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Increased Lower Back Arch
Everyone should have a bit of a forward tilt to their pelvis—it’s part of the shock absorption of the spine—but if the tilt is excessive, it increases the arch of the lumbar spine too much, compressing the spinal joints. Compacted joints can cause inflammation, lumbar pain, and even sciatica or degeneration of the joints over time.
How to fix Anterior Pelvic Tilt…
CAUSES:
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TIGHT HIP FLEXORS
There is a well-founded theory that excessive anterior pelvic tilt is more prevalent in modern society due to the amount of sitting we do. When we sit all day the hip flexor muscles shorten and tight hip flexors pull the front of the pelvis down when we are standing up, increasing the pelvic tilt. So, assessing and stretching of the hip flexors is an important part of correcting anterior pelvic tilt.
The Rectus Femoris and the Psoas are the two most important hip flexors but before stretching the Rectus Femoris it is important to check to see if it has trigger points because any knots will reduce the effectiveness of our stretches.
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WEAK GLUTES
The second most common cause of excessive anterior pelvic tilt is weak gluteal muscles, something that is actually quite common. The glutes rotate the pelvis the other way (Posteriorly pelvic tilt) and need to be strong enough to support the pelvic in a neutral position. ‘Bridges’ exercises are the easiest way to rectify this and localise the exercise sufficiently. (Sometimes knots in the glutes need to be worked on too.)
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WEAK DEEP ABDOMINAL MUSCLES AND TIGHT LOWER BACK MUSCLES
There is a lot of discussion about “Lower Crossed Syndrome” and these last two causes are the final piece of the puzzle but in my experience weak abdominals and tight lumbar muscles are less common causes of excessive pelvic tilt. However, both of these can be addressed in one simple exercise.. a Cat-Cow where we just focus on the ‘up’ part (where we raise the back to reduce the arch in the lumbars). If you feel a good stretch in the lower back muscles as you lift the lumbar spine then this a good stretch for you.
