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The Limits of Age and Exercise (Control What You Can Control)

The Limits of Age and Exercise (Control What You Can Control)

by | Dec 18, 2023 | Blog, Diet, Exercises, Pain Relief

“I feel like I’m moving better than I did in my 20s and 30s!”

Want to know what led to my client saying this?

In this video I’ll go over not only the workout adjustments but also nutritional changes we made to help her feel her most fabulous.

Because we need to stop just blaming our age and ACCEPTING pain!

The simple fact is…you can’t change your age. You can’t stop getting older.

And yes, there are changes to our body as we get older.

But so often we just write off those changes as out of our control when so often there are lifestyle factors we can CHANGE that do have an impact.

Yes, as we get older, our recovery times change.

Aches and pains have had more time to accumulate…especially as often we haven’t truly taken care to rebuild from previous injuries.

Even the hormonal changes of perimenopause and menopause can lead to increased inflammation making our joints achier.

But through adjustments to our training and nutrition, we can reduce the aches and pains and even feel like we move better than ever!

That’s why in this video I want to go over controlling what you can control and adjusting your lifestyle to move your best at any age!

Let’s start with adjusting our workout routines. 

I wanted to outline the 2 key things I implement with clients in their workouts that have led to many saying…

“I feel better than I did in my 20s and 30s!”

First, We Include That Prehab Process Every Warm Up

Injuries…Daily postures… Daily posture

They can change our mobility and flexibility. They can change our recruitment patterns or how we use muscles to perform movements.

And so often, even when we’ve done rehab for previous problems, we STOP doing what made us better. 

This leads to us defaulting back into incorrect movement and recruitment patterns and can lead to aches and pains again adding up.

And while we may have “gotten away with this” when we were younger, it is also why aches and pains are adding up more now!

We start overusing muscles and joints not meant to carry the load. It’s why we may feel like lunges or squats only constantly hurt our knees!

That’s why that full 3-part prehab process of foam rolling, stretching and activation in every warm up is so key. 

It addresses any mobility, flexibility or stability issues we have, and preps our body to work that day.

And it’s key we use the system as a whole. Too often we pull out parts of things we “like,” and then are surprised when the benefits aren’t there.

But this process works because of all 3 components together and in that order!

Before you workout, foam roll tight and overactive muscles that may impact your workout or hinder you from performing moves fully. 

This then will help you better mobilize your joints with the stretches.

So if you’ve had hip pain and struggle to engage your glutes or squat deeply, you may roll out a hip flexor and quad muscle that is tight like the rectus femoris. 

Then include dynamic stretches to warm up your body and mobilize your joints. 

As you do these stretches, focus on the opposing muscle group engaging to drive the stretch.

To stretch out your chest in suspension trainer snow angels, focus on engaging your back to feel that stretch more.

Finally include activation moves that isolate muscles that are weaker or that you struggle to use correctly.

If you’ve had hip issues or lower back pain, you may focus on things like single leg reverse hypers or lying lateral raises to really target those glutes and engage them. 

But this prep work in your warm up, and even the rolling and stretching in your cool down, will help you not only move better in your workouts to get more out of those sessions but also recover better for the next workout!

However, we can’t just do our mobility work then rush through our workouts if we want to avoid aches and pains.

That’s why the second thing I focus on with clients is…

Seeing Every Movement As An Assessment! 

Every rep of an exercise is you practicing that movement.

If those reps are rushed and we aren’t focus on the quality of our movement, we aren’t going to get the full benefit of those exercises and may even end up injuring ourselves.

And if you’re thinking, “My form is great! I’m experienced with these moves.”

“Good form” doesn’t mean you aren’t cheating.

Often the more advanced an exerciser we are, the more we can cheat and overuse muscles or seek out mobility from other joints to mimic a movement.

We know what it SHOULD look like and our body is good at replicating what we want even if it means overloading muscles that shouldn’t be carrying the load.

It’s why you may be able to do that deadlift or pull up, BUT you’re also ending up constantly with lower back or neck and shoulder pain. 

That’s why I have every client see every movement as an assessment and always ask themselves…

“What do I feel working?”

Because the muscles we feel DURING the exercise, are what are powering the movement.

