Mind Your Pelvis
When we think of “good posture” we often think “shoulders back” but when we do “good posture” we’re not really pulling our arms back as much as we are pushing our pelvis forward. Our shoulders back has become pelvis forward. This doesn’t seem like a big deal, I know, but from a mechanical perspective, your alignment can be significantly altered (up to 30° in some places!), which means the performance of your body is significantly altered. The habit of “pelvis forward” is a major contributor to musculoskeletal issues like foot pain, chondromalacia of the knees, low bone density, pelvic floor disorder, and sacroiliac pain…just to name five of the most common ailments in the United States.
Ideally the major axis of the body should form a plumb line, to minimize torsional forces that cause joint degeneration (ankles, knees, hips, lumbar and thoracic spine) and maximize structural support (weight over the dense heel bones instead of plantar fascia and forefoot). Vertical positioning also places the weight of the upper body directly over the pelvis, which makes the hip joints weight-bearing.
Let me say that again. In order to have weight-bearing hips, you must have vertical alignment. No vertical alignment, no weight-bearing hips. Hmmm. Where have we heard we need for “weight-bearing exercise” before? Why do we need weight-bearing exercise? Oh, right. Because without it, our bone density decreases. But here’s the thing. Weight bearing exercise does not mean using weights or resistance training, but carrying your body weight in a weight-bearing fashion. You want to build bone density? Get your hips over your ankles and your torso over your hips. And then walk around a lot. Walking in alignment is the most naturally osteogenic (bone building) thing you can do!
Take a look at this posture. How does it look to you?
Looks good, right?
Now, adding a line through the ankle, knee, and hip joint, see how this posture compares to vertical alignment!
Once you learn to evaluate posture using objective markers (like a vertical line), physical forces like torque are easier to understand. The non-vertical line allows anyone with a mechanical eye to “see” the forward lean, which causes damage to structure (just like mal-aligned wheels on a car.)
How does an anterior pelvis contribute to foot health?
Drawing a vertical line from the center of mass (located in the pelvis) shows, pretty clearly, the difference in weight placement over the foot. On the left, the burden is great on the forefoot (front of the foot), overloading tiny muscles that should be concentrating on supporting the arch of the foot – not the weight of the body. This weight on the front of the foot can contribute to plantar fasciitis, hammertoes, metatarsalgia (pain in the base of the toes), and neuropathy.
A quick fix: Get your weight back where it belongs! It’s easy, fast, and free. You may also notice that you can’t do this with a positive heeled shoe on. Shoes with any heel automatically forces the pelvis forward. Barefoot, try getting your weight far enough back to lift your toes off the ground. Now you have a sense of your weight being over your heels!
What about bone density and low back pain?
The lines should help you see the “physics” of this posture. When we think of weight we usually think of how much we weigh (which seems right, right?), but weight is really how much of your mass is being pulled on by gravity. The gravitational force works in a vertical fashion, and points straight down to the ground. So, if a vertical line from your torso to the ground passes through a lot of air (like the picture on the left), then the weight of the torso is not felt by the bones of the legs. If a vertical line travels from the torso through the legs, that means the leg and pelvic bones experience the full weight of the torso.The mass is the same, but because weight is a vertical force, the less vertical you are, the less you “weigh,” from the standpoint of your legs, hips and pelvis.
What does this have to do with you? If you have decreasing bone density in your hips, getting your body vertical should be a main priority. There is no drug or exercise that can compete with actually loading the bones correctly to send the mechanical *build bone* signal. That’s the way bones work! {Good idea alert: Put a slanted floor in your bathroom and place your bathroom scale on said floor for optimal results. Your mass will be the same, but boy will you be in a better mood!}
Back pain? The constant forward-motion of the pelvis relative to the backward-motion of the torso create lumbar compression, which increases friction, heat, osteoarthritis, and ultimately disk degeneration. Solution: Vertical Alignment. Got it? If you’re a pelvis thruster, backing your hips up (so they are in a plumb over the knees and hips) will feel like you’re sticking your bum out. Get objective about it first. What you “feel” and what “is” are two different things. I just read a great quote from yoga teacher Jeffrey Lang. Your Natural may not be your Neutral. Brilliant.
The purpose of my Biomechanical Model of Preventive Medicine is to help you restore your proprioception (knowing where you are space) to a time before you had thoughts and beliefs and habits. Feel like your booty’s sticking out? Get used to it. One more thing, the reason you have moved the pelvis forward in space has more to do with the tension in the muscle and myofascial patterns of the upper body, but, we can’t adjust the “vase” until we have the table straightened out!
