How to Fix Your Anterior Pelvic Tilt: Part 3

First off, I apologize for the delay on this installment. I was under the weather last week, and since that is a rare thing, I am kind of a baby when I feel significantly off. I cry, throw tantrums, and argue with babies.

My nose is raw, because apparently I don’t know how to blow my nose, according to Jess (probably true, though I did not realize there was a technique) and I have coughed up a small country into the sink the past few days (ok, TMI, sorry). All of that, and little energy, led to me NOT training myself and summoning all of what I had into training my peeps.

I’m feeling a little better though, so it’s time to get to it. I am competing in my first deadlifting meet on May 17^th, so I will have no time to waste when I resume training on Monday.

In the first 2 parts (Part 1 and Part 2) of this series on correcting an anterior pelvic tilt, I discussed getting the abs in gear and opening up the hip flexors and adductors. Those are some major players in an anterior tilt, but we can’t forget the all-important BA-DONK-ADONK, otherwise known as the glutes in more conservative circles.

Why the Glutes Matter

If you recall from our previous discussions, the hips are constantly flexed in an anterior tilt. This doesn’t give the glutes much opportunity to shine, since they function as a big-time hip extensor.

But when activated, they work to posteriorly tilt the pelvis. So naturally, this is a muscle group that needs to be “fired up” to get you out of your excessive anterior tilt.

The main problem is that desk job you are working. Sitting all day, and then all day after that, makes the glutes flatten like a pancake and less than excited to participate in your training endeavors.

The long-term neglect of the glutes has come to popularly be known as “gluteal amnesia” where one literally forgets how to use their butt due to overactive hip flexors and adductors. When these muscles are short/stiff, the glutes are not going to perform optimally.

Try this real quick to demonstrate this truth;

Drop down on your back and do 5 glute bridges.

Immediately come up onto one knee and access a good hip flexor stretch (see Part 2 to see how to perform this stretch). Hold that for 20-30 seconds on each side and then go back onto your back.

Notice a difference?

You should feel like you can get more hip extension on the 2^nd set of bridges, and therefore get more glute activity.

In the 1^st set, you probably were not able to gain full hip extension and may have felt more hamstring activity or not much at all.

That’s why I covered hip mobility in Part 2. It’s a prerequisite to proper glute function. Go back and make sure you have that down before reading further.

For those hips that are ready, I am going to give you some drills that you can start incorporating TODAY to get your glutes not only performing better, but subsequently looking pretty awesome!

Glute Bridge

This exercise is often-overlooked because it seems so simple and because it doesn’t “feel like it’s doing much”, but when done correctly, it’s a very valuable movement for stimulating the glutes.

The biggest issue is see with these is the focus on driving the hips straight up. When you do this, there is a much greater chance you are going to tap into your hamstrings more than your glutes and get excessive lumbar extension. Since you are already in an anterior tilt, this is a no-no.

To do them properly, focus on tilting your pelvis back to your chin on the way up, keeping the ribs down throughout so that you end up with a straight line from knees to shoulders at the top. You will feel a lot more glute activity with these simple cues and keep the pelvis packed.

Leg-Lock Bridge

I didn’t start incorporating these into my programs until I had attended the FMS Level 2 workshop in February, but I wish I had stumbled upon them sooner.

I have several clients who present with asymmetrical movement patterns in the lower body, and the leg-lock bridge allows me to activate their glutes unilaterally without the increased difficulty of a traditional single-leg bridge.

Plus, holding the knee into the chest limits the potential lumbar extension at the top, so I particularly like this exercise for reigning in an anterior tilt. You will find that it may not feel like you are getting up that high, but if you can feel the glute firing, you’re good to go.

So if you feel like one side of your lower half is more flexible than the other or just tends to perform differently in single-leg stance, start here, and then progress to the bilateral glute bridge.

Hip Thrust

This exercise from Bret Contreras has become a staple in my programming, particularly in the later stage of a session (e.g. C1/C2). I like getting in at least 2 hip-dominant movements in a training session for the average client that trains 2-3x/week, and in the early stages, outside of deadlift variations, this is what I turn to. In addition, it functions great as a way to initially pattern a hip hinge, a topic I expand upon more in this T-Nation article HERE.

A female client of mine recently referred to these as “ovary crushers” (we were using a barbell), but don’t be alarmed if you haven’t done them before.

I describe the hip thrust to my clients as simply a larger range-of-motion glute bridge. I find it gets people into a more complete hip extension pattern and that there is rarely an issue with anyone not feeling these. Not to mention, you can introduce load more effectively and make it more of a meat-and-potatoes exercise.

I cue the bracing of the core throughout, as this is important to prevent over-extending at the top (this is will be a problem with an anterior tilt), but also to prevent loss of a neutral spine at the bottom. This tends to be the point at which someone will get lazy and go into a bunch of flexion, or, for the anterior tilter, in anticipation of the next rep, they hang out in extension. You need to maintain a “planked” position!

Here is a video of me knocking a few of them out. Notice I also keep the arms outstretched to reduce tension in the neck and traps.

Those 3 exercises are more than enough to get your glutes functioning at a higher level. Sure, there are a bunch of other things you can do, but if you master those 3, you are well on your way to getting your glutes in gear and further correcting your anterior pelvic tilt.

I recommend incorporating those exercises into your movement prep and then taking what you gain there and making it stick with more integrated hip extension movements, like deadlifts. It will make them that much more effective and rapidly increase the speed at which you reduce your anterior tilt.

And it’s important to always reinforce “squeezing the glutes” with pretty much any exercise that you do. The more you are dialed in, the better off they will perform (and look). If you have been in an anterior tilt for many, many years, it’s going to take a lot more than a few exercises to fix it. You need to constantly be aware of dipping back into bad habits (in this case, using your lower-back as a primary extensor, and not the glutes).

I hope this series has helped those of you with an anterior tilt, or those of you that train people in an anterior tilt. Like I mentioned in the last part, I am going to conclude with a sample program that I would write for someone that had an excessive anterior tilt. I’m not a big fan of presenting a bunch of theory and then no practical representation of what it looks like, so stay tuned for that very soon!

Take the Leap,

Kasey, CSCS

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• Posted on April 16, 2014 by Kasey Esser
• Category: Blog Post, General Fitness Tags: anterior pelvic tilt, beverly hills personal trainer, glute, glute bridge, glute exercises, hip thrust, Take the Leap.
• 2 Comments