If the correct muscles are working, we’re going to see those results build.

However, if we are feeling muscles taking over that shouldn’t be the prime movers, we are going to end up with injury.

When we are able to feel this happening, we can regress to progress, adjust our form or cueing and even modify the movements to get the correct muscles working.

Even if we can do a squat with one weight, we may find increasing to a point then changes what we feel working. 

It’s why you want to be intentional in your training over just zoning out or rushing through.

Even changes in the TYPE of exercise, say a back squat vs a front squat, could impact how the move feels. 

The more we are conscious of what is working, the more we can make sure we are truly maximizing each movement and even working through the fullest range of motion possible.

Because we can’t out mobility work the movements we are doing in our workouts.

If you want to keep that flexibility you are working so hard on, you need to strength through that range of motion.

You can’t hope to improve your hip mobility while doing a two inch squat because you’re trying to go heavy! 

So be intentional with your training and you’ll see those movements improve and those aches and pains go away.

Not to mention you’ll even see improvements to your strength and muscle gains faster!

Next let’s talk about our nutrition and how we can adjust that as well to reduce those aches and pains. 

And I’m going to start by telling you something you don’t want to hear…

But that has been eye opening for my clients…

First and foremost…Track your food. 

So often we only think about tracking what we’re eating when we want to reach an aesthetic goal.

But tracking can help us truly understand the impact our diet is having on our health and even those aches and pains.

By tracking you may realize you aren’t eating enough protein to support optimal recovery or getting in the antioxidants or omega-3s you need to reduce inflammation and support optimal joint and muscle functioning. 

Protein is key. 

As we get older we are less able to utilize it as efficiently which means we need MORE of it to get the same muscle building response.

And protein isn’t just used to build muscle, it makes up all of the tissues of our body and even helps promote healthy bones and hormonal balance.

Without enough protein to properly repair, we are going to see more aches and pains add up!

Not to mention put ourselves at greater risk for other injuries such as falls and fractures.

And it isn’t just our macros we want to track but those micros and the types of each macro we consume.

Antioxidants like vitamins C and E, as well as beta-carotene, can help protect joint tissues from oxidative stress and inflammation.

This is why we want to track to make sure we’re consuming plenty of colorful fruits and vegetables, such as berries, citrus fruits, and leafy greens.

And then we don’t want to fear FATS in our diet either. Especially Omega-3s. Omega-3 fatty acids have anti-inflammatory properties that can help reduce joint pain and stiffness. 

Tracking to make sure we’re including fatty fish such as salmon, mackerel, sardines as well as plant-based sources such as flaxseeds, chia seeds, and walnuts is key! 

And then second, we focus on hydration and even tracking that water intake. 

Many of us have even set the goal to drink more water…and it’s a surprisingly hard habit to change!

It’s why I love to add this in as something clients also track in their daily logs for accountability.

What gets measured gets managed.

But increasing your water intake as you get older keeps those joints, as well as our other body tissues, healthy and happy.

It also helps us recover faster!

And it’s key we actually shoot for MORE water as we get older, especially if you’re increasing your protein intake to assist in better recovery and muscle gains!

When you increase your protein intake, you want to increase your water intake to help with absorption and digestion of the protein.

We also have to recognize that, as we get older and go through menopause, we simply need more water too to stay hydrated.

With decreasing estrogen levels, we often need to increase our water intake.

Not to mention during menopause you may find you do better on lower carb ratios.

Carbs help us retain the water we need.

So fewer carbs in our system may mean increasing our water intake and even being conscious or our electrolyte balance.

This is why shooting for 70% of your bodyweight (in pounds) in ounces is key.

And you want to track to get this over the day.

You’re not seeking to have your pee be clear either with this. You want that light lemonade color.

But this focus on proper hydration helps keep cartilage, the cushioning material for your joints, lubricated and functioning optimally.

You can move and feel your best at any age. But it does mean addressing what your body needs right now instead of focusing just on what used to work.

But stop blaming your age.

Control what you can control and make these changes to your workouts and your diet to feel amazing at every age!