Tomorrow, I’ll continue with how a forward thrusting pelvis + pregnancy can decrease your birthing mechanics. Back that thing up, will ya?
PS. Last day to register and save $25.00 on my No. More. Kegels. online course! For more info: http://www.restorativeexercise.com/2010/no-more-kegels. View recorded exercise sessions if you can’t attend the live course! Six lecture sessions (start as soon as you register) and 4 exercise sessions available daily for a month, beginning in August.
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[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by IncontinenceSolution, Katy Bowman. Katy Bowman said: You're not a pelvic thruster, are you? http://fb.me/B1MqwBIJ [...]
Very simple, useful information. Hip thrusters off!! Aye, captain.
So…how do you attain this posture??
Maria: You have to know the alignment markers – I’ve started you off with 10 already – and many are found in the blog – feet straight, get your pelvis over your knees and ankles. Start by backing up. Follow with wearing shoes that allow you to keep your pelvis in alignment. Do the exercises I have posted through the blog…you’ll be well on your way! – Katy
Maria: I like Esther Gokhale’s book 8 Steps to a Pain-Free Back as a step-by-step way to _stand up_, get the pelvis untucked *AND* to have the hamstrings/glutes do that work (instead of sticking out the butt/getting pelvis in alignment using the lower back muscles.) This blog is brilliant…well done, Katy.
I tried this and it made my knees lock and hurt. What am I doing wrong?
This is really informative, but, like Maria, I’m struggling with the conversion from “normal” to “neutral”. My “normal” looks a lot like your first picture, but when I back up to “neutral”, while I can feel the weight bearing down on my leg bones and spine, I have to work hard to stay there without falling over backward. My quads and lower leg extensors all fire to hold me up, which I feel particularly across the top of my foot. How do I manage to do this and relax? (yes, my hamstrings are tight, too, but I can’t get THEM to let go, either). That said, just feeling the load settle on the bones is pretty cool
Yet another part of my body, found!
Dana,
If you’ve been a pelvic thruster, your psoas has been doing the most work holding you up. Backing up is revealing that you don’t have glute and hamstring muscles to hold you up, so you’re trying to grip the quads, pulling the knees up and into the knee joint below…ouch! Back up a bit more gradually, or use a wall to help you relax your knees while stand upright… Katy
Have you posted about “forward thrusting pelvis + pregnancy” yet or did I miss it? I had quite a few issues in pregnancy including posterior pelvic pain. We’re trying to get pregnant with our third and I’d LOVE to NOT be in pain while pregnant chasing two toddlers around Everything else you’ve written makes so much sense, I can’t wait to see a post on this! Any other recommendations or resources pregnancy related? Thanks!
[...] but issues of pregnancy on an unstable frame. A woman who wears her pelvis out in front of her (see Mind Your Pelvis for a good visual) is not a Stable Table, if you know what I mean. Loading her up with 25, 45, or 65 pounds is [...]
[...] scientist Katy Bowman who advocates against kegels. Instead she recommends working on alignment and retraining ourselves to stop pulling our pelvis forward in the “tummy suck” that make us [...]
Hi, Katy.
You don’t know me from a bar of soap but I have been advocating much of the material in your article above for many years now.
Shoulders back??? Women have shorter collar bones than men to make up for the fact that they have their breasts on their chests decreasing their reach. As I understand it, this is much of the reason why most women can’t throw nearly as well as most men. With this in mind, where is the logic in the male-dictated order to put shoulders back?
The female pelvis is tilted forward at the top somewhat more than the male pelvis, which puts their (maybe not so) favourite rump steak further behind them.
Chest out – shoulders back – backside in – ???????? For God’s – and human’s – sake, how is anybody ever going to have good posture, skeletal strength and balance and good muscle tone while trying to stand like that?
I have made a hobby out of fixing people’s back and neck problems, usually in just a few minutes, with a few simple exercises that they can mostly do for themselves. NO ‘bone-cracking’ involved. The beauty of these ‘fixes’ is that the results are immediate and they last – especially if the people keep the exercises up.
Thank you for a most informative article. Here’s hoping that the medical profession pricks its collective ears up and pays attention.
You have a wonderful day. Best wishes. Deas Plant.
[...] 21st, 2010 I posted a link on the facebook page a little while ago about the great article on Katy Says regarding posture and the alignment of your pelvis. I thought it might be good to expand here [...]