Hips Don't Lie

A few months ago, I had the privilege of speaking at the LA Strength and Performance Nutrition seminar on the topic of core training. In that presentation, I discussed core training and how it affects your posture, your lifting, and your athletic performance. But more importantly, it got me thinking: Why do we train the way we do? Who set the current status quo?

There's a right and wrong way for you to train your body, and it's largely based upon your postural alignment. If you're training incorrectly, you're leaving pounds on the bar and/or increasing your likelihood of injury. However, if you understand and correctly apply these concepts, you can improve your alignment, your lifting, and your athletic performance, all while injury-proofing your body.

And honestly, people, this is why I'm interested in improving posture – to move bigger weights and improve performance. Improving posture and alignment is a vehicle to keep you healthy and doing what you love to do. If it weren't for that, I wouldn't give a damn about improving posture.

Mini-rant over. Let's move on.

What goes on at your pelvis seriously affects what goes on throughout the rest of your body. Do you have a huge lordosis and anterior pelvic tilt? If so, you're losing pounds on all your lower body lifts because you don't have appropriate glute involvement.

What if you have a posterior pelvic tilt? Your glutes may be working okay (although they probably aren't), but your hamstrings are short and stiff, decreasing your lumbar curve and leaving you at increased risk of lumbar herniations. Chances are you also have an exaggerated kyphosis, leaving you at risk for injuries to the upper extremity and shoulders.

So what does all this have to do with force couples? By knowing how force couples work and which ones are affecting you, we can improve the position of your hips, and therefore improve the alignment of your entire body. Better alignment equals fewer injuries and better performance.

I'm tired of people training without purpose. You don't squat because you know you should squat; you squat with a purpose. Whether that purpose is a bigger squat, bigger legs, or a more jacked physique is irrelevant. You include the squat in your program for a reason; the same should be true of your entire training program. Every mobilization, soft-tissue technique, exercise, or stretch should be included with a specific goal in mind.

If you don't have a goal when training, you do now. That goal is optimal pelvic alignment. Whether you're training to be a powerlifter, Olympic lifter, bodybuilder, fitness competitor, or to look great nekkid, this goal is applicable to everyone!

It may sound redundant, but sometimes you need to hear it a few times: optimal pelvic alignment means better posture, optimal muscle recruitment, better lifts, and better health. And to be quite honest, it goes way beyond simple training modifications. Your entire training program for the hips, core, and lower extremity should revolve around obtaining optimal pelvic alignment!

Hamstring strains are a huge issue in the sporting world, and I've seen them happen in sprinting, deadlifting, or even just bending over to pick up a dumbbell! If we understand force couples and proper alignment of the body, we can prevent injuries (not just hamstring strains!) and improve our lifting performance as well.

If we look at a typical flawed lower body posture (anterior pelvic tilt, excessive lordosis), we have numerous postural issues that need to be addressed:

1. Short, stiff erectors
2. Lengthened and weak abdominals (especially the rectus abdominus and external obliques)
3. Short hip flexors (may or may not be weak)
4. Lengthened, inhibited, and weak gluteals
5. Lengthened hamstrings

The "symptomatic" problem is at the hamstrings, because that's where the injury is, right? Unfortunately, far too many people in the healthcare industry still subscribe to this flawed notion. I'd argue that while the hamstrings are an issue, they aren't the primary issue; the primary issue is the poor pelvic position. Let me explain a little further.

The body can assume a flawed posture for numerous reasons. These reasons include (but aren't limited to):

• Genetic biomechanical alignment issues (i.e. "What your momma gave ya!")
• Poor posture/alignment throughout the day (e.g. poor seated posture, sleeping, etc., which reinforces poor alignment)
• Imbalanced hip/leg training (e.g. imbalances between quad dominant and hip dominant lifts)
• Improper use of core training (or training the opposite of what you need!)

In the posture I outlined above (one of anterior pelvic tilt), the gluteals and abs are both weak, and the hamstrings are in a position of constant stretch. Here's an amazingly detailed picture to help you understand further:

The body is in anterior tilt, decreasing recruitment of the gluteals and forcing the hamstrings to take on an increased workload. So what happens? Instead of our glutes and hamstrings both working at 100% capacity, our glutes are firing at 80%, so our hamstrings naturally tend to take over and assume they need to work at 120% to make up the difference. This is an oversimplification, but hopefully you're following the logic here!

So what happens when you're in this flawed postural alignment and decide to deadlift heavy? Or go through an intense sprint workout? If you answered with "a pulled hammy," give yourself a gold star and a firm pat on the back. It may not happen every time, but if you're in a flawed alignment long enough, chances are it'll catch up to you over time.

I can't tell you how many times I've heard someone say, "I've trained like this for years and never had an issue, so I don't know what happened." You've constantly reinforced bad posture and poor movement patterns, and at some point your body is going to break down. It's the proverbial straw that broke the camel's back.

