Anterior pelvic tilt is one of the most common dysfunctions one can have, upwards of 75% of the population actually experiences this dysfunction. In this video, I’m going to show you how to reverse the effects of chronic sitting by addressing what muscles are causing anterior pelvic tilt and how to strengthen the areas that are weak. With a 4-step attack plan, you are going to be able to fix this muscle and joint imbalance once and for all.
Before we get started, it is important to define what anterior pelvic tilt really is. It’s a postural deficiency caused by tightness and weakness in certain muscle groups of the core and pelvis to pull the pelvis downward and anteriorly. This is easy to spot from the side when looking in the mirror. You will notice an exaggerated curvature in the low back and a protruding stomach. This protruding stomach is a result of the abdominal muscles not being strong enough to counteract the downward pull of the pelvis.
The muscles that are affected by tightness include both the hip flexors and the spinal erectors of the low back while the weakened muscles include the glutes and the abs. There is an interplay of all these muscles that contribute to something called lower cross syndrome. The tight hip flexors pull the pelvis forward and down, which the weak abs can’t counteract, while the lower back becomes tighter and overactive with the glutes being unable to counteract any of the above. This dysfunction often results in postural deficiencies which can lead to low back pain.
One area of tightness that comes as a result of anterior pelvic tilt is in the hamstrings. Does that mean you should stretch your hamstrings as well? You might think that tight hamstrings is causing the issue, but it is actually a result of the positioning of the pelvis. The fact that the posterior side of the pelvis is raised is pulling the hamstrings tighter. As a result, you will want to avoid stretching the hamstrings because as you fix your anterior pelvic tilt, the hamstrings will become more relaxed.
So, how do we address this and fix anterior pelvic tilt once and for all? Well, we need to stretch the proper muscles that are tight and strengthen the muscles that are weak.
We can attack the tight hip flexors with a simple stretch that we call a kneeling overhead reach. This is done from a lunge position with one knee on the ground. This is the side that you will be stretching by pushing your pelvis forward, reaching overhead, and leaning to the opposite side. You will feel a deep stretch in the hip flexor. Do this for 60-90 seconds, depending on you ability level, on each side for two sets.
For the tight low back, you will lay on your back, pull your knees all the way up to your chest and lift your pelvis off the ground. You should feel a good stretch in the muscles of the low back. Perform this stretch for 60-90 seconds as well, also for 2 sets.
When it comes to stretching, you will ideally be performing them at night before bedtime, but if that doesn’t work, find some time throughout the day to get them done.
Now, we need to figure how to strengthen the weakened abs and glutes.
For weak abs, we have two exercises to do; anchored crunches and swipers. With the anchored crunch, anchor a band around something sturdy and then around your heels. Pull your feet back and crunch up. This will effectively activate the hamstrings which will reciprocally deactivate the hip flexors and make sure that the abs are doing the work. The next exercise is something I call a swiper. Instead of simply lifting your legs up in the air, which will cause the hip flexors to contribute, you will actively lift your pelvis off the ground as you lift your legs in the air. The swipe is reinforcement that your pelvis has successfully lifted off the ground.
Do both of these ab exercises for 2-3 sets of 60-90 seconds depending on your ability level.
For the weak glutes, we also have two exercises we can do. The first exercise is the the bridge and reach over. This will help to activate and strengthen the glutes while also stretching the hip flexors in the process. Perform this for 2-3 sets of 60-90 seconds.
The second glute strengthening exercise is a sprinter stretch lunge. Perform this for 2-3 sets of 10-12 reps on each side.
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