Posture Series, Post #3: It's All in the Hips...

Stand up. Place your hands on the bony part of your hips, thumbs back and the rest of the fingers facing forward. If your fingers in the front aren't tilting downward from where your thumbs are, and are right in line with your thumbs, you are holding a neutral position with those hips. This is GOOD.

If your fingers are at a downward angle, your hips are in an anterior pelvic tilt position. This is putting all kinds of pressure on your lower back and does nothing to strengthen your abdominal muscles and is indicative of tight hip flexors (common for those who are either sedentary or have desk jobs).

If your thumbs are back in a downward angle and your fingers are upward, you are in a posterior pelvic tilt position. This increases LORDOSIS (exaggerated curve) in the lumbar spine and is indicative of tight hamstrings.

We need the pelvis to be a neutral position to encourage BALANCE between the posterior and anterior muscles and systems. Without balance, the entire kinetic chain that our bodies desire is thrown off.

It's helpful to imagine your hips as a bucket. When your hands on placed on that bony prominence on either side, and fingers and thumbs aren't at a tilt, the bucket is level. Tip that bucket forward, and posture suffers. Tilt the bucket backwards, and posture is off again. Focus on keeping your "bucket" in a neutral, upright position. This will engage your core and condition your abdominal and trunk muscle endurance.