Pelvic Differentiation- Back Pain Stay Away

If you've been working with me, you know how important it is to differentiate your pelvis from your ribs and your legs, and vise versa. This looks so basic, but it's so important for your spine health and to alleviate low back and neck pain and tightness in your hamstrings and hip flexors.

For the most part we have become a "sitting" culture, and with that sitting we are usually hunched over a computer or other screen. Because of this, most of us spend a lot of time in a posterior pelvic tilt, which I refer to as a Tuck or Imprint Position. Check your seated position right now. Are you in a neutral spine? That is, are you sitting on your sit bones or are you sitting slightly behind your sit bones? If you're sitting behind your sit bones, you're in a Tuck. Can you bring yourself into neutral, on top of your sit bones without sticking your ribs out?

You can practice tucking, tilting and neutral while lying on your back with your knees bent and your feet flat on the floor. Go to our Free Community to watch the pelvic differentiation video and give it a try. The trick is to pay attention to what is not moving or gripping as you use your core to tuck and tilt.

Once you've mastered this more passive move, try my Heel Taps, then move on to the Dead Lift Prep, both videos are in the Free Community. These moves work your core to hold your pelvis stable. Pelvic stability and mobility are equally important. When the pelvis remains stable and you move your femur (thigh bone) inside the hip joint, you have created both hip stability and mobility. Practicing these strategies will help keep your back, hamstrings and front of hips moving in a better rhythm with improved flexibility.

Now that you have found your neutral spine and you've got the pelvis and legs moving correctly you can add in squats, lunges, hip bridges and thrusts, step ups and dead lifts without compensations that can cause tightness and pain in the low back, hips and legs.

These lower body moves are important for us to master. For women in middle age, we need the muscle mass to help fight off osteoporosis, diabetes and other disease. Keep yourself strong through your life and take care of your beautiful body!