Fix

xing the
t Comp
C puterr Guy
y Pos
sture
e
Low
wer back/h
b hip sttabilitty

Lets look att ideal postuure for a minute. Look at your profilee in the
mirror. Chan nces are youure gonna find that yourr head is juttting
forward, or that your sh houlders are slumped forrward coupled with
a hunchbacck posture, or o that your lower back iss so arched tthat your
stomach pro otrudes forw
ward, giving you the skinny gut. Pe eople are
under the mistaken
m imp
pression thatt working ou ut hard in the gym
will fix this. Lets make one
o thing cleear - what yo ou do in the gym
only cemen nts what you have. If youu have bad posture,
p heavvy lifting
makes it wo orse. If you have good po osture, heavy lifting makkes it
better. Of co ourse there are
a exceptio ons to this, but for the majority
of the popu ulation, thatss the norm.

This posst is about an ost common posture dyssfunction. I will

nterior pelvicc tilt, the mo w address
posterio
or pelvic tilt in another post. How do o you know iff you have an anterior pelvic tilt? Look at
your bellt. If you beltt points towaards the flooor, you have an anterior pelvic tilt. Or, look sidew ways in
the mirror. does you ur butt stick out?
o Chancees are that yo
ou have an anterior
a pelvvic tilt. Im go
onna
break baad posture in n 2 sections,, lower bodyy and upper body. The lo ower body in nfluences the e upper
body, buut upper bod dy doesnt always influence the lower body.

The classic bad guyss in APT are tight

t hip fle
exors couple ed with a tig
ght rectus femoris
f (quaads) and
lumbar erectors (lo ower back). The weakened muscle es are the glute max, ha amstrings and
a the
abs (moostly the recttus abdomin nus and external obliquees). Most peoople think thhat the hamsstrings
are tightt in this position and streetch the hecck out of them, but the hamstrings
h a actually in a
are
lengthen ned state stretching
s th
hem will onlyy make it woorse. Due to antagonist dominance,
d the
glute maax will not fire to its maxximum capaccity and to pick
p up for th his slack, the
e adductor magnus
m
and the hamstrings will be forceed to step in. this leads to hamstring g pulls and groin pulls. Have
H you
ever heaard of an athhlete sufferinng from glutee pulls?

Steps

1) Lenghten thhe Hip Flexorrs

2) A
Activate and
d strengthenn the glutes
3) Lower back stretching
4) S
Strenghteni ng abs
LungeSttretch Movehip,n notlowerbacck.
Lengthennthehipflexxors Squeezebutttoflegbehindyou.
Pushhipsfoorward,rotattehips
ndsperleg
30secon slightlyfrom
msidetosidee.

HipCircu uit
HipMob bility

10circleesinbothdirections
10abductions(moveelegsidewayys)
10superrdogs(kickleegup)

GluteBrridges Movehipsupby
Activateandstrengtthenthegluttes. squeezingglutees.

15slowmovementsupanddown n

CookHippLift Keeeptennisball
Advanceedgluteactivvation. betweenlegand
ribccage.Squeezzeother
achleg
10forea glutte.Raiseseveral
inchhes.Isolategglute
frommlower
bacck/hamstringgs.

Clam Keepyourspin nein

HipMob bility oneline,raiseupper
leggfocussingo
onthe
10foreaachleg glu
utemuscles.

HalfsquatHalfDeaddlift Benndover/squaatdownuntiillyou
ngposteriorchain
Activatin asu
umethisposiition.Moveu
upby
usin
nghips.
10foreaachleg

CatandCamelStretch Donotstretchthebacckvia
Stretchtthelowerbacck traditionalflexionstreetches
likethetoetouchstretch.
10x Althoughiitisadecenttlumbar
stretch,itputsalotoff
pressureo onthespinaldiscs
andcanm makeabadbaack
worse.

