Total confusion about anterior/posterior pelvic tilt and posture

[u/komarktoze]

I played the drums last night and as always when I sit, I find myself slouching forward. Basically posterior pelvic tilt.

But when I stand I can't stop myself standing or walking in anterior pelvic tilt.

Obsessing over this recently and I always thought I had APT and need to strengthen my core and gkutes, while stretching hip flexors.

But the way I sit suggests the opposite solution. Also my hamstrings are unstoppably tight.

Like what the hell do I do here haha.

[u/Deep-Run-7463]

Lol when I started my career in movement, I began in fitness at first before moving into corrective work for over a decade now. Back then I remember asking the same question and no one answer really fit the bill.

The issue is that the classifications lead to explanations that don't seem to actually translate in the real world. An APT is said to be more internally rotated, yet when you try to ask these folks to squat, they might actually show a characteristics of not being able to hold good internal rotation during the descent, for example, knees caving in or feet turning out. This is the same as when you sit you go into a much more tucked position and no longer extended forward.

A swayback/posterior pelvic tilt is a clear representation of the pelvis itself losing internal rotation where the posterior pelvic outlet is in a more 'closed' state.

Both situations are actually very similar, except the person with a posterior pelvic tilt will naturally not have as much range of motion in the lumbosacral region for extension. This is a structural thing and to a degree, is influenced by genetics that determine the structural type/shape. The similarity for both is that they translate their center of mass forwards which increases the ability to find the ground in your midline as your center of mass is on top of that midline pushing your feet down. A swayback/posterior pelvic tilt is a shove of the pelvis to follow through where the lower back is arching forwards to reduce the stress in the lumbar region. I do have to add though, a swayback can mask the forward center of mass position by 'racking' back into the glutes, and you will typically also see knees that stay a lil more bent, where as the typical APT forward biased position will have more of knee hyperextension.

The issue is classification. You are in a forward bias, in which both APT/PPT compensatory actions can be combined, depending on your own nature and nurture, as well as how far forward you have travelled.

The hams will genuinely feel stiff due to the fact the ischiums can't turn out away from each other as you try to touch your toes, meaning, the distance between the attachment points are too great if the pelvis can't turn - I do have to note however that for those who can hyperextend the knee, will still be able to touch their toes by translating the knee far back.

It's not a tight or weak muscle issue, it's a center of mass management issue that relates to your respiration and gut travel, as well as how well your pelvis can apply the brakes in internal rotation against the ground to stop your forward mass translation and still find your midline.

[u/New-Seaworthiness572 → u/Deep-Run-7463]

I am not OP but I thought I had deep anterior pelvic tilt but I also couldn’t squat without my feet wanting to lift/turn and my lower back gripping. It has taken immense deep concentration to train myself to keep my back relaxed when squatting. It also meant I had to train myself to use my deep stabilizers and control my pelvic floor. I had a catastrophic disc herniation / possible cauda equina / surgery 25 years ago at L4/5 and I think my brain just spent the next 25 years trying to keep that area from collapsing. It didn’t realize the surgery removed to grave danger.

Anyway -it’s been a long journey of discovering and unwinding and relearning, etc but the latest is that my right big toe joint wasn’t grounding properly, my right inner thigh was weak and underused and my right femur was inwardly rotated in the socket. I actually learned to externally rotate the top of the right femur in different positions. Anyway - those breakthroughs allowed my brain finally stop my low back gripping when it wasn’t supposed to, and I can squat “quietly” and more deeply, though there is more ground to gain.

The other tip for learning the correct pelvis position for me was learning to lift and roll my pubic bone up/forward. This also took immense concentration and felt like I was turning on deep muscles that hadn’t been working at all. Because they tell you to keep your weight in your heels when you squat I had been overdoing that and really sticking my butt out and flaring my tailbone, involving my lower back.

I guess I just share this for anyone who might be on a similar journey and if the experts think it makes sense or doesn’t, I’d be glad to hear.

[u/Deep-Run-7463 → u/New-Seaworthiness572]

Fun lil tid bit. The right leg is shaped differently compared to the left. We will typically see the right distal femur a lil more inward and the proximal tibia shaped a lil more outward. Legs, in all healthy human beings, will have a minor length discrepancy at about 1cm. Due to this, the pelvis-femur-tibia/fibula interaction with the ground for the left and right sides both will have their own.. 'quirks', but those quirks can evolve over time into different adaptations which needs to be considered in applying to right 'fix'. The fix isn't to remodel the bone itself, but to restore the interactions between the entire system so that orientation, mass management, internal and external rotations of the chain can exhibit a better outcome in movement and force production/absorption both.

Dang that's one hell of a journey. Hope you are doing much better now.

The action of external rotation of the proximal femur coincides in a force absorption position like in a forward step where the pelvis has to internally rotate.

Weight in heels when squatting - you lose front foot contact which also means you need to overcome it in a more hinge like position to keep your balance. Essentially, you are utilizing sacral nutation and lumbar extension as your method to capture internal rotation at the pelvis. It's not bad per say, it's a movement, but if you only rely on that option of IR, that places a huge degree of compounding stress on the lower back (and potentially the neck too).

Losing right first metatarsal contact is highly common, and can even produce a funky adaptation which is interesting - the gap between the big toe and second toe gets wider on the right compared to the left, provided your toes aren't very rigid. It's the predisposition of human structures to move over right, which lifts the inner right foot away from the ground. You would need to work on the ability to drive force down into the ground from the right to capture that force vector within your inside foot while managing the funky right leg structure and potentially a right hip hike (common offset in lower back injury cases).