There’s a surprising side effect that could be holding you in Lordosis – something you may not have even realised.

What is it?  Internal Rotation.

Now obviously I'm exaggerating a bit. But when we go into the lordotic posture with that extended anterior pelvic tilt, one of the side effects that can come along with it, is an internal rotation of the hips. And that can have further impact down in the knee, the foot and the ankle.

When this happens it’s important to be able to open out the hip so we can get into a better external rotation, or at least ease the tight muscles that are holding us out of alignment.

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So which muscles are involved?

Understanding what’s happening with the muscles when you’re in a lordotic position will help you to understand the mechanism for creating (and therefore correcting) this internal rotation side effect.

Consider the inward curvature that o...

Do you have a hyperlordotic lumbar spine, and would you like to flatten that curve? In this tutorial I talk about three or four steps you can go through to be able to go from a hyperlordotic curve to a normal lordotic curve.

Clue: it’s about more than just stretching.

What do you need to know about the anatomy of the spine?

Probably the most important muscle in relation to the lumbar spine is the psoas muscle. Psoas, sometimes called psoas major, originates from the lumbar spine – lumbar vertebrae L1-L5 and a little bit from T12. It also joins to the diaphragm and goes through the pelvis, joining the inside of the leg.

I explain this in more detail in the video tutorial.

Vitally important for our stability, the psoas literally helps to hold our top and bottom together. But it’s because of where the psoas originates and inserts, that this is the muscle that ends up pulling on the lumbar spine, causing it to go into a hyperextended position.

Do you want to correct your Lordosis? Cl...

Lumbar Lordosis, or an overly pronounced curve in the lower back, can cause pain, soreness and even fatigue. Often impacting day to day life. The good news is with better understanding and some practical exercises, you can live better with Lordosis in the longer term and even overcome many of the symptoms you’re experiencing. But it’s not just about stretching exercises, as you may have been lead to believe.

In the tutorial above I focus on the 3 things you need to do before you begin those exercises:

1.  Foam rolling the anterior parts of the hip

With Lordosis, it’s important to understand that the main culprit is the psoas muscle. This is the one that joins onto the spine, pulling it in to create that inward curve. The anterior pelvic tilt we see actually comes as a secondary effect, caused by your body compensating as it moves.  And this often results in tightness through the front of the hip.

This is the bit we can access with foam rollers.

First, place the foam roller mid-th...

If you have an excessive lumbar curve and you need help to reduce it, there are a number of stretches you can use. Here I want to talk about one of the best ones to use and give you some tips to make sure you’re getting the best out of it. 

Stretching to improve excessive lumbar curve

You may already be familiar with this stretch, and you can tune into the tutorial above, around 0:35, to see an image of the position. But in summary, go down onto two knees, place one foot flat in front of you, so your knee is at a right angle. Then with the leg at the back, hook the foot up on a raised surface, i.e. a bench, so that only your knee is on the floor, creating a V-shape behind you. Place your hands on your front thigh, towards the knee, and lift your shoulders back, keeping your back straight. 

Here, we’re concentrating on the anterior line, adjusting to feel the stretch in the back leg. This stretch is primarily for the rectus femoris muscle, but depending on where you have tightness yo...

If you suffer with Lordosis and want to improve your posture, stretching and exercise are an essential part of any plan. But, how you stretch and exercise is important – that’s why I wanted to talk a bit about how to perform stretches and exercises for lordosis so you get the best possible results.

Here are some common mistakes I see clients making when they’re stretching or exercising to correct Lordosis:

Mistake 1 - Not using everyday activity to correct Lordosis.

Each day you have 24 hours. You sleep for 8 hours so that leaves 16 hours. And how many of those hours do you exercise? Maybe one? Well, that leaves 15 spare hours you can use to either undo the good work that you did in that hour or to really make a positive difference to your posture. Imagine if you did good quality exercise for one hour and then used those 15 hours more effectively, being mindful about the position your body is in, and really thinking about the way you move.  Your brain would learn much quicker and y...

In order to improve your Lordosis you need to do more than a few token stretches. Your body need to learn better posture because if it can learn bad posture it can learn good posture. This is quick to say but takes longer to do and it happens small increments.

How do you learn good posture?

As I've mentioned it takes time and different pieces to the puzzle.

• Massage
• Stretch
• Move

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Massage

This doesn't have to mean seeing a massage therapist every day or week, you can self-massage with a foam roller for example. The key is to reduce the rigidity to tight muscles ready for stretching. I find the chewing gum metaphor to describes it best, if you take a stick of chewing gum and pull it apart it'll snap in two. If you chew it first and the pull it apart it'll stretch. Massage for the muscles is like chewing is for the gum, it brings suppleness to the muscles so stretching is ...

Lordosis is a condition that affects the lower back, exaggerating the curve of the spine and causing the abdomen and buttocks to protrude. It may also cause the knees and toes to point inwards and even cause rounding of the upper back. With lumbar Lordosis you may not see all these symptoms, but they very often happen in combination.

We’ve discussed Exercises for Lumbar Lordosis on the blog a number of times previously, but even when you know which exercises or stretches you should be doing it’s possible that you’re not getting the most out of them.  

In this tutorial I’m covering some of the most common mistakes people make when they’re treating Lordosis:

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1. You don’t continue the good work during your daily activities

 If you work out and do the correct stretches for 30-60 mins per day that’s a great start for improving your Lordosis symptoms. The problem is there are 23+...

 One thing my clients hear me talking about a lot is the importance of good posture when it comes to back health. But thanks to the prevalence of desk jobs and handheld devices, good posture is not something that comes particularly naturally to many people.  The good news, though, is that good posture can be learned (and bad habits broken!) – and doing so will make a world of difference to your back health over the longer term. 

How to develop better posture

Improving your posture involves more than stretching, it is about teaching your body to hold itself in a different way. And then to maintain this even when you’re not consciously thinking about it. 

This takes time and it takes patience. But the benefits of doing so are huge, including providing your spine with better support during everyday activities and improving your quality of life for longer. 

But posture training isn’t a standalone activity, it’s something that needs to be considered whenever you’re planning any kind of ...

A good lordosis stretch should lengthen the hip flexors, here is a good one to use that gets more than one of the hip flexors. Lordosis in an exaggerated curve in the lumbar (lower) part of the spine. It happens because the some of the muscle of your hip become tight and stiff. By using the right lordosis stretch can help a lot and with the right exercise you can begin to reduce how tight and stiff these muscles are.

Watch the video for correct technique points

Making sure you do this lordosis stretch is key a factor when correcting lordosis. There are many muscles around your hip that it affect and a change in posture can change the muscle that is being stretched. In a video before this one you learnt a stretch that is very similar. By lifting the foot from the floor you change the muscle that is being stretched.

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How hard should I stretch?

As you do this lordosis stretch ma...

Hip flexibility is important for low back pain, Lordosis and building core strength & stability. It helps your body function properly and can reduce the risk of muscle imbalances and pain. Knowing how to improve your hip flexibility is therefore a key part of keeping your joints healthy.

The importance of flexible hips

For this blog I’m going to focus on its benefits for posture particularly, Lordosis.

1. Many tight muscles are protecting an unstable joint. In order to improve Lordosis, stretching is essential but together with the right exercises to stabilise the hip and spine.
2. If the muscles of your hips are stiff and tight they don’t absorb shock very well. This can make simple tasks like walking and running detrimental to your joint health. Not because they are bad in and of themselves but because they cause more shock.
3. As your joints become more stable and they are able to absorb more shock this reduces pressure on your low back and allows your lumbar spine to flatten.

Do y...