Anterior Pelvic Tilt

Anterior Pelvic Tilt - sometimes called Lower Crossed Syndrome is a condition where the pelvis is tilted forward. Here's what it looks like:


Like I've mentioned before, our society spends too much time sitting and not enough time engaging ourselves in any sort of physical activity. Let's say you're at a desk job stuck in front of a computer for 8 hours a day. Your hip flexors are going to be in a state of constant flexion and over time they become either short or stiff. Now, through a phenomenon called reciprocal inhibition - you're glutes become lengthened and weak.
To better understand reciprocal inhibition, think about when you flex your biceps - your triceps on the other side of your arm needs to lengthen and relax for the contraction to occur. So, in anterior pelvic tilt, the hip flexors are in a state of constant flexion and the muscles on the other side of your body - the gluteals, are forced to be lengthened.
Now what happens when the glutes cannot fire properly? The glutes are the most powerful hip extensors in the body, and when they can't fire at the right time - hip extension is substituted with lumbar extension (you use your lower back instead of your glutes). You see it all the time - someone will drop a quarter or a paper clip and instead of bending at the knees to pick it up, they'll simply bend forward at the waist with their legs fully extended. This might be okay when picking up something light, but what happens when that same person needs to pick up something like a couch or a dumbbell? They'll attempt to muscle up the weight with their lower back rather then using their lower body muscles and end up "blowing out their back". Now, as a result of the lumbar extensors being overused - they also become tight and exacerbate the situation.
Now, what happens when the lumbar extensors are tight? The abdominals become lengthened and weak.
So heres the formula for Lower Crossed Syndrome:
Lengthened and weak gluteals and abdominals + tight and overactive hip flexors and lumbar extensors = anterior pelvic tilt

If you were wondering why it was called Lower Crossed Syndrome, take a look at this diagram:


So what are the implications for someone with anterior pelvic tilt?

Higher likelihood of lower back pain, decreased recruitment of the glutes, increased kyphosis of the thoracic spine, and from a purely asethetic standpoint APT can lead to a "big gut, no butt" scenario.

So, enough with the science mumbo-jumbo - how can you combat APT?

Phase 1:

Warrior Lunge: Hold the bottom position of a lunge for 30 seconds. Squeeze (contract) the glute of the trailing leg (the right leg in the picture) and make sure the knee is behind the hip to ensure a good stretch. Raise your arms overhead, don't over arch your lower back like the guy in the picture, and keep your abs tight and contracted.


Glute Bridge: Lay flat on your back with your arms by your sides. Bring your feet in so that your knees form a 90 degree angle and raise your toes up. Drive through your heels and lift your hips up and squeeze your glutes and brace your abdominals. Hold for 30 seconds.


Plank: The plank position should look like you do when you are standing. You should maintain the natural curve in your lower back, elbows should be right below the shoulders, glutes tight, abs braced, and chin tucked. Hold this position for 30-45 seconds.

Repeat three times before you work out, or use it as your work out. Make sure you do perform this tri-set of exercises at least 3 times a week.

Phase II:

Rectus Femoris Stretch: This stretch should look similar to the warrior lunge stretch except this time you are going to reach back and grab your back leg to intensify the stretch. Same rules apply except you can keep your arms down. Hold for 30 seconds.


Cook Hip Lift: This is similar to the glute bridge but this time you are going to tuck one knee in towards your chest. Instead of holding at the top, do sets of 12 repetitions on each side. Take 2 seconds on the way up, hold at the top for 2 seconds, and then take 2 seconds to lower your hips back down. You might find that you can only go up a couple of inches. Even if this occurs, do not loosen your grasp of your knee - your range of motion will improve as you keep doing the exercise.


Stability Ball Rollout: Place a ball in front of you with your arms extended, roll yourself out keeping your abs braced and your glutes right, and at the bottom push yourself back up to the starting position. Be sure to maintain the natural curve in your lower back - it shouldn't increase or decrease. The greater the diameter of the ball, the easier the exercise will be. The further away you start with the ball the harder the exercise will be. Think of the stability ball rollout as an easier alternative to the ab wheel:


Perform 6-10 repetitions. If you haven't done this exercise before start off slowly -perform less repetitions otherwise you'll find yourself extremely sore in the next day or two.

Again, perform this tri-set of exercises three times either before your workout or as your workout three times a week.

How long should one stay in each phase? It really depends on the person's level of fitness, age, degree of APT, and how flexible they are. Move on to the next phase only when you are comfortable with Phase I.

When you fix APT, your able to recruit your core and glutes properly - which means you'll have a higher capacity to lift more challenging weights which in turn leads to strength gains, increased caloric expenditure, and most importantly better results!

Train Hard,

Jason