Fix Anterior Pelvic Tilt: Strength and Stretch Exercises

Like many people who sit a whole lot, I have an anterior pelvic tilt: my lower back arches so much it’s stiff and pained no matter how much I try to “draw-in” the abdominal wall. Basically, my paraspinal muscles are likely too short and stiff while my rectus abdominis is too long and weak. I’ve been stretching tight hamstrings and tight hip flexors, but apparently those may be symptoms of this tilt and not its cause. Even strengthening abs and glutes can backfire if my body is used to relying on my lower back and hip flexors to execute those movements.

In order to correct this biomechanical imbalance, I need to strengthen my abs, glutes, and hamstrings, plus stretch hip flexors. The key is to avoid relying on the hip flexors when strengthening the upper and the lower abdomen; and separately, stretch the hip flexors while strengthening the glutes.

Sample Workout

1. High knee march warm-up
2. Planks while tucking glutes in
3. Side planks, optionally with one leg raised
4. Stand holding ball at chest and rotate the trunk in each direction
5. Modified sprinter lunge
6. Bridge or single leg hip thrust
7. Child’s pose

Weight Science from Linda Bacon’s Body Respect – HAES Book Summary

We are constantly warned about the dangers of obesity and urged to manage our weight. These messages come from all directions, including authorities we trust and peers who judge us. But consider for a moment that our accepted assumptions may not represent fully what we know from scientific evidence.

To begin with, the following facts are from Body Respect by Linda Bacon, and you can confirm them in the peer-reviewed article at http://nutritionj.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1475-2891-10-9

• People who are categorized as overweight or moderately obese have shown time and time again to live as long as or longer than people with weight in the normal category (confirmed even by the CDC)
• BMI standards were written by the pharmaceutical industry to increase weight loss drug profits, ignoring that health decrement hasn’t shown to occur until a BMI of 40 (they funded the international obesity task force that determined the WHO’s standards and therefore the U.S. standards)
• Larger people are more likely to develop several diseases but fatness is not the cause – there are many confounding factors like fitness, stress from discrimination, and inflammation from calorie-restriction dieting and weight cycling – “blaming fatness for heart disease is a lot like blaming yellow teeth for lung cancer”
• “There has never been a research study that has demonstrated long-term maintenance of weight loss from lifestyle change for any but a small minority” – the rare person who does maintain weight loss is as lucky as the smoker who lives to be ninety
• Health can improve when diet and/or exercise improve – not as a result of weight loss – yet at the same time, health behaviours account for less than 1/4 of differences in health outcomes, while social differences (i.e. poverty and discrimination) are the main determinants (again confirmed by the CDC)

If you’re like me, you’re probably tempted to object to the above sample of facts because we fear fat so strongly. However, ignorance has hurt us through lifetime yo-yo dieting, obsession with food and body, disordered eating, weight discrimination, and even poor health, the very thing we think we’re helping by stigmatizing fatness.

Honestly, though… even if I can be healthy at my current weight, I still deep down really want to look the way I did when I was slimmer. In the past I was able to lose weight by manipulating calories – if only I’d just tried harder and longer! Mind you, I’m still stuck with these feelings years after I learned exactly why the belief that I can just force a caloric deficit long-term is, well, unfounded. So let’s forgive each other for not being without bias and just open ourselves up a little more to the possibility that there may be a better way than constantly forcing an attempt to lose weight.

Weight-Loss

Introvert Weight Loss How To

I’ve tried a lot of weight loss advice I later realized was intended for extroverts. The last of these was trying out DietBet which has been proven to be very effective… but I realize now that the comment forum and competition made it uncomfortable and stressful and ultimately backfired for me, actually gaining weight over the 4 weeks. Likewise, I’m a long-time member of SparkPeople, but I’ve given up on trying to benefit from the supportive community I hear so much about because it just ends up being work for me, rewarded only with vague encouragement I don’t quite buy.

Ok, so maybe I’m a particularly jaded loner, but I have a feeling other introverts have come across the same problem: why are all these proven tools harming my efforts instead of helping them?

What Comes First: Cardio or Weights? Workout Myths and Exercise Science (Book Summary)

My boyfriend and I finally joined a gym. We’ve been following YouTube videos and online programs long enough and wanted access to more equipment. Plus, getting out of the apartment together and doing something positive for ourselves is feeling great.

Of course, the first thing I’ve done is get a ton of books on exercise science from the library. What Comes First: Cardio or Weights? by Alex Hutchinson appealed to me because I feel like I have a lot of knowledge, I’m just not certain what’s really true.

A few points I learned:

• First of all, the answer to the title: start with the most important activity – if they are equal, mix it up.
• High-intensity interval training 7 minutes a week can benefit your body as much as 300 moderate activity like cycling – though, the benefits are mostly from muscles, so endurance is still recommended in the mix to pump the heart.
• At the same time, more exercise – and more intense exercise – is almost always better: following government guidelines cuts your risk of dying in half, while going further can reduce risk up to 70%.
• Going too hard, too soon, for too long can cause injury and weaken your immune system.
• About 20-62% of variation in exercise participation seems to be inherited through personality and physiology, but everyone can reap benefits from exercise.
• It takes 6 weeks to boost endurance, but health can performance can improve within days, then losses occur after about 2 weeks without training.

More specifically,

• The differences between running on a treadmill and running outdoors are too small to matter – just set the treadmill to 0.5-1% incline.
• Weight machines isolate muscles and help keep beginners from making mistakes.
• Elliptical machines compare to treadmills in the way weight machines compare to free weights – just as good as one another, but different, mainly lower-impact vs. more functional.
• Aim for 70% aerobic (below 80% of max for 20-60 minutes), 10% anaerobic (above 90% of ma for 0.5-3 minute bursts), and 20% threshold (80-90% of max for surges of 3-10 minutes) – where max heart rate is usually 180-200 bpm for a 30-year old.
• You likely breathe well naturally for cardio, but may need to focus on exhaling as you lift weights and not holding your breath.
• Experienced runners naturally learn to take shorter strides so the foot hits the ground below the body, not in front.
• For 3-4 months, lift weights you can manage for 1-3 sets of 8-12 reps, increasing over time. Work toward something like 4 sets of 20 reps with rests under 90 seconds for endurance. Experiment with variety.
• You should be unable to lift the weight again when you complete the final set.
• Strengthen your core (deep abs, lower back, pelvic and hip muscles) with Pilates and functional exercises like hip abductor and flexor.

Is Gwyneth Paltrow Wrong About Everything? (Book Summary) #celebrities #factsonly

It is biological human nature to compare ourselves socially and, in particular, compare up to emulate, nowadays, celebrities. Find here a summary of some areas identified by Timothy Caulfield where we try to be like celebrities along with some evidence-based guidance on actually achieving underlying goals.

Cleanse

• Beyonce, Ashton Kutcher, Mindy Kaling, Salma Hayek, and of course Gwyneth Paltrow cleanse to “detox” and, of course, lose weight – perhaps also unconsciously to pay penance for “sinful indulgences”
• However, our bodies already manage toxins quite well and, besides, drinking green juices doesn’t improve natural detoxing anyway
• Most cleanses end up restricting calories, which causes stress on the body and mind, usually increasing cortisol and drive to overeat
• Due to restricted calories, there can be quick weight loss, but few people can maintain the loss by maintaining the cleanse as a new lifestyle, and thus regain the weight
• While a healthy diet does seem to improve mood and, well, overall health, that’s about eating more fruits and vegetables (about 50% of a daily diet), not eating only vegetables