freeflowme
Level 4 Valued Member
Hey all,
After I got back into lifting in the early part of this year, it quickly became apparent to me that I have anterior pelvic tilt.
After this realization, a lot of things made sense, namely the fact that when I first tried to get into Power to the People! and Enter the Kettlebell workouts a decade ago, I actually hurt my back (herniated my L4/L5) because my lower back was too "tight" (extended) and it put compression on the discs. When I felt discomfort, I assumed I must not be keeping my lower back tight enough, and would try to brace it harder when swinging or deadlifting, only to end up injuring myself and only much later understanding why.
Knowing that I have this issue now, I don't focus on keeping my lower back tight at all when I lift. To the contrary, I focus hard on contracting my abs and glutes to pull my pelvis into a more correct, neutral position. I stretch my hip flexors every day, dynamically and statically, and I had hoped that deadlifting would help strengthen my glutes and abs and everything would be hunky dory. But it seems that my lower back is so tight that it takes a herculean effort to push my hips back and load my hamstrings for a deadlift or swing without my lower back being in extension and my erectors taking over for the lift, so I might not really be strengthening my glutes much at all, but rather just further strengthening my already imbalanced erectors.
I've read a ton of articles on how to correct APT, and I've been trying to put a lot of it into practice for 6-8 months, with seemingly little to no improvement. So, I was wondering if any of you have dealt with the same issue and overcome it without going to PT, and if so, how? It's proving to be a frustrating limitation.
Thanks much.
After I got back into lifting in the early part of this year, it quickly became apparent to me that I have anterior pelvic tilt.
After this realization, a lot of things made sense, namely the fact that when I first tried to get into Power to the People! and Enter the Kettlebell workouts a decade ago, I actually hurt my back (herniated my L4/L5) because my lower back was too "tight" (extended) and it put compression on the discs. When I felt discomfort, I assumed I must not be keeping my lower back tight enough, and would try to brace it harder when swinging or deadlifting, only to end up injuring myself and only much later understanding why.
Knowing that I have this issue now, I don't focus on keeping my lower back tight at all when I lift. To the contrary, I focus hard on contracting my abs and glutes to pull my pelvis into a more correct, neutral position. I stretch my hip flexors every day, dynamically and statically, and I had hoped that deadlifting would help strengthen my glutes and abs and everything would be hunky dory. But it seems that my lower back is so tight that it takes a herculean effort to push my hips back and load my hamstrings for a deadlift or swing without my lower back being in extension and my erectors taking over for the lift, so I might not really be strengthening my glutes much at all, but rather just further strengthening my already imbalanced erectors.
I've read a ton of articles on how to correct APT, and I've been trying to put a lot of it into practice for 6-8 months, with seemingly little to no improvement. So, I was wondering if any of you have dealt with the same issue and overcome it without going to PT, and if so, how? It's proving to be a frustrating limitation.
Thanks much.