“I work so hard, on my abs and bum and nothing seems to help!?” does that sound familiar??
I hear this so often in my studio with new clients.
Have you recently had a look at your posture? or do you prefer to ignore it….
Look what you can do just by adjusting into a neutral spine and pelvis. Boep…..no boep (or smaller boep)!
Did you know that standing incorrectly can actually lead to weak abs and gluts, short hamstrings and tight, short hip flexors and of course a very tight lower back.
There is actually a name for this,
LOWER CROSSED SYNDROME, and it is a super common problem that we find, particularly, in people that are office bound, car bound or just sit a lot.
We were not made to sit all day people! get those butts off your chairs and get moving.
Do me a favor; stand up and take a good look at the way you stand. Can you tick these boxes?
- Weight on the front of your foot
- Locked knees
- Hips pushing forward of your body
- Very arched lower back
- Upper body leaning backwards
- Head protruding forwards
If you were able to tick a few then its time you got yourself to my Pilates studio so I can help you learn to stand beautifully again and help all those short, sad muscles to engage properly. Check out my studio and online studio at www.salterpilates.com .
My first port of call would be to help you find your neutral pelvis. Just by tilting your pelvis into a neutral position you will automatically feel your abdominal muscles kick in and your lower back open up. If you suffer from lower back pain, you often will feel that pain subsiding, simply by tucking under. Its not magic guys its using the muscles that are there!
USE THEM, DON’T LOOSE THEM
If your pelvis is tilted anteriorly your abdominal muscles don’t get a chance to work which then leads to them popping out into that well know little boep.
I would then wake up your gluts. Generally with L.C.S your gluts and hamstrings tend to get a bit confused and you may find when doing bridge exercises your hamstrings cramp? Has this happened to you?
Basically you need to wake the muscle memory up in your bum! and lengthen those hamstrings to calm them down a bit.
The hip flexor is another serious trouble causer with L.C.S. The muscle tends to shorten a lot which in turn pulls your pelvis forward creating that big arch/lordosis.
This then tightens your Q.Ls (the fillets of
your lower back) creating those nasty spasms.
So basically it is one viscous circle!
If this is sounding all to familiar do something about. It is never to late to start working on your body. I have seen 60 year old’s changing from hunched over, sad looking bodies to tall, confident, strong and flexible human beings!
If you have young kids, keep and eye on them. With the weight of there school bags and the amount of time they spend at a desk or even worse in front of their devices this posture type is all to common.
A few tips to help those of you that sit a lot:
Sit on a ball instead of a chair
Take breaks often
Stretch
Here is a short video to help you stretch out the necessary muscles. https://www.instagram.com/tv/CMCqv7Mnddv/?utm_medium=copy_link
