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If your hips are ahead of your torso, read this
If you notice that:
- Your pelvis sits ahead of your torso
- Your feet spin out and grip the ground
- Your glutes clench all…the…time
Then you may be presenting with what a swayback posture.
If you want to learn exactly what that is and what you should do about it, check out the blog, video, and podcast below.
What is a swayback posture?
This posture is when the pelvis is forward in relation to the thorax. Consequently, the lumbar curve is reduced and the upper back can appear slouched.
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Although posture and pain don’t always correlate, swayback posture can have movement limitations.
Oftentimes, you’ll see:
- Decreased straight leg raise (<50º)
- Decreased toe touch
- Limited hip internal rotation (<40º)
- Excessive hip external rotation (60º)
- Total hip rotation arch <100º
Improving mobility in this posture requires teaching the opposing strategy. If the hips are forward, reducing muscle activity to bring the hips back is key.
The target areas:
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- Decreasing rectus abdominis activity
- Expand the posterior lower pelvis
There’s a 4 step sequence that I use specifically for this.
The 4-step sequence to fixing swayback posture
I start most with the crime scene pose. It’s the easiest move to create an eccentric rectus abdominis and posterolower pelvis.
Here are the steps:
- Lie on your stomach with the same side leg and arm tipped out, with your elbow crease at eye height.
- Press your inner elbow and knee straight down.
- Silent inhale through the nose and soft exhale through the mouth.
- Perform this for 3-4 rounds of 5 breaths per side.
You can progress that to a frog breathing exercise. This exercise is more challenging because there are fewer support points.
Here are the steps:
- Stand with a wide stance through the legs with feet touching.
- Bring your hands together with your elbows wide.
- Hips are ahead of your knees.
- Glance up at the fingertips
- Silent inhale through the nose and soft exhale through the mouth.
- During the exhale, let your entire torso move straight up. No crunching or arching.
- Perform this for 3-4 rounds of 5 breaths per side.
Now to make this dynamic, you can do a bent elbow backwards crawl.
Here are the steps:
- Get on your hands and knees, with your hands completely flat on the ground and elbows unlocked.
- Look up about a foot ahead, inhale, exhale, move your entire torso away like you did on the frog.
- Inhale lift one arm and one knee up.
- Slide back, exhale back down, making sure the elbow stays bent and you don’t sag.
- Perform this for 3-4 rounds of 5 steps per side.
If you mastered all those moves, then the real show is the walking wall squat. It also happens to be the hardest.
Here are the steps:
- Stand a couple of feet away from a wall with your hands up against it and your eyes looking straight ahead.
- Unlock your knees and breathe in through the nose and out through the mouth.
- As you exhale, walk your hands down the wall and push your hips back and chest down. Your knees should stay fixed.
- Squat down slowly, maintaining pressure against the wall.
- Be sure to keep your lower back from rounding.
- Hold the squat for five breaths in through the nose and out through the mouth.
- Perform this for 3-4 rounds of 5 breaths per side.
Sum up
These exercises can help reduce swayback posture and regain movement freedom.
To recap:
- Swayback posture is when the pelvis is forward in relation to the thorax
- Common symptoms include feet spinning out and constant gluteal clenching
- To improve mobility, the opposing strategy must be taught. Key = bring the hips back
- Exercises aim to decrease rectus abdominis activity and expand the posterior lower pelvis.
What movements helped you the most? Comment below and let us know!