So how do we prevent this? Is it really as simple as throwing in some glute-activation work? Can weak abs actually result (directly or indirectly) in a pulled hamstring? I don't think so, as it's not one simple factor that leads to all your injury woes. Instead, we have to examine all the factors that are working against you and address all of them. We must wage a war on many fronts if our goal is long-term health and performance.

Let's examine the primary force couples in our body, what dysfunctions and compensations they lead to, and how we can use this knowledge to produce superiorly functioning bodies.

The anterior force couple consists of the hip flexors (psoas, iliacus, rectus femoris, and TFL), and the spinal erectors. From the front, the hip flexors pull the pelvis down into anterior tilt. On the back side, the spinal erectors are pulling up on the back side of the pelvis to produce anterior tilt as well.

In essence, these muscle groups are working synergistically (from the front and back of the body) to produce one movement – anterior pelvic tilt.

In this case, we have a tendency to become quad and low-back dominant in our lifts. Our gluteals are shut off (or at the very least not functioning optimally), opening the door to at least four types of injuries:

1. When your glutes can't fire properly, the hamstrings and adductor magnus are forced to pick up the slack. In this case, you may suffer from repetitive hamstring strains or "pulled groins." This is commonly seen in athletes.
2. If you can't fire your glutes to produce hip extension, your low back tends to take over and produce what looks like hip extension, but is in fact trunk extension. You see this in lifters who can't finish their deadlifts with their butt, and instead arch their back excessively to "lock out."
3. Would you believe that poor function at the back of your hips can actually cause pain in the front of your hips? Shirley Sahrmann discusses femoral anterior glide syndrome in her text, Diagnosis and Treatment of Movement Impairment Syndromes.In this case, the glutes don't function properly and the head of the femur is allowed to drift forward into your hip socket. The result is anterior hip pain from a glute problem!

In contrast to the anterior force couple, the posterior force couple consists of the rectus abdominus, external obliques, gluteals, and hamstrings. From the front, the rectus abdominus and external obliques pull up on the pelvis. On the back side, the gluteals and hamstrings pull down on the pelvis. Again, these muscle groups are working synergistically to produce one movement – posterior pelvic tilt.

While most of us are in some degree of anterior tilt, there are those who are afflicted with posterior pelvic tilt. While it may not sound bad, this improper pelvic position leads to its own set of possible injuries.

1. The most common issue with posterior tilt is flattening of the lumbar curve, and flattening of the lumbar curve leads to an increased propensity to move into lumbar flexion. As we should all know by now, our lumbar spine really doesn't like lumbar flexion, especially under load! Lifters in posterior pelvic tilt are going to be more predisposed to disc herniations than those in anterior pelvic tilt.
2. Flattening of the lumbar spine typically leads to an increased kyphosis (or slouched upper back) and head forward posture. Excessive kyphosis isn't a good thing if you value your rotator cuff health, and head forward posture puts you at increased risk for neck pain as well as cervical disc herniations. Yikes!

No matter how you approach it, if you're skewed to one side or the other (significant anterior or posterior tilt), you're exposing yourself to injury and leaving pounds on the bar in the gym. So how do we fix it? Read on and I'll show you the way!

It may surprise you to know that force couples have already been used successfully in the programs of both rehabilitation patients and elite level powerlifters.

You'll recall that several years ago, Paul Chek's protocols were all the rage when it came to rehabilitating low back injuries. Paul wrote an entire article series entitled Back Strong and Beltless, which focused on improving core strength and alignment. Many were quick to bash Paul for his concepts, but was he really that far off?

Chek was very caught up in the TVA recruitment, sure, but think about it conceptually: he was trying to improve postural alignment via proper training. Instead of strengthening/training the TVA, what if we strengthened the rectus abdominus and external obliques? Different muscles, same concept.

A good majority of the athletic population is in anterior tilt. Low back injuries in sports and weight training are often related to poor gluteal function, and a lack of rectus abdominus/external oblique contribution to "bracing." Essentially, our body only has one stabilization pattern – the low back. When the glutes are shut off, not only is the low back called upon to stabilize the load, but it's often thrown into the mix as a hip and trunk extensor as well.

Paul did an excellent job of retraining the anterior and lateral stabilizers so that the low back was no longer the only way for the body to stabilize a load. The functional anatomy may not have been totally correct, but I'd imagine his results were above average.

The great Louie Simmons has also used force couples to produce elite level powerlifters. Again, assuming a large majority of the population is in anterior tilt, we know the glutes and hamstrings are going to be in a lengthened state, reducing their ability to produce optimal levels of force.

What's the basic premise behind big Lou's methodology? Get the posterior chain strong and your lifts will go up! How many lifters has this mantra worked for over the years? I'll let Lou's success speak for itself in that regard.

So I'm sure you're wondering at this point, "Damn, I'm in (anterior or posterior) pelvic tilt. How in the hell do I correct this?"

Let's keep it real simple here. If you're in anterior tilt you want to:

• Strengthen the muscles that produce posterior tilt
• Lengthen the muscles that produce anterior tilt

On the flip side, if you're in posterior tilt you want to:

• Strengthen the muscles that produce anterior tilt
• Lengthen the muscles that produce posterior tilt

To keep it even simpler, depending on your pelvic position, you want to train your body to do the opposite!