Learn more about how to create the perfect plan for YOU and see the results you deserve…

–> Schedule A Coaching Consultation

 

5 Mistakes That Got Me INJURED (Avoid These!)

5 Mistakes That Got Me INJURED (Avoid These!)

by | Oct 22, 2023 | Blog, Exercises, Foam Rolling, Functional Fitness, Pain Relief

Injuries suck.

No one likes them. No one wants them.

And they only seem to add up more and more the older we get.

I’ve personally suffered from far too many of them because of ego and stupid mistakes.

Mistakes I want to help you avoid.

That’s why in this video I’m going to go over 5 training mistakes I made that lead to injury to help you avoid making the same mistakes and even come back stronger than ever no matter your age!

By learning from my own mistakes, I now feel stronger and move better than ever before and have helped many of my clients overcome chronic aches and pains to move and feel their best as well!

So let’s jump right in with mistake #1….

Mistake #1: Just resting an injury.

Rest can be a key component of recovery. 

But far too often we just rest it then go right back to what we were doing that lead to the injury in the first place.

We never actually correct the underlying cause or problem.

We never address the movement compensation causing overload.

And then we wonder why a few months later we are sidelined with the same issue or another injury even on that same side of our body. 

Resting it doesn’t fix the problem!

If you have an injury, you need to assess what lead to the overload of that area in the first place.

Because often the point of pain, the place that got injured, isn’t even where the problem started. 

Even previous injuries may have resulted in changes to our movement patterns leading to the issues we now have.

Like that ankle sprain you got years ago you never rehabbed may be why you have hip or lower back aches and pains now. 

So instead of just resting an area, or even if you do need to rest to recover to start, focus on taking things back to basics and doing that rehab work to improve your mind-body connection and make sure you are performing exercises correctly. 

You want to come back to training and work on improving and retraining proper movements over just going back to what you were doing.

And regress to progress. Start back slowly to make sure you’re building up using the correct muscles to power moves! 

Which brings me to Mistake #2: Focusing only on proper form.

The more advanced an exerciser you are, the more you know what proper form should be…

And the more you can also CHEAT and compensate.

So picture perfect form doesn’t always mean we’re using the correct muscles. 

And this ability to mimic proper form is also why you can get injured while saying, “I have great form with moves! I know what I’m doing!”

Too often we force a movement pattern we can’t fully control, which leads to us overusing muscles not meant to handle the load or seeking out mobility from joints that aren’t meant to help us get that range of motion and movement. 

It’s why we may feel our lower backs as we try to extend our spine to perform the bent over row with a straight back. 

If we have limited thoracic mobility, due to hunching over a computer, we may end up overarching our lower back to compensate.

This can then lead to us overusing our lower back and ending up with back pain while our row form looks good.

We also have to remember that proper form isn’t a one size fits all thing. There are variations to what is perfect.

Like with the squat….

Social media may show you this one version of a picture perfect squat with super upright torso, feet hip width and completely straight ahead as the person squats ass to grass… 

But if you have a shorter torso and longer femurs or a different hip socket shape and depth, you may need a different stance or have more of a forward lean.

We don’t want to just ignore the importance of form, but we do want to recognize that there are acceptable variations we may each need based on build or even previous injuries or even mobility restrictions. 

If we try to force our body into a form mold that doesn’t fit, if we try to do a move we can’t control using the correct muscles, we are going to end up injured.

So focus not only on the movement pattern itself, but what you actually feel working to power the move.

And don’t be afraid to use variations or tweaks to movements to fit what you need!

Next Mistake #3: Not keeping in rehab as prehab.

You can NEVER stop doing what makes you better. 

And so often future injuries are a result of PREVIOUS aches and pains we didn’t fully address or keep addressing. 

How many of us have had an injury, done some rehab, had it go away, stopped the rehab then been frustrated when it seems like the injury keeps flaring back up?

It’s because we stopped doing the rehab that improved our mobility and built up strength in underactive and weak muscles! 

And the second we stop doing what made us better, we start to fall back into old postures, movements and recruitment patterns, overusing muscles not meant to carry the load.

Often we want to default back into movement patterns we did for a long time that have become natural. 

Movement patterns and postures we constantly have to fight against to ingrain new ones that will become natural only with time.

