December 22, 2018
How Your Pelvis Position Could Be The Cause of Your Troublesome Lower Abs
Now, let’s get this part out of the way first. You can not overcome improper nutrition with exercise. In other words, do not expect to develop and see your abdominals if you are not in a caloric deficit and nutritional surplus. It just will not work. Reach out to me for further assistance on how to establish this nutritional task.
Once your nutrition is addressed, the next and very common culprit for people not developing abs, especially lower abs, is their pelvis position. Your pelvis, or what people commonly refer to as their “hips”, plays an important part in your ab training because of where the muscle attachment site is located on your pelvis. Your rectus rectus abdominis, or “6 pack”, are muscles that starts from the bottom of your sternum and ends at the top of your pelvis. Along with force transfer and preventing movements, your 6 pack muscles basically bring your pelvis closer to your chest.
This is a key point to establish: the muscles around your pelvis region is connected to each other in a “X” fashion. In layman terms, when one muscle is weak, the other is strong and, this is based on pelvic position. So, if your abs are weak, then your lower back and hip flexors are strong.
Here is how your pelvis position completely determines if your are exercising your abs or not. If you have an anterior pelvic tilt, or excessive lumbar lordosis, your abs are at a mechanical disadvantage to perform a muscle contraction. When a muscle is at a mechanical disadvantage over a long period of time, them become weak and lose their force production capability. This results in your hip flexors and lower back performing more work while your abs are not. Here is an example of an anterior pelvic tilt.
No worries. You can fix your pelvic position by targeting your hamstrings. Because of their attachment on the bottom, backside region of the pelvis, they help shift your pelvis from an anterior pelvic tilt to a posterior pelvic tilt. This is a good thing because the 6 pack muscles are in a mechanical advantage to bring your pelvis towards your chest hence a better muscle contraction. Watch this video and this video to see how you can change your pelvic position and start working your abs.
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