DeadBu ug PPullbellybuttton
Train/tig
ghtenabdom
minalmuscless. innwards.Pullknees
andarmsup.Lower
10repettitions leeftlegandright
arm.Alternatte.
Plank Kneessshouldhaveavery
ghtenabdom
Train/tig minalmuscless. slightbendinthem.You
absshoouldbetightwitha
60seconndplank slightarrchinthelow
wer
backanndthebuttshould
besqueeezedhard.

FoamRo
olling Hips
Quadds
Calvees
ITBand

Fix
xing the
t Comp
C puterr Guy
y
Low
wer back/h
b hip sttabilitty
Before, I talked abou ut the anterior pelvic tilt and how to
o fix it. If you havent readd that, pleasse do.
This posst shall be ab
bout the upp per body dyssfunction thaat normally accompanie
a es the lower body
issues. B
But lets get one
o thing strraight you can fix the upper
u body as much as youy want, bu ut unless
the loweer body is op ptimally align
ned, the upp per body willl not be. The e upper body is a slave tot the
lower boody. Fix the lower
l body and
a the upp per body getts a lot betteer. Fix the upper body an nd the
lower boody will not necessarily follow.
f I hop pe you underrstand this.

Most people in todays

t socie
ety have the
Quaasimodo loo ok, the bent upper backk with
mped shoulders and a ne
slum eck that juts out. This
can be
b lead to a lot of tensio on in the uppper
trap
ps and the le evator scapulae, can leaad to the
openn mouth bre eathing, and in some casses, can
lead to migraine es. The tightt muscles in this
nario are usually the pec minor, the lats and
scen
sommetimes, the e upper abs.. The stretch hed out
muscles are the rhomboids, the mid and d lower
trapss, and the th
horacic extennsors. Remem mber
the hamstrings
h f
from yesterd
days article?? The
levattors and trap
ps are the eqquivalent of the
hamstrin ngs, as in, they are in a sttretched possition. Look at this picture of the heaad jutting foorward.
The levaators have to o always be active,
a or else the head is gonna succumb to graavity. Stretch hing
them wiill only make e the matter worse. The trick
t is to ge
et the thoracic spine back into its nattural
curves, aand to get thhe head into o a more neu utral positionn floating on top of the body.

FoamroollingThoracicSpine SSeparatescapula
DeFrancco'sUpperboodywarmup
p a
andfoamrol lupper
b
back,10time
es
10timesscentered c
centered
10timessleft
10timessright

Extendinngthoracicsspine
Thoraciccmobility

10reps
Extendinngthoracicsspine Putaarmsonlowbench,
Thoraciccmobility push
hdownthecchest.

10reps

WallPeccStretch Grab
bdoorledgeoorcolumn.GGently
push
hchestforwaardduringsttretch
45secon
ndseacharmm

LatsStreetch Holdbeam,lean
nbacktilllatss
strettched.
45secon ndsperarm

ShoulderStretch Handsbackk.Slide
bodyforwaardstill
Holdfor60seconds stretchyfeeelingin
shouldersissfelt.

Shoulderdislocation
ns Startwide,useropeorbroomstick.Tilt
armsaroundtillyoutucchyourbutt.Grip
15reps tighterwheenthingsloossenup.

ScapularrWallSlide Muuscleactivatiionmidbackk.Get
Scapularrdepressionandretractio
on theeelbowsaslowaspossibble
witthoutoverarrchingthelow
wer
10reps bacck.

ChinTucck ChinTuckss:Standwith hback

Deepnecckflexors andheadaagainst
10reps wall.Keep pingbackofheadto
wall,rollchindowntow wards
neck.Itisaverysmall
movementt.
ReverseCrunch

Preventlordosis/kyphosis
StrenghttenAbs

3*max
Liebaackontheflo
oor.Flexyou
urknees.Raiiseyourkneees
againnstyourheaddbycrunchinngyourabs.Keepfeetdo own,
legsssqueezedandheadonth hefloor.Putpelvisonflo
oorafter
eachrep.Workabs,notflexo ors.Dontletlegscomeppast
perpe endicular.