Time we don’t often truly dedicate to the changes!

So once you finish up rehab and start feeling good, you need to turn that rehab into prehab. 

You can’t just stop it at the first sign of feeling better and go back to what you were doing!

Include that prehab as part of your warm up or on recovery days BEFORE anything adds up! 

This helps ensure you’re using the correct muscles in movements and have mobilized joints to work through a full range of motion.

And if you do feel any aches starting to slightly reappear, whether you’ve spent longer hours at your desk or have been traveling and got a bit lax on your prehab, step up that mobility and stability work and assess what other moves in your workouts you may need to modify to address what is going on! 

But don’t think just because you did some physio or rehab for a bit the issue is magically solved forever!

We get good at what we consistently do and we need to keep doing those boring basics to maintain the foundation we built!

And while prehab and mobility work is key…

We can’t out rehab our daily movements and the way we then train in our workouts… 

This is why you have to be conscious of Mistake #4: Not checking your ego at the gym door.

Trust me…I want to push hard in my training sessions. 

And I know ego can push me to want to eek out an extra rep or use a heavier weight even as my form breaks down. 

There are definitely those workouts where I finish a set and know I wasn’t engaging the correct muscles as I got tired…yet I pushed through anyway.

This happens because we want to see results and we want to see them now.

But there is a fine line we have to tread when it comes to pushing hard and pushing to a point where we are ultimately creating overload and pain. 

We need to focus on being intentional with our workouts and making each rep quality.

We need to realize when our ego needs to be put in check.

We also need to embrace MODIFYING at times to get more out of moves. 

Sometimes we advance to a movement we haven’t earned, thinking if the exercise is technically harder it will help us see better results faster.

But since we haven’t earned the move, we compensate. We don’t actually work the muscles fully that we want to target. 

Not only does this not get us the full benefit of the move, so we’re wasting effort and time, but it can lead to injury.

If we instead had modified and regressed to progress, we could have made the move harder for ourselves because we were actually able to use the correct muscles. 

So as much as you may want to do that push up from your toes, check your ego. 

If your hips are sagging, your head is jutting forward or your form is just fugly, modify it to make it picture perfect.

That tweak can actually make the move HARDER because you’re able to use the correct muscles. And you’ll see better results because of it. 

Modifying doesn’t mean making a move easier. It means making a move match what you need.

And this can help you train harder without creating aches and pains!

And this final mistake is one we so often make and think we could “get away with” when we were younger…Only to now realize “getting away with it” may be why we have more aches and pains…

Mistake #5: Not doing a proper warm up.

Ever go into a workout without doing a warm up because you’re short on time and feel like it takes multiple rounds of your training session or even half your workout before you’re feeling warm and squatting as low as you’d like? 

Well not only did you end up wasting half your workout time by not “wasting time” warming up, but you also put yourself at greater risk for overload and injury.

We have to recognize that our bodies aren’t primed for the movements we are about to do because we’ve spent our day driving in a car or hunched over a computer or doing other repetitive movements and suboptimal postures. 

So that heavy overhead press you want to perform that keeps hurting your shoulder or neck or back, may be because you aren’t addressing your hunched over desk posture and first working on your thoracic extension.

You aren’t doing the mobility work to properly press overhead and engage your upper back while having proper scapular control. 

But all you need to do to fix this is include foam rolling, stretching and activation in your warm up prior! And do so CONSISTENTLY!

Your warm up is the time you address daily postures and ready your body for the movements you are going to do. 

It is the time you can address past aches and pains to make sure you’re not creating the same overload that can lead to injury.

This prehab work done just even for 5-10 minutes in your warm up CONSISTENTLY can add up more than a once a week recovery session. 

So in your warm up…

Foam roll to relax tight and overactive muscles… 

Perform dynamic stretches to warm up your body and mobilize your joints… 

Then include activation moves to engage those underactive muscles while improving your mobility and stability. 

Through this 3-part prehab process, you can ready your body to put in some quality work during your workout. 

You can help prevent your desk job posture and lack of activity during the day from impacting how you train!

If you want to avoid aches and pains from getting worse and adding up more and more over the decades, focus on truly addressing what caused the pain in the first place. 

