In this video, I'm going to show you how to fix your
anterior pelvic tilt in a very easy to follow, step-by-step
guide. Stay tuned.
Hey, everyone. Dr. Rowe coming to you from SpineCare in
St. Joseph, Michigan. In this video, we're going to go over
easy exercises that can quickly fix anterior pelvic tilt which
is a postural issue where the front of the pelvis draws
downward and the back of the pelvis draws upward. This
increases the curve of the lower back. This is a big issue
because over time, it makes it more likely that you can
develop lower back, hip, and sciatica pain. What usually
causes this is a of tightness and weakness in specific
muscles to support the back, hips, and pelvis. To fix this,
we're going to break the video up into a very easy to follow
step-by-step guide that is going to help lengthen and
strengthen these muscles. I know nobody wants to hear this
but this is a video where you have to do all of the exercises
to get the best results. So, with that being said, let's get
started and fix your anterior pelvic tilt right now for good.
So, let's start by warming up the muscle and releasing soft
tissue tightness that is just getting everything loosened up.
What we're going to focus on is not only releasing tight
muscles but also helping to reset your anterior pelvic tilt
posture. So, this one right here is actually called the
pelvic tilt exercise. Pretty fitting, huh? And I would
recommend doing this one every time that you wake up in the
morning. It's a great exercise that's pretty much going to
target all the muscles associated with anterior pelvic
tilt. For this one we're going to lie flat on our back in bed
or on a floor knees bent feet flat we're going to do what is
known as a kegel exercise to begin with this one's going to
help strengthen the pelvic floor it's a pretty basic
movement what we're going to do is suck our belly button
towards our spine as much as we can until we feel the abs and
the core muscles start to engage and then hold this
position we're next going to squeeze our glutes to engage
those and also the pelvic floor muscles. Again, hold this
position. Now, what we're going to do is build into our pelvic
tilt or our pelvic rocker. So, rock your hips forward like
this, tucking your tailbone towards you as much as you can.
This will really intensify that engagement of the core muscles
and the glutes. You want to hold this one comfortably for a
second or two and then you're going to go in reverse rocking
your hips backward like this. It's kind of like taking your
bottom and pressing it into the floor or the bed. Again,
holding this for a second or two and then from there, you're
just going to repeat this over and over again for about 10 to
15 repetitions in both directions and with each
repetition, try to build into it just a little bit more.
Afterwards, see how you feel. If there's still some tightness
left, throw in another set or two until everything is nice
and loose but if you want to take this one to the next
level, you can incorporate a self massage that also usually
feels really really good. We're going to focus on three main
muscle groups with this one. The glutes, the quadratus
lumborum or the QL muscle and the erector spine muscles. For
this one, we need something soft and round. A tennis ball
works perfectly. You can also use something like a lacrosse
ball, handball, racquetball. If you don't have any of those,
take several socks, roll them up into a ball. It should work.
So, let's start with the glutes first. Going to take the ball
right here and center it right over your bottom and then
you're going to press your body weight into the ball to cause a
good self massage but not causing any discomfort and then
from there you're just going to repeat that rocking motion just
like this going forward and backward I like to do this
roughly about three to five times and then see how I feel
if it needs some more repetitions throw in as many as
needed until that tightness finally releases but if you
have like one certain spa maybe there's a big muscle knot spasm
or trigger point that just won't release start attacking
the muscle fibers at different angles so instead of rocking
back and forth go side to side like this go forward and
backwards circular motions diagonally and experiment with
those motions if any of them help you out a little bit more
keep doing this over and over again until that muscle spots
or I should say that muscle spasm finally releases and then
from there you can just switch over different spots as needed
I would really focus on the glute medius too which is on
the outside close to the hip right here. So, putting the
ball off your side and then kind of tilting your body like
this and repeating, making sure to hit that muscle. It's a big
instigator of a lot of hip and pelvic issues. The next muscle
that we're going to focus on is the quadratus lumborum which is
a big pelvic stabilizer. It pretty much is found right at
the bottom of the ribs off to the side of the spine towards
the top of your pelvis right here in pocket. So, take your
ball and really explore that area. Doing different motions
and attacking any spot that feels like it needs it just a
little bit more. The last muscle is the spinal erectors
or the erector spine muscle group I should say. For this
one, it lies right off to the side of the spine. So, you're
not going to put the ball over the spine but just about an
inch over and then repeating this process going from the top
of the pelvis right here the way up into the middle back but
do this on the left side and the right side addressing any
spot that needs it a little bit more and repeating this until
everything is nice and loose in this part we're going to focus
on addressing muscle weakness that maybe leading to anterior
pelvic tilt the three main muscles that we want to focus
on are the hamstrings, the glutes, and the abdominal
muscles. So here's a really easy exercise that's going to target
all of those muscle and also help maintain really good
pelvic posture. This one is what I call the next level
bridge. Very easy to do. Again, we can do this one in bed or on
a floor. Just start lying flat on your back, knees bent, feet
flat. I'm going to go over three different motions. The
first one is going to be the easiest. This is just the basic
glute bridge. So, for this one, we want to do our kegel
exercise like we did in that first part. Sucking our belly
button our spine and then squeezing our glutes. From
there, you can take your hands and put them on your hips or
off your side like this for support but what I'm going to
do is just raise my hips driving them up towards the
ceiling until my body is in a nice straight line from my
knees to my hips to my shoulders. In this position,
you should feel a ton of muscles start to fire. The
core, lower back, glutes, and the hamstrings. If you struggle
doing this exercise, let's say you have a lot of tightness or
weakness and you can only go up just a little bit, do the best
you can. Over time, hopefully you'll gain strength and
flexibility to get into this position. You want to hold this
one for about five seconds and then from there, you're just
going to relax and then you're going to repeat this one 10 to
15 times and with each repetition, try to build into
it just a little bit more and if it feels like you have a
little bit more energy, you can always throw in another set or
two. I really like this X also because it helps reset the
pelvis by pressing forward just like this. So, the next
movement that we're going to do is going to target the glutes
just a little bit more. This is known as a clamshell bridge.
