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Kettlebell Exercises to help with Lateral Pelvic tilt

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krishnab75

krishnab75

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Hey Folks.

I was hoping someone could help me with identifying the right exercises to help with this issue.

I do a lot of hiking and rock scrambling, so longer periods of endurance activity. This can mean hiking for 8-10 miles over uneven terrain or even off-trail with 1600 foot elevation gain or more.

The one problem I run into seems to be lateral pelvic stability or strength. What I mean is that when I am climbing up rocks or hiking over uneven terrain, my pelvis has to tilt from side to side--as opposed to forward and backward. Let me give you a scenario. So imagine you are walking and you come to a rock you have to step up upon. You lift your knee up to like 90 degrees to put your right foot on a rock. Then your right hip will also tilt up, your left hip will tilt out a bit, and you will lean a bit to your right in order to counter the weight imbalance. Then you step up, and you might have to do the same exact thing on the opposite side.

So I think that this kind of side bending--where the distance between my ribs and my pelvis shrinks and then returns to normal--on alternating sides--seems to be weak or getting strained.

I was not sure what exercises I can do while in the gym, that will carry over to this movement pattern? Can anyone suggest something that will help me develop some more strength/endurance for this movement pattern?

In general I am in the gym at least 3-4 times during the week and then doing a long hike on one day during the weekend. In the gym I will train stairmaster for about 40-45 minutes 3 times a week--as it seems to have the most carryover to conditioning for hiking. I also do some strength training a la Pavel's book Beyond BodyBuilding, where he talks about high frequency and low volume. So I do staggered one leg deadlifts at about 175lb for one working set of five on each leg, and then also do bench press for one working set. I do the strength work about 4 times a week. I am also starting to do loaded carries 3 times a week for conditioning. So after my stairmaster and lifting, then I might do a KB rack carry for 50 feet and then do 60 jump ropes--repeat 5 times. Sometimes I will do a sandbag bearhug carry, etc. I find the carries help really tighten up my hips and reduce any energy leaks that happen during hiking.

If anyone has any suggestions, I would be glad for the advice.
 
Hi :)
Lateral walks with loop around ankles
Monster walk
Lateral lunges
Clamshells
Windmill
TGU

Do not overdo it with the stairmaster!
Think gluteus medius :)
Just my 2...!
 
In addition to @elli 's great suggestions, I would add a weighted step up. Adjust the height so you can perform the step up with your foot straight ahead, knee tracking the second toe, hips level, and no trunk rotation. Do 1-2 sets of 10 per day per leg. Don't transfer weight onto the back leg in between reps, just toe touch. Gradually increase the height to the point where your thigh is parallel with the floor. Then add dumbbells, starting small. The key here is neuromuscular control, not getting huge. You want perfect movement, no gross wobbling. If you put the step too high or overload you will wobble.
 
krishnab75 said:
I find the carries help really tighten up my hips and reduce any energy leaks that happen during hiking.
Click to expand...

Sounds like you've found a good answer there with the loaded carries, if nothing else. Go HEAVY and challenge yourself to the limit of what you can stabilize really solidly.

Pretty much with any exercise option (including the stairmaster!) concentrate on doing it with the correct pattern of lateral stability. If you can't maintain stability, back off on load, duration, or reps until you can.

Anything that challenges and builds your strength in the hips and torso muscles, i.e. deadlifts and squats, will go far in helping to correct the root problem of weakness in relative muscle groups.
 
Contralateral KB one-leg DL

Suitcase carries

Donnie Thompson hip hike/butt walks (skip to 6:13 of the video):
 
Hey everyone that so much for the quick suggestions. This is great stuff.

@elli thanks so much for the set of exercises. I was wondering whether the windmill or TGU would help in this case, and you reaffirmed my thoughts there. I will keep an eye on the stairmaster too :).

@rickyw This is a great suggestion. I think this idea of the step ups is really helpful. I think you are right, I just have to go really slow there and make sure I am stabilizing that pattern. It is always humbling to get that basic, but it is also always rewarding.

@Anna C Thanks for the support. Yes, I really find that the weighted carries help with energy leaks in terms of walking. Since I have been doing them I find I am a lot less tired--because I am not constantly trying to stabilize myself. I will keep doing those. I am used to walking forward and backward in the carries, but your comments made me think that I should do lateral walks with the carries too.

@Steve W. I love the suitcase carries. I will add mix those in. That video is great. I mean kinda over the top, but the exercises look like fun. I have one of those big resistance bands to do the inversions too.
 
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@krishnab75
I have spent a lot of time in the exact conditions you mention. Well over 4 decades of climbing and mountaineering in all kinds of rugged terrain. The best ways to adapt are to do it.

As for training in a gym setting...
I would forego the stair master altogether. They don't mimic the demands of the real world closely enough.
@rickyw was spot on with his suggestion of weighted box steps however. Get a step about 12" high ( or if you can a few boxes or varying height), put on a pack, do 1000' - 2000'. See what you think...
 