Don’t push through it. Don’t skip your prehab.

Focus on what you feel working in movements and never stop doing what made you feel better! 

For more injury resources, CLICK HERE.

The Best Push Up Exercise (You Aren’t Doing)

The Best Push Up Exercise (You Aren’t Doing)

by | Aug 13, 2023 | Blog, Bodyweight, Exercises, Functional Fitness, Push Ups

No matter how much equipment I have available, I still love including a push up variation in my upper body workouts.

They are an amazing move to target your chest, shoulders, triceps and core.

And not only are they an amazing way to build strength and muscle, but there are so many push up variations you can include to target different muscles more or less based on your needs and goals.

Want to work on shoulder stability or anti-rotational core strength?

Try the push up with shoulder tap.

Want to target your triceps more?

Include a close grip variation.

Want to work your upper pecs extra?

Try a decline variation.

But in thinking through all the different options out there, there was one variation that came to mind as often being underutilized…

The push up plus!

In this video, I want to go over how to do this essential push up variation and ways to modify the move if you can’t do a push up from your toes on the ground. 

But first I want to explain why I think this variation is so important to include….

This push up isn’t the fanciest variation out there, but it is one of the most essential to include if you want to be a push up rockstar, improve your overhead press or bench press weights or even avoid neck, shoulder or upper back aches and pains.

It is so important to include because of that simple rounding and scapular protraction at the top of the push up.

This seemingly simple extra movement added on to the basic push up works an often overlooked muscle – the serratus anterior.

The serratus anterior is an essential muscle when it comes to keeping your shoulder blades, shoulders, neck and upper back healthy and happy and functioning correctly! 

And the push up plus is an amazing move to work this muscle as it is easier often to target this muscle without letting your upper traps compensate.

Too often our upper traps take over in movements meant to work our serratus anterior, which only perpetuates the aches and pains we have.

This scapular control, and serratus anterior strength, will also translate to better movement of your shoulder blades during overhead pressing and even a better ability to support your shoulders during bench press. 

This push up variation is a great way to keep everything healthy and strong as you include more pressing!

So how do you do the push up plus? 

While you will be performing almost just a basic push up, you want to give extra attention to the movement of your shoulder blades and even your hands pressure down into the ground.

Our hands are our foundation and better tension through them into the ground can increase muscle activation of our upper body. And by also being conscious of fully gripping the ground with our entire hand we can help avoid wrist, elbow and even shoulder aches and pains.

To do this push up, set up with your feet together and hands just outside your chest. Spread your fingers and flex your quads as you drive back through your heels.

You may even find it helpful to ever so slightly turn your hands out. This can even further help you engage your serratus anterior.

Then pull your shoulders down feeling them unshrug as you engage your back.

With your body in a nice straight line, lower down keeping tension.

Feel your shoulder blades draw toward your spine.

Then at the bottom, push the ground away and feel your shoulder blades move away from your spine.

As you reach the top of the push up, push the ground away a bit extra as if pulling your shoulders forward.

Feel your thoracic spine round up as you try to pull your shoulder blades around your ribs.

You may tuck your chin as you round up to go with the natural spinal flexion.

But do not let your butt go up in the air. You may slightly tilt your pelvis under instead to engage your abs more with the posterior pelvic tilt.

But you really want to focus on pulling your shoulder blades around your rib cage as you push that ground away.

This action really works that serratus anterior.

You’ll then move back into that full plank position and perform the push up again.

Working your press with the freedom to move your shoulder blades and be able to control that full range of motion is what makes this move so amazing for your upper body.

Not to mention you get that little extra core work with the pelvic tilt on top of the fact that the push up is a moving plank!

Now what if you can’t do a full push up from your toes? How can you modify this move?

An incline variation is always a great way to modify while allowing you to train that full push up plank position. 

Too often we do turn to knee push ups but this doesn’t teach us to properly engage our legs and drive back through our heels. It can keep us stuck getting stronger at only a modified variation.

It’s why that incline and working down in reps as you lower the incline is so key. 

You can use a rack, adjusting the barbell height or even boxes, lowering them down as you progress. 

If you are limited on incline options, you can select one that is a bit too high and slow down the tempo.

