2 January

This shows a common problem - anterior pelvic tilt, where a person’s bum starts to edge backwards, causing additional curvature in the base of their lower back. Usually caused by bad ‘posture’, often sitting in chairs for long periods in your life. The hip muscles at the front and spinal muscle at the back become tight to maintain your uprightness, while your bum (glutes) and abdominal muscles go a bit flaccid, as they’re not really doing anything. One of the most common causes of what we funnily call ‘a bad back’. If you go to a physiotherapist with this problem, 9 times out of 10 you’ll probably be given stretching exercises to loosen those tight hip flexors and tight spinal muscles. And strengething exercises for your abnominals and glutes. Stretch and strengthen, the mainstays of many physical therapies. The problem is, those muscles became tight and flaccid for a reason, and stretching and strengthening doesn’t do a thing to fix it. The reason? Your body is out of balance, what we (incorrectly) call bad posture. That tightening and floppiness is a response to the loss of balance. If you restore that balance, in this case by shifting your body slightly so that you’re not leaning either forward or back as you sit or stand, but just allowing yourself to be upright over your support from the chair or ground, all the tightness and weakness will disappear.