Here's a controversial question: why do you think lateral pelvic tilt is a "problem" that must be "corrected"?
 
Lateral pelvic tilt aka trendelenburg sign is good to correct for the following reasons. It leads to:
1) increased wear and tear of the hip joint
2) increased wear and tear of the knee
3) increased wear and tear of the lumbar spine
4) increases risk for ACl, MCL, and medial mensical tears
5) increases risk for plantar fasciitis
6) increases risk for hamstring strains
7) higher chance of patellofemoral pain

I don’t profess that list to be exhaustive
 
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Well, I'm not the OP, but did he not mention "weak or getting strained"? Would that not count as a problem needing resolution?

@rickyw additionaly listed a variety of reasons.
 
My opinion on this would be to improve hip mobility and continue with core work. Already good advice on box steps.

Even over uneven terrain, the lateral illiac crest/ribcage distance should not be dynamic under load, it should mostly be transverse plane. Any level change should be done by raising the foot higher or whenever possible taking more smaller steps, the core should tighten up to prevent the hip from rocking too much.

Obviously a little is unavoidable, but to use those muscles as active movers instead of stabilizers is a losing battle.
 
Just Google "Trendelenburg Gait" and see if you think that applies to what the OP is describing. By the way, how exactly does one keep his hips perfectly level while stepping up on a high rock?
 
Bill Been said:
Just Google "Trendelenburg Gait" and see if you think that applies to what the OP is describing. By the way, how exactly does one keep his hips perfectly level while stepping up on a high rock?
Click to expand...


I don't think Trendelenburg Gait is what the OP is talking about, though a slight case of it maybe?

If you come to a high rock, put your foot on it and lean forward, bringing the shoulders/load over the mid thigh (depending on how heavy the load is) and drive with the foot. Use your hands if dealing with larger obstacles.

Repetitive driving from the hip with the leg/knee under the hip instead of under the centerline is bending the lumbar spine laterally. Not a big deal with no load or as an occasional practice, but under a heavier load I do not believe there is any regimen that can make this a sustainable practice.

Worse case if the hip must come up, you want to move your hips over the foot to center it, leveling the hips back out. This brings the leg/knee underneath you before you drive. Using the opposite obliques and erectors as a means of locomotion by drawing the illiac crest toward the ribs is just not good idea without assistance by the hands doing some pulling as well - in that case you're essentially crawling and those core muscles aren't propelling the entire load.

When I backpack over obstacles I always try to keep a level back and the back and hips work as much in a single unit as practical. A sturdy walking stick is a real help sometimes.
 
Yes, it sounds like I misunderstood(best to not read in a hurry!). he is saying he is leaning his trunk to the same side as his step leg at the same time that he hikes the hip. In that case, he is overworking his quadratus lumborum and obliques on the same side as his step leg, hence the feeling of strain between his ribs and iliac crest. Ideally he should not be doing this at 90 degrees hip flexion, so it’s still not necessarily a desirable compensation. Likely if his lateral glutes were stabilizing better this would be less of a problem, but he would need a more thorough assessment to be sure.
 
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@krishnab75, “weak” and “getting strained” are things for which I’d start with a professional opinion. Your doctor first to discuss the latter, and then a PT or an SFG to discuss the former. Most of your sport-specific adaptations should come from the practice of your sport, so if you aren’t guilty of over-doing things, good to start with some expert, in-person, hands-on opinions before self-diagnosis and self-programming.

-S-
 
Hey folks, thanks for the lively discussion :). @Steve Freides thanks for the suggestions about the professional opinion. My trainer is actually a PT person, so she definitely has helped me with identifying movement dysfunctions, etc. But it is really helpful to have some input from other avid outdoors people like @rickyw @offwidth and @North Coast Miller who have spend a lot of time hiking and and climbing, since they can speak from experience.

As for me, I think that hip and core stuff are difficult issues to pin down. So I was having a lot more difficulty with anterior pelvic tilt before, which was causing some back pain and all. My trainer and I figured out that part of the problem was sleeping on my side--which keeps my legs bent for long hours--and part of the problem was not doing enough anti-flexion exercises--a la Stuart Mcgill. Once I incorporated these two things, then my anterior tilt improved and I don't feel that strain any more.

But after ameliorating the anterior pelvic tilt stuff, my conditioning and activity levels have increased too. So now I can hike farther and longer. So this new problem in the OP is coming out of there. In listening to the conversation, one theme that I did not recognize was the need to keep my hips stable even when stepping up. I think the reason why my hip has to hike up when stepping up, is because my hip flexor is weak when my knee is kinda high. So then my hips tilt a bit to help compensate.

But I think that this post has given me a good set of things to try with my trainer tomorrow :).
 
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