If you only have one that is too low, consider just the eccentric portion of the movement and start with the “plus” BEFORE you lower down for the rep. 

A final tip to modify if you need to work around wrist pain, is to put a mat folded up under the heel of your palm. This reduces the wrist extension demands to make it easier on your wrist. 

Bonus Tip:

And one bonus tip if you’re ready for a bit more of a challenge with this move and to test your core strength and stability, try including a dead stop or even hand release at the bottom.

This forces you to really engage prior to pressing back up and even makes sure you work through the fullest range of motion possible without using any momentum! 

That press back up from a dead stop is harder than we give it credit for, especially if we are super conscious that everything moves together as if our body were a solid board.

But even as you add in this dead stop or hand lift, don’t rush through the protraction at the top of the push up. Really focus on feeling around your rib cage even working!

So whether you’re looking to mix up your push up work, improve your upper body strength and stability to lift more while avoiding injury or just want to build up to that first full push up from your toes, this is an amazing push up variation to include in your workout routine!

And for more tips to improve your push ups, here are two videos to help!

10 Tips to Increase Your Push Ups (in 7 Minutes) 

Things No One Tells You About Push Ups 

4 Tips To Fix TIGHT Hamstrings (Stop JUST Stretching!)

4 Tips To Fix TIGHT Hamstrings (Stop JUST Stretching!)

by | May 23, 2023 | Blog, Exercises, Functional Fitness, Pain Relief, Stretches

Can’t touch your toes?

Hamstrings always feel tight?

STRETCHING Alone isn’t the answer!

In this video I want to share why stretching your hamstrings more may actually be perpetuating the issues and what you should be doing instead.

Now I’m not saying stretching is bad, BUT just because a muscle feels tight doesn’t mean that stretching is the answer.

In the case of our hamstrings, we have to understand why they are tight to realize why stretching is often making matters worse.

Our hamstrings can often become tight because they are actually already OVERSTRETCHED or even compensating for weak or underactive glutes.

This often happens because our hip flexors become tight and overactive or even our ankle mobility is lacking.

This shortening of our hip flexors can lead to excessive anterior pelvic tilt or a change in our posture that can lead to our hamstrings becoming overstretched.

And with this change in our posture, often our glutes don’t function as they should.

So then when we stretch our hamstrings, we may get temporary relief but we aren’t actually addressing the problem.

So what should you do instead?

These 4 steps can help us improve our hamstring flexibility by actually addressing the true mobility and stability issues!

First…Foam Roll Your Hamstrings.

If you always feel your hamstrings during any glute exercises they may be synergistically dominant and working instead of letting your glutes be the prime mover. 

Part of this happens because of our mind-body connection. We have that recruitment pattern ingrained which means our mind asks our hamstrings to work FIRST over using our glutes the way we should.

By first foam rolling your hamstrings, you can relax this muscle to better allow yourself to recruit your glutes. This is a great way to release the muscle WITHOUT stretching.

To roll out your hamstrings a ball on a bench works best. 

Sit on the ball with it under the back of your leg. Find a tight spot anywhere down your hamstring and hold on it. Lift your leg out in front of you to tense and relax the muscle.

Do this about 5 times and move to another spot. Focus on a few different tight areas before switching sides.

If you’re doing this for the first time, it’s not bad to roll along under your butt and then down toward your knee, even moving from the outside of your leg toward your inner thigh to find what’s tight for you!

Next…Stretch Your Hip Flexors And Ankles.

Part of that perpetual hamstring tightness might be a lack of mobility at our hips or ankles. 

This immobility leads to improper posture in everyday life, making our hamstrings feel like they’re constantly tight. 

That’s why you want to include this side lying hip and quad stretch in your routine to stretch out those tight hip flexors as well as the bear squat to foot stretch to improve your ankle and foot mobility. 

This can help you avoid your hamstrings being strained or overworked while being able to be better get those glutes engaged.

While you can do the side lying hip and quad stretch standing, the side lying variation is great if you have balance issues or can’t focus on that true hip extension while standing.

As you pull your heel back toward your butt, sqeeuze your glute to truly extend your hip. The knee flexion and hip extension will stretch out those hip flexors.

