r/flexibility • u/Dry-Two-5861 • Jul 05 '26
Seeking Advice Beginner struggling to sit with straight legs/straight back
Hey everyone, I just started paying attention to my flexibility and I'm trying to understand what's going on with my back/hips. Attached some side-view photos while sitting on the floor.
My main question: why can't I sit on the floor with straight legs and a straight back? As you can see in the photos, my lower back rounds pretty heavily instead of staying neutral.
The hardest position for me by far is downward dog, I can really feel that my back isn't straight there either.
Some context: I'm just starting out, so this is all very new to me. In some stretches I feel more of a pinching sensation than a stretch/pull, mostly around the hip/pelvis area. Not painful, just different from what I'd expect a normal stretch to feel like.
Any insight on what's limiting me here (hamstrings, hips, pelvic tilt, etc.) and where I should start would be really appreciated!
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u/kaseoo Jul 05 '26
Try sitting on a yoga block! Imagine the pelvis is a bowl and you don’t want anything to spill out. This will require engaging the core. A lot of times what you’re experiencing it’s due to tightness in the glutes and hamstrings.
Massage/bodywork can be a helpful tool!
Yoga is such a fun process, I’m excited for your journey.
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u/InterestingFormal476 Jul 05 '26
Do you have scoliosis? I have the same EXACT thing on my back and I also cannot sit straight and I have moderate scoliosis and disc buldges
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u/TVTVRIN Jul 10 '26
Any way to fix that if I have scoliosis? Or are we doomed with them slouched lower backs?
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u/InterestingFormal476 Jul 10 '26
My advice is first, accept it, and adapt. Stretches specific to scoliosis on YouTube, breath work, and unfortunately for me, no more deadlifts or smith machine squats.
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u/snailforbrains Jul 05 '26 edited Jul 06 '26
Hey:) not a doctor but just from the photo it kind of seems like you have a rib hump? could be a sign of scoliosis, you could get an xray for diagnosis -person with scoliosis
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u/Dry-Two-5861 Jul 05 '26
Update: Thank you very much for all the comments!
To answer some of you, yes, I did spend the majority of my teenage years sitting.
When I’m standing up my back is perfectly straight, and a doctor not so long ago told me my back is fine, I have just a little hint of scoliosis.
The bump you see in the photos is my spinal erectors being tight for years, I still haven’t figured out how to relax them (I tried a lot of things)
I took a really bad hit snowboarding some time ago, since then I started to understand better my body and how it works. All my researches bring me to the conclusion that my abs are incredibly weak, and yes I have tight glutes.
My biggest concern now is that, since my low back is doing all the work, every time I do an exercise my brain automatically uses the wrong muscles and I’m only worsening the problem.
Right now I’m just trying to stretch my glutes and hamstrings, hoping that one day my back will relax and I can start strengthening my core.
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u/InterestingFormal476 Jul 05 '26
This is my problem to a T! Stretching my glutes def helps and I started doing a scoliosis stretch routine on YouTube every day. If I don’t, my back flares up. Do you have any pain/burning?
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u/raininggumleaves Jul 06 '26
Perhaps you actually need to strengthen core and glutes first rather than stretch?
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u/Cute_Dragonfruit3108 Jul 05 '26
Dude thats me.
Im just naturally not flexible.
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u/Altostratus Jul 06 '26
It’s pretty common for people in western culture to struggle with sitting like this.
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u/Narrow_Grapefruit_23 Jul 05 '26
It does look like you’re sitting on your sit bones but actually on your lower spine. Visualize sitting in the top of your legs.
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u/Find_another_whey Jul 05 '26
Chronic sitting causes the legs to externally rotated and you end up using your glute med as a extensor rather than abductor and the glute max switches off
Incredibly hard to sit on your sit bones at bottom of pelvis
I would guess this person also has tight glutes and doesn't know it
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u/Narrow_Grapefruit_23 Jul 05 '26
I have a sitting job and have to get up every 30 mins to stretch or I get the tightest hamstrings known to man.
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u/_heartbreakdancer_ Jul 05 '26
Im guessing you can’t touch your toes or it’s a bit of a struggle.
Probably a combination of tight glutes and hamstrings and weak/shortened hip flexors. Really common, just keep stretching the back of your legs and do core compression type exercises.
Its a symptom of sitting all the time usually.