I'm a visual learner, so hopefully the following figure will give you a little direction with your training:

You're in Anterior Tilt

* Psoas — The psoas should be evaluated prior to training; it can often be long/weak or short/stiff. I've given an example below.
* * Spinal Erectors — Use caution with dynamic stretching around the lumbar spine, especially movements into flexion. I wouldn't recommend any loaded spinal flexion movements in any training program.

Psoas Test

To test the psoas, stand next to a wall with the upper back and buttocks flat against it. Lift one thigh to the chest and hold for as long as possible. If the knee drops below 90 degrees in less than 20 seconds, the psoas is weak and needs strengthening.

You're in Posterior Tilt

For Those In Posterior Tilt

Strengthening Exercises for Posterior Tilt

From a program design perspective, you need to shift your training from a balanced quad/hip dominant program to a program that's skewed toward training the anterior force couple preferentially.

Lengthening Strategies for Posterior Tilt

* Ab Stretch — Again, be careful when stretching the lumbar spine. You can easily irritate the lumbar facets with hyperextension

Much like your strengthening exercises need to be skewed toward quad dominant exercises, your stretching, mobility, and soft-tissue work needs to be directed at the muscles which are short/stiff – the ones that produce posterior tilt.

For Those In Anterior Tilt

Strengthening Exercises for Anterior Tilt

From a program design perspective, you need to shift your training from a balanced quad/hip dominant program to a program that's skewed toward training the glutes, hamstrings, rectus abdominus, and external obliques more preferentially.

Lengthening Strategies for Anterior Tilt

* I don't think either of these are necessarily bad, but they aren't appropriate for all populations.

Much like your strengthening exercises need to be skewed toward hip dominant exercises, your stretching, mobility, and soft-tissue work needs to be directed at the muscles which are short/stiff – the ones that produce anterior tilt.

Now that we've covered the concepts, I'll provide you with some example programming to get you started. As you're looking things over, don't just look at the list of exercises, but think about how each works toward the goal of optimizing pelvic alignment.

Example Workout for those in Posterior Tilt

Foam Rolling

Glutes, hamstrings, calves, adductors, quads, TFL/ITB, peroneals (additional focus on glutes/hams)

Static Stretching/Activation

Mobility Training

Knee Hugs, Pull-Back Butt Kicks, Single-Leg RDL, Cradle Walks, Squat-to-Stand, Toy Soldiers

Strength Training Exercise Selection

• Front Squats
• Conventional Deadlifts
• Short-Stroke Bulgarian Squats
• Back Extension

Out-of-Workout Lengthening Strategies

• Tissue quality work (ART, massage, foam rolling) with focus on glutes, hamstrings, etc.
• Static stretching/extra mobility work for glutes, hamstrings, etc.
• Reinforcement of good alignment throughout the day. People who sit for an extended period may benefit from the use of a lumbar roll to regain the natural curve of the low back while sitting.

Example Workout for those in Anterior Tilt

Foam Rolling

Glutes, hamstrings, calves, adductors, quads, TFL/ITB, peroneals (additional focus on quads/hip flexors)

Static Stretching/Activation

Mobility Training

Knee Hugs, Pull-Back Butt Kicks, Warrior Lunge with Twist, Running Butt Kicks, Crossover Overhead Reverse Lunge

Strength Training Exercise Selection

• Sumo Deadlift
• Long-Stroke Walking Lunge
• Pull-throughs
• Single-Leg RDL

Out-of-Workout Lengthening Strategies

• Tissue quality work (ART, massage, foam rolling) with focus on hip flexors, quadriceps, and low back
• Static stretching/extra mobility work for hip flexors, quadriceps, and low back
• Reinforcement of good alignment throughout the day. In this case, a stand-up desk or even kneeling at your desk on an Airex pad will get the hips into extension and lengthen the short/stiff muscles.

As you can see, one of the greatest mistakes we can make as strength trainers is to assume that we're balanced to begin with. All the great training and programming info that coaches like Eric Cressey, Alwyn Cosgrove, Bill Hartman, and myself have given is essentially useless if you don't apply it properly! Until we're balanced through the hips, we need to skew our training one way or the other.

Finally, remember that if you're in one pelvic position or the other, and not working to correct it, you're negatively reinforcing poor movement patterns and posture with every thing you do! When you're balanced and training appropriately, training not only improves strength and performance but reinforces good posture as well!

This article is reason #1,358,695 why I don't like using "standardized" or "cookie-cutter" programming with my clients. One program may work great for one person; he not only feels great but gets jacked. That very same program screws the next guy up beyond belief! At some stage in the game, if you're really serious about taking your strength, physique, and health to the next level, you need to individualize your programming.

Whether your goal is to look jacked, move a ton of weight, or simply look and feel better, fixing your force couples can help you achieve all those goals. Figure out where you stand, design the appropriate program, and get to it. Your body will thank you!