If you can’t reach your foot, you can loop a towel around your ankle to pull your heel back with that.

Relax out and repeat that same movement. Really focus on engaging the glute to truly extend that hip and stretch those hip flexors.

If you feel your hamstring cramp as you bring your heel back in, conscious relax your foot over allowing your ankle to flex. And focus on that glute!

With the bear squat with foot stretch, you’ll work to improve your ankle mobility as well as your foot mobility.

With this stretch, start on your hands and knees then sit back on your heels. You can rock side to side sitting back. Then place your hands back down on the ground and lift your butt up toward the ceiling as you drive your heels down toward the ground.

You can pedal your feet or hold for a second then lower down and sit back.

If you can’t sit back on your heels without pain, or have knee pain kneeling down, you can do a great ankle mobility movement, placing the ball of your foot on a plate weight or dumbbell and then driving your knee forward while keeping your heel down.

This move is best done without shoes on if you can but will then be more intense on your toes.

Now let’s address your glutes.

Focused glute activation moves like the glute bridge will not only stretch out your hip flexors but they’ll improve your hip stability through strengthening and activating your glutes. 

Strong glutes mean you won’t be relying on those hamstrings as much so they don’t just keep feeling tight from being overworked!

The one thing you have to be conscious of though is WHAT DO YOU FEEL WORKING?!

If you let your hamstrings compensate while doing the right moves, you’ll perpetuate your hamstring issues and they will keep feeling tight. 

In order for the glute activation work to pay off, you have to feel your glutes working as that prime mover.

If you struggle with even that bodyweight glute bridge, try the frog bridge instead. That external hip rotation can be helpful. Or you can use a mini band to even help engage that glute medius more which will help the glute max fire better. 

Just make sure you aren’t arching your back or pushing yourself backward as you do the move. 

Focus on a slight posterior pelvic tilt and only bridging up as high as you can control using your glutes! 

For more tips to help you really use the glute bridge to improve your hamstring flexibility by improving your glute activation, CLICK HERE.

Using these key moves you can improve your hamstring flexibility and see those results truly last.

Stop wasting time stretching and address the true mobility and stability issues that are going on!

How To Do The Pelvic Tilt Exercise (And SHOULD You?)

How To Do The Pelvic Tilt Exercise (And SHOULD You?)

by | May 7, 2023 | Blog, Core, Exercises, Functional Fitness, Pain Relief

The pelvic tilt…

How can you use this amazing move and progress this exercise to build a stronger core?

And why has this move received some hate in recent years?

Let’s break down the pelvic tilt progression and when and how to use it!

This exercise is a great way to learn to brace your abs and protect your lower back during core work

If you’ve ever felt your lower back or hips during crunches or leg lowers, Leg Raises you want to master this movement.

It will even help you better engage your glutes during moves like the glute bridge or other activation exercises. And it is a great way to target that lower portion of the rectus abdominis even more aka work those lower abs!

To learn the basic pelvic tilt engagement…

Lie on your back on the ground and take a deep inhale.

As you exhale, tuck your hips up toward your ribs, focusing on pulling each side of your pelvis in toward each other and up toward your ribs.

You want to focus on engaging those abs through that exhale as you tuck. You will feel the space between your lower back and the ground go away.

You should also feel your glute max engage with the tuck.

Hold here for a 3-5 count then relax.

Learning this engagement is key.

It helps you learn to control that spinal flexion as you progress to leg lower exercises and even progress your planks.

And if you’ve ever had lower back pain and feeling your back during glute bridges, hip thrusters or other glute activation movements, using the pelvic tilt can help you better engage your glutes during these moves without your lower back taking over!

Now, before I go over the full progression and how to master that double leg lower exercise we see in so many workout routines…

I want to touch on why people are against using the pelvic tilt exercise.

And it relates back to bracing during lifting and even the ability to maintain a neutral spine.

During lifting exercises, such as the squat and deadlift, you do not want that posterior pelvic tilt. This can lead to overload of your lower back.

And daily excessive posterior pelvic tilt posture can have a negative impact just like excessive anterior pelvic tilt can.

But this doesn’t mean the move is bad.

It just means you have to understand WHY and WHEN to use it.