So, the difference with this one is we're going to put our
feet together, press them together like this and then
drive our knees outward as much as we can. You should feel a
really good stretch forming on the inner part of your thighs
towards the groin and then also into the hips. Really focus on
feeling this one on the outside of your hips. From there, the
movement is very similar. We're just going to drive our hips
upward towards the ceiling but you're going to notice this one
is just a little bit more challenging. What you want to
do, again, hold this one for about 5 seconds. You're going
to relax and then repeat this one up to 10 to 15 times
throwing in as many sets as you would like. The last movement
is called the hamstring walkout. This one is going to
target the hamstrings on the back of our thighs right here.
So, let's get back into our original bridge position just
like this. The difference is this time around, we're going
to press our heels down into the bat or the floor and then
point our toes up towards the ceiling. From here, we're just
going to slowly walk out with our heels. The more that you go
out, the more that you're going to really feel those
hamstrings start to fire. So, really challenge yourself to
walk out as much as you can and then come back and then just
repeat this exercise roughly about three to five times but
again, can throw in as many sets as you like. In this part,
we're going to release tight muscles that are highly
associated with anterior pelvic tilt. This includes the
iliopsoas, the hip flexors, quadratus lumborum, and the
erector spinae muscle groups. The great part about this
exercise, it's a combination one that's going to target all
three. The only thing that we need is a sturdy chair
preferably one without wheels but you can also use a
staircase. To get into position, you're going to start
with one foot up on the chair or the stair. The other leg is
going to go behind us like this, straight at the knee.
Have your back nice and straight and what you want to
do is tighten your core muscles. Again, that's like
taking your belly button towards your spine. From there,
what we're going to do is just lunge forward with our body
weight as much as we can. You should start to feel a deep
stretch form over the front part of your back leg. That's
over the hip flexors and that psoas muscle. Once you feel
that, you're going to hold this position and take it to the
next by taking your arm on the side of your back leg and
putting your hand overhead. What we're going to do is tilt
away towards the other side. So, if my back leg is on my
right side, I want to tilt towards my left. As you do
this, you're going to feel a deep stretch form pretty much
from the bottom of the ribs going into the lower back
towards the hip. That's the QL or the quadratus lumbarum. So,
really focus on feeling it right here. You want to hold
this comfortably for 20 to 30 seconds. But if it feels good,
you can definitely hold it for longer and do nice, slow,
controlled breathing. Just let out as much tension as
possible. From there, you're going to relax, take a breather
on the next repetition, try to build into it just a little bit
more. Repeat this one three to five times and then when you're
done on one side, switch to the other just to keep everything
in balance. So, let's now move on to the second part of this
exercise. We're now going to turn our attention to the
erector spinae muscle group which is a band of muscles that
run on the side of the spine, the whole length of your back.
To get into position, we're going to start seated with our
legs wide enough that our chest will be able to fit through
just like this. Start off by taking your hands and then
putting them on the back of your head. You're going to
gently pull forward tucking your chin towards your chest.
The goal with this one is to feel a really light stretch
from your neck into your upper back. Once you feel that,
you're going to hold this to this one to the next level.
We're now going to deepen the stretch to be felt in the
middle back. So, I'm going to round my upper back like this
driving my elbows towards the floor. Moving through my
shoulder blades. Again, what you want to feel is a really
deep stretch pretty much from your neck to your upper back
towards your middle back now. Once you feel that, you're then
going to hold this position. The final movement, I'm then
going to pivot forward through my waist lowering my elbows
towards the floor as much as I can You should now feel that
stretch move down into the lower back and it usually feels
really really good. Hold this position for 20 to 30 seconds
but if it feels good, you can definitely hold it for longer
and then from there, you're just going to relax and take a
breather. On the next repetition, try to build into
it just a little bit more. Repeat this three to five
times. If the exercises help, please support the channel by
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