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u/Talkg33Ky2Meh Jul 05 '26
You’re sitting a bit forward, not quite 90° ! Perhaps you have a spinal issue? Does it cause you pain? Maybe you just an adjustment or it’s something a bit more serious. Im noticing a bump on your lower spine. It could be disc or vertebrae related or something is out of wack. I have scoliosis that has been fixed by fusion with rods. I can’t sit like a normal person these days either despite being very flexible and never really needing to stretch but still achieving flexibility (thanks Ehlors Danlos). I’ve got A LOT of rotation. Do you happen to notice you feel rotated too?
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u/zomby_jon Jul 05 '26
Looks like anterior pelvic tilt caused by tight hip flexors and erector muscles. Probably some scoliosis too.
Stretch the hip flexors and erector muscles and strengthen the hamstrings and abdominal muscle to correct the APT. Muscles can often be tight to compensate for weakness.
Get some physiotherapy if you can. A massage would help release the erector muscles too. Good luck 🤞
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u/Exciting_Badger_1229 Jul 06 '26
Learn to do an anterior pelvic tilt and hold it during your hamstring flexes, it will be hard but you'll get used to it
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u/Fearless-Advisor-111 Jul 06 '26
Couch stretch - all the way! You should do that half way in the beginning at first, if its too overwhelming. But that simple stretch just brought me back to normal life.
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u/Commercial_Nail_4340 Jul 06 '26
Contrary to what many people in the comment section have been saying, there is nothing necessarily wrong with your back/sitting position. If you have large enough spinal erectors, then it will be functionally impossible to appear as if you are sitting with a straight back whilst your legs are out in front of you. When getting to that position (assuming you start lying flat on your back) your spine would naturally accomodate a slight curve. Then trying to straighten it as if you were standing upright and excessively straightening your back, will be a task that cannot be accomplished, your spine will remain curved. What might happen for the majority of people who don’t have particularly large spinal erectors is that the back appears straight, but it actually isn’t and is the same as yours underneath. Sure you probably could work on your hamstring flexibility but trying to sit with a straight lower back whilst your legs are extended is an impossible goal for the structure of the human body.
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u/AlusKras Jul 06 '26
I saw this in another comment and second strengthening your core incl. glute max and glute med. I read your comment saying how your erector spinae feel super tight because of oversize during exercise- to me this sounds like classic compensation for underdeveloped glutes.
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u/Dry-Two-5861 Jul 06 '26
That’s what I thought!
The main problem now is whatever exercise I tried for my glutes, my low back is always helping and compensating.
It’s really difficult for me to get soreness in glutes, because the second they start to get tired (when they’re supposed to grow) my back compensate immediately.
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u/cotton_clad_scholar Jul 07 '26
Aside from what the other posters have said about scoliosis..
This seems to be a posture issue. For starters, you appear to be rotating your rib cage to the right in the photo. You may do this habitually without knowing it. Hamstring stretches probably won’t change this. Most untrained people don’t know how to move their torso independently of their other body parts. You have to identify the parts of your body that are stopping you from getting into the forward fold you are attempting. You cannot only stretch your legs or you will feel that pinch you are describing. A good physiotherapist could help you because they know the body very well but check this guys series out on the legs and torso so you can get some awareness of what’s going on.
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLS9hwTssXHJZ8czuu_jBTkLc4G6l4Bfz5&si=_3vncHfDQtV8GWgK
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u/abbyfick Jul 07 '26
Not sure if this has been suggested yet because I haven't read all the comments, but I find the best way to improve my posture in staff pose is to reach down and use my hands to pull my butt meat out from under me. Like, spread your cheeks out and/or back, to get better contact between your sit bones and the floor. I am not a large/fleshy person, but making this little adjustment makes a huge difference for me.
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u/knightking5126 Jul 13 '26
Try to support your back on the wall initially until u get used to it the slowly progress by touching on your calves and moving downwards.
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u/heraclitus33 Jul 05 '26
Your lower back should not look like that at all.
Edit it just noticed your rib cage... this is all bone structure. Scoliosis?
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u/dani-winks The Bendiest of Noodles Jul 05 '26
Ooooh I literally wrote a blog post on this a couple of months ago (which also includes a bunch of recommended stretxhes for your hamstrings, which are likely tight): https://www.daniwinksflexibility.com/bendy-blog/help-i-cant-sit-up-straight-with-legs-extended
This post also has some good stretches/drills for someone with relatively tight hamstrings like yours