Anterior & Posterior Pelvic Tilt
Updated: Mar 4, 2022
Let's talk about Posture & Pelvises! ⛓
While this may seem like a boring topic at first 🥱, the positioning of our pelvis is incredibly important for both our overall health and our fitness goals.
Anterior Pelvic Tilt (APT) is the most common, and is especially prevalent in:
Women (due to a learned societal behavior of standing to make our booty look "bigger" and stretching our stomach to make it look "flatter")
Women who have had children (a natural occurring part of childbirth)
People who work desk jobs/drive a lot
Tight hip flexors
Weak core muscles
Posterior Pelvic Tilt (PPT) is less common, but can occur in people with:
Prolonged poor upper body posture
Lower back injuries
Tight hamstrings/glutes
Anterior Pelvic Tilt is especially something to be aware of and work on correcting for a multitude of reasons:
APT can keep us from engaging and building our glutes during glute exercises 🍑
APT keeps us from being able to properly engage our core muscles and strengthen the abdominals 👎
APT can create the look of a "distended" stomach due to the abdominal wall being weak and stretched 🎈
It can cause lower back pain due to the hyperextension of the lower lumbar 💥
It can result in injury due to the spine being in a compromised position while lifting weight 🏋️♀️
Steps to achieve a Neutral Pelvis:
1️⃣ Perform the Thomas Test to see if you have APT, and use the stretches/exercises listed here as bodyweight movements on your active rest days to address the issue: https://www.healthline.com/health/fitness-exercise/anterior-pelvic-tilt-exercises#thethomas-test
2️⃣ Take note of your natural, normal standing posture throughout the day. If you find yourself with APT, focus on "tucking your hips" underneath your body.
3️⃣ Another great mental cue is to "not spill the water". Pretend that your hips are a bucket of water, and you don't want to spill forward or backward.
4️⃣ Be aware of your pelvis positioning during your workouts (no matter if it's upper or lower body). Maintaining a neutral pelvis will reduce the change of injury, create more glute activation, and strengthen your core.
Exercises where APT is commonly seen: planks, hyperextensions, squats, lunges, shoulder press.
