Active Rehab Mini Series: Pelvic Health (Part 3)

PELVIC HEALTH – PART 3

This is part of a mini series on Pelvic Health.
Read Part 1 Introduction.
Read Part 2 Warm Up and Stretch
Read Part 4 Why I Almost Never Squat

Get Assessed By A Pro

A good physiotherapist/RMT/chiro knows their stuff. See someone who knows their stuff, pinpoint the issues, learn the exercises to correct those issues and do them regularly <– this is KEY. I tell all my PT clients this: I know it can feel like the exercises aren’t doing anything but it takes a minimum 6-8 weeks to see/feel a difference. If you don’t see progress after that point, seek out another professional.

I recently had a treatment with a RMT who practices Neurokinetic Therapy and I have to say that one session made the most difference I have ever experienced. The clinic I went to is PRE Therapy. The RMT explained that poor movement patterns has been ingrained into the brain. He used several techniques to help correct those movement patterns to stop the dysfunction rather than simply treat the symptoms.

What Causes An Anterior Pelvic Tilt

My anterior pelvic tilt only occurs on one side: my right. There could be several reasons for this:

Functional:
- carrying babies on my hip
- running long distances
- poor posture
- stress
Skeletal:
- weak core
- tight hip flexors
- tight lumbar (low back)
- weak glutes

All of these lead to imbalance in the musculature: This is an imbalance which involves tightness in the hip flexors and quadriceps and weakness in the gluteals, hamstrings and core. An anterior pelvic tilt can also affect other areas of your body like the knees, ankles and low back.

For me, I felt symptoms mostly in the front of my right pelvis, some in my low back (right side) and my right heel.

After getting assessed by several PTs, one RMT and one chiro, here’s what I discovered to manage and correct my APT:

Stretch the tight muscles: hip flexors and quads
Strengthen the weaker muscles: core, glutes and hamstrings
CORE work: I’m not talking about crunches. This is legit core strengthening and control with exercises such as bridges, isometric holds, clamshells, ‘ladder’.
Incorporate more unilateral exercises. Unilateral means working one side at a time (eg. single leg squat, single leg deadlift, reverse/forward lunges, split squats). More on this in Part 4.