/abs:
   a)Sit on edge of a firm bed, take one knee and hold it to your chest. Lie down so the free leg is over the edge of the bed. The hamstrings should be able to touch the bed while you hold your knee up. Google Thomas test for pictures. If you can not touch the bed it means you have tight hip flexors, most likely iliopsoas.
   b)Lie on your back on a firm bed. Raise your legs up to 90° hip flexion and straight knees. While keeping your low back in touch with the bed, slowly lower your legs to the bed. If you can lower it most of the way, preferably all the way, without your low back coming off the bench you pass. Otherwise you probably have weak abdominal muscles.

2. Back/abs:
   -Test for general extensor shortness: Unable to touch toes with straight knees.
   -Differential diagnosis: Ruling out hamstring shortness. Lie on back with knee and hip on one leg bent 90°, keep hip bent 90° but straighten knee. This will also test positive for weak quads, but probably still the best self-test.

3. Tight rectus femoris (hip flexor part of quads) and long hamstrings:
   a)The test for hamstrings length is really easy
   b)The thomas test from hip flexors/abs will test positive but with knees relatively straight.

Hopefully this will get you started. It’s true that correcting these imbalances is pretty straight forward. The hard part is correcting your postural habits, expect at least a month of concentrated effort, or half a year of normal-person effort.

[ref]

here’s a couple of articles Clay Hyght wrote a while back on Figure Athlete.
They’re great for posture and tackle kyphotic posture and lordosis to some extent.
Lower body-http://figureathlete.tmuscle.com/article/training/pain_free_lower_body_posture&cr=
Upperbody- http://figureathlete.tmuscle.com/article/training/sexy_upper_body_posture&cr=
do your best to ignore the feminine directed prose

[Dadnatron]

Thoracic kyphosis in a young person is quite often caused by Scheuermann’s changes within the discs and endplates themselves. It results in a congenitally or rather developmentally increased kyphosis, even to the point of anterior wedging of the vertebral bodies. This is NOT typically associated with trauma (although trauma can result in an exacerbation of the problem) but is caused by a congenital (genetic) predisposition.

The current thought on its occurrence is that there is vertebral body endplate vascular inadequacy (once again typically genetic) which then results in inadequate vascular supply to the adjacent disc. This results in early breakdown of the disc and hence the adjacent vertebral endplates causing a ‘wedging’ and thus kyphosis.

Scheurmann’s kyphosis typically occurs in the mid thoracic spine and can extend well into the lumbar spine. Given an exaggerated kyphosis in the thoracic spine, the body attempts to ‘realign’ in a compensated manner, putting the body weight directly over the center of the hips, which requires an exaggerated lumbar lordosis.

Given that your symptoms began as a teen, I would venture to guess that this might be the case for you. Midback pain in teens is quite common, and I can almost guess what I will find before I ever image a patient of this age, depending upon his/her history and symptoms.

Unfortunately, there is no known cure and no amount of supplementation, physical therapy, etc has been shown to improve the overall alignment although during the ‘growth’ phase, it can diminish progression. Certainly, strengthening the core musculature will allow people with Scheuermann’s to be more stable. However, there is no way to realign, because the actual BONES and DISCS have changed, and their baseline support is the main vertical support of the body. However, this is also typically self-limiting, and the kyphosis and lordosis will usually stabilize after the final skeletal growth phase.

It might be worthwhile for you to see a spine physician. A simple lateral X-ray might be able to rule this problem out. At least knowing if this is the cause would allow you to work on your body understanding its limitations.

Here is a link which is basic, but gives a bit more information. I trust this site and use eMedicine.com often.
Scheuermann Disease: Practice Essentials, Pathophysiology, Epidemiology

This is another good link with a very good explanation

Scheuermann's Kyphosis

There are alot of trash links on Google… especially one self serving YouTube video. As always, be careful with all medical advice/explanations given on the net.