Improper implementation of any exercise, using a move we haven’t earned even, can lead to issues.

While you may focus on that forceful exhale like you’re being punched in the gut to brace during heavy lifts, you do want to know how to engage through that posterior pelvic tilt to better use those intrinsic core stabilizers and even activate your glutes during prehab work and those floor core moves.

Our spines are MEANT to flex and posterior pelvic tilt is an action we want to know how to control using our abs while disengaging our hip flexors and back.

This is why you want to focus on building up through the posterior pelvic tilt progression instead of just jumping into those double leg lowers you can’t control.

So how can you progress the pelvic tilt and what are three of my favorite moves using it that aren’t part of this progression?

To progress the posterior pelvic tilt, you will want to start with a march Single Leg March from this basic position. From here you can progress to a double knee tuck. 

Then you can go to a single straight leg lower Single Leg Lower before a full double leg lower.

You only want to progress though as you can truly control the move.

If you start to feel your lower back lifting or your hip flexors are doing all of the work, stop and reset or regress the move.

While the leg raises and lowers are going to involve your hip flexors since they are movement at the hip, you want to feel your abs bracing the movement.

To help yourself check your engagement through this progression, place a towel under your back and hold the other end in your hand. 

You can then give it a slight tug to see if it stays pinned as you progress. This helps you double check you’re maintaining that tilt.

And make sure you don’t hold your breath. You want to exhale to help you brace as you lower a leg down or both down.

Once you’ve gone through this progression, you are never above those foundational variations but you may find you start to include other leg lower variations like flutters or criss crosses or even that full hollow body hold I love to call the banana!

Three other uses of the pelvic tilt I love are…

The dolphin plank, the hanging pelvic tilt and the glute bridge.

Dolphin Plank: 

The dolphin plank is a great variation to add movement to your basic forearm front plank and will help you learn to engage your abs to power spinal flexion but also avoid unwanted spinal extension.

You will use the posterior pelvic tilt as you round up in the plank and then you will fight the urge to extend your lower back as you allow your hips to sink toward the ground.

This is a killer anti-extension plank option. And you can modify it by holding a plange plank or by doing what I like to call the vomiting cat from your hands and knees. 

This is NOT that cat cow stretch.

The reason I call it the vomiting cat is you want to round up and draw your abs in as if coughing up a hairball. That hollowing out of your stomach is what really engages your abs.

Hanging Pelvic Tilt:

The hanging pelvic tilt is a great way to advance the pelvic tilt and really learn to control hanging ab exercises like knees to elbows.

Too often with knees to elbows and even leg raises, we let our hip flexors take over or really start to swing and lose control.

By first learning to do the hanging pelvic tilt, we can learn to start that engagement with our abs!

Really focus on pulling down on that bar as you tuck your pelvis toward your ribs!

Glute Bridge: 

I want to mention the glute bridge as well because of the impact that the posterior pelvic tilt can have on our glutes.

That pelvic tilt can help us better activate our glute max which is key if we are struggling with feeling our lower back or even our hamstrings take over during our glute work.

So if you even feel your lower back when trying to do weight glute bridges or hip thrusters, make sure you aren’t arching but instead starting the move with this tilt.

This helps you also focus more on true hip extension.

Too often with bridging we lift up higher and don’t realize we are actually getting the extra range of motion from our backs, not by actually fully extending our hips.

When you start with the pelvic tilt, you help yourself focus just on true hip extension using your glutes!

And learning to use the pelvic tilt during moves like this is especially a win win if you’re rebuilding post-partum. 

Bonus Tips:

I did also want to include just a few extra tips, especially if you are using this move to rebuild after lower back injury or pregnancy…

If you are rebuilding your core strength after having a baby, make sure you roll onto your side before lying on your back over just lying back.

And make sure you only progress the pelvic tilt as you are able to control your abs and avoid them doming out.

You may also find it easier to engage your ab and even your pelvic floor by also engaging your adductors.

If you’re struggling with that brace, consider squeezing a ball or block between your knees.

This squeeze can really help you stay focused on that tension. 

And do not hold your breath!

Use the pelvic tilt exercise to better brace your abs and build a strong core!