Fix

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

Lets look att ideal postu

ure for a minute. Look at your profile
e in the
mirror. Chan
nces are you
ure 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 you
u 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
nterior pelvicc tilt, the mo
ost common posture dyssfunction. I will
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 floo
or, 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, bu
ut 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
(qua
ads) and
lumbar erectors (lo
ower back). The weakened muscle
es are the glute max, ha
amstrings and
a the
abs (mo
ostly the recttus abdomin
nus and external obliquees). Most peo
ople think th
hat the hamsstrings
are tightt in this position and streetch the hecck out of them, but the hamstrings
h
a actually in a
are
the
lengthen
ned state stretching
s
th
hem will onlyy make it wo
orse. Due to antagonist dominance,
d
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 ath
hlete sufferin
ng from glutee pulls?

Steps
1)
2)
3)
4)

Lenghten th
he Hip Flexorrs
A
Activate
and
d strengthen
n the glutes
Lower back stretching
ng abs
S
Strenghteni

LungeSttretch
Lengthen
nthehipflexxors

ndsperleg
30secon

HipCircu
uit
HipMob
bility

10circleesinbothdirections
10abductions(moveelegsidewayys)
egup)
10superrdogs(kickle

GluteBrridges
Activateandstrengtthenthegluttes.

n
15slowmovementsupanddown
CookHip
pLift
Advanceedgluteactivvation.

achleg
10forea

Clam
bility
HipMob

10foreaachleg

HalfsquatHalfDead
dlift
ngposteriorchain
Activatin

10foreaachleg

Movehip,n
notlowerbacck.
Squeezebutttoflegbehindyou.
Pushhipsfo
orward,rotattehips
slightlyfrom
msidetosidee.

Movehipsupby
squeezingglutees.

Keeeptennisball
betweenlegand
ribccage.Squeezzeother
glutte.Raiseseveral
inch
hes.Isolategglute
from
mlower
bacck/hamstringgs.
Keepyourspin
nein
oneline,raiseupper
onthe
leggfocussingo
glu
utemuscles.

Ben
ndover/squaatdownuntiillyou
asu
umethisposiition.Moveu
upby
usin
nghips.

CatandCamelStretch
Stretchtthelowerbacck

10x

Donotstretchthebacckvia
traditionalflexionstreetches
likethetoetouchstretch.
Althoughiitisadecenttlumbar
stretch,itputsalotoff
onthespinaldiscs
pressureo
andcanm
makeabadbaack
worse.

DeadBu
ug
Train/tig
ghtenabdom
minalmuscless.

10repettitions

P
Pullbellybuttton
in
nwards.Pullknees
andarmsup.Lower
leeftlegandright
arm.Alternatte.
Kneessshouldhaveavery
slightbendinthem.You
ouldbetightwitha
abssho
slightarrchinthelow
wer
backan
ndthebuttshould
besqueeezedhard.

Plank
ghtenabdom
minalmuscless.
Train/tig

60secon
ndplank

FoamRo
olling

Hips
ds
Quad
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 read
d 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 you
y 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 to
t the
lower bo
ody. Fix the lower
l
body and
a the upp
per body getts a lot bette
er. Fix the upper body an
nd the
lower bo
ody 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
slum
mped shoulders and a ne
eck that juts out. This
can be
b lead to a lot of tensio
on in the up
pper
trap
ps and the le
evator scapulae, can leaad to the
open
n 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
som
metimes, the
e upper abs.. The stretch
hed out
muscles are the rhomboids, the mid and
d lower
trapss, and the th
horacic exten
nsors. Remem
mber
the hamstrings
h
f
from
yesterd
days article?? The
levattors and trap
ps are the eq
quivalent of the
hamstrin
ngs, as in, they are in a sttretched possition. Look at this picture of the heaad jutting fo
orward.
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 th
he head into
o a more neu
utral position
n floating on top of the body.

Foamro
ollingThoracicSpine
DeFrancco'sUpperbo
odywarmup
p

10timesscentered
10timessleft
10timessright

Extendin
ngthoracicsspine
Thoraciccmobility

10reps

SSeparatescapula
a
andfoamrol
lupper
b
back,10time
es
c
centered

Extendin
ngthoracicsspine
Thoraciccmobility

10reps

Putaarmsonlowbench,
push
hdownthecchest.

WallPeccStretch

45secon
ndseacharm
m

Grab
bdoorledgeo
orcolumn.G
Gently
push
hchestforwaardduringsttretch

LatsStreetch

45secon
ndsperarm

Holdbeam,lean
nbacktilllatss
strettched.

ShoulderStretch

Holdfor60seconds

Shoulderdislocation
ns

15reps

ScapularrWallSlide
Scapularrdepressionandretractio
on

10reps

ChinTucck
Deepnecckflexors
10reps

Handsbackk.Slide
bodyforwaardstill
stretchyfeeelingin
shouldersissfelt.

Startwide,useropeorbroomstick.Tilt
armsaroundtillyoutucchyourbutt.Grip
tighterwheenthingsloossenup.

Mu
uscleactivatiionmidbackk.Get
theeelbowsaslowaspossib
ble
witthoutoverarrchingthelow
wer
bacck.

ChinTuckss:Standwith
hback
andheadaagainst
wall.Keep
pingbackofheadto
wall,rollchindowntow
wards
neck.Itisaverysmall
movementt.

ReverseCrunch

Preventlordosis/kyphosis
StrenghttenAbs

3*max

Liebaackontheflo
oor.Flexyou
urknees.Raiiseyourkneees
again
nstyourhead
dbycrunchin
ngyourabs.Keepfeetdo
own,
legsssqueezedandheadonth
hefloor.Putpelvisonflo
oorafter
eachrep.Workabs,notflexo
ors.Dontletlegscomep
past
endicular.
perpe