Anterior Pelvic Tilt - Fixes?

[OrderInChaos]

Has anybody here personally or with a client dealt with significant APT and remedied it in part or total? I'm not trying to rid myself of it for "anti-APT dogmatic" reasons, so much as to stop aggravating a pilonidal cyst on my tailbone doing situps/etc. I've done a few things to work more on the neutral pelvis position during exercise, but basically can't finish full sit-up reps without rounding the tailbone out and into the deck. Even on mats I'll get the cyst-bump back.

My efforts:

• More crunches than situps, and lower reps with a 3-5s pause at top ala Never Gymless
• Russian Twists on an incline bench to minimize tailbone friction
• Using neutral pelvis instead of arch on bench (pushing flat of back into the bench to produce 0 arch)
• Feet-up bench
• BW Lunges as warmup for runs, sprints, squat sessions
• Quad/Psoas stretching

The first two are to strengthen the abs aiming to get less weak at the top of the situp and to reduce reliance on tailbone whip. The bench ones require focus to keep the scapulae locked tight, but seem to be working/becoming more comfortable and haven't lost much if any stability. No idea if the stretching is doing much at all to reduce APT... maybe hip thrusts/bridges would be more useful? Either way, welcome any suggestions you may have.

[iamsmu]

Hollow body holds!

Maintaining a hollow body is an exercise in fighting atp. Make sure your lower back is on the ground. Progress from a meat ball to fully extended, shoulders off the ground and legs straight out.

L-Sits might help too. You can't really do an l-sit with atp. Working on l-sits got me long hollow body holds for free.

toes to bar \ leg and knee raises

----

Found this:

[asdf]

Yeah, I'd just skip the sit-ups if they cause/aggravate a cyst. Just do hanging leg raises, knees to elbows, and/or toes to bars.

[chrisd]

Yoga

[OrderInChaos]

Yeah, I'd just skip the sit-ups if they cause/aggravate a cyst. Just do hanging leg raises, knees to elbows, and/or toes to bars.

In about a year I can skip the sit-ups forever thanks to this:


...in the meanwhile it's probably much smarter to pound out the exercises you listed but for a few weeks of pre-test situps every 6mo.

Hollow body holds!

Worth doing weighted, like with a 25 or 45 in the hands? Or is the value from longer holds, not more intense on the upper abs?

L-Sits might help too. You can't really do an l-sit with atp. Working on l-sits got me long hollow body holds for free.

Are these best from parallettes/the floor, rather than hanging from a pullup bar?
EDIT: Looked it up on /r/bodyweightfitness: better from the floor to avoid bad habits and compensating with other muscle groups

Yoga

1. Are there particular poses/cycles that address this best? Are they longer holds in static position, or more dynamic, 30-60s max then moving through the other non-specific bits of a given cycle?
2. Is stretching or strengthening a higher producer of change for most people? Do you feel yoga adequately covers both?

Really appreciate the suggestions, thank you.

[asdf]

In about a year I can skip the sit-ups forever thanks to this:
[new Army PT test]

I understand that you might have to do sit-ups as part of a test, but I still think you could drop them from your training. Knees-to-chest hanging from a bar would prepare you for a sit-up test just fine.

[iamsmu]

Yeah, I'd just skip the sit-ups if they cause/aggravate a cyst. Just do hanging leg raises, knees to elbows, and/or toes to bars.

In about a year I can skip the sit-ups forever thanks to this:

I can't tell how much arm bend they require on that thing. I'm going to try some of those. I wonder how strict they are in judging the reps.

I'm not sure how many hand release push ups I can do in 2 minutes. You need to get 70 HR push ups for 100 points. That's a lot. Not sure about the power throw either. Need to buy a med ball. . . . It kind of looks like a fun test.

Do they use the same deadlift weight for men and women? I guess so. For 100 points you need to do 3 reps of hexbar at 340. 140 pounds gets you 60 points. That's a pretty low standard! What is the minimum passing score?

https://www.army.mil/acft/

Field test standards will be tiered by “heavy” (black), “significant” (grey) and “moderate” (gold) physical demands.

https://www.army.mil/e2/downloads/rv7/a ... df#page=24

So, 180 for 3 reps gets you in the heavy tier on the deadlift. And you only need 5 leg tucks to get to that level. A sub 18 minute 2 mile run gets you there too. 30 hr push ups.




Seems over priced.

[chrisd]

Yoga

1. Are there particular poses/cycles that address this best? Are they longer holds in static position, or more dynamic, 30-60s max then moving through the other non-specific bits of a given cycle?
2. Is stretching or strengthening a higher producer of change for most people? Do you feel yoga adequately covers both?

Specifically Sun Salutation A. Done properly

Stretches hamstrings, glutes, lower back. Strengthens lower abs.

Note, done properly.



ten times.

Upward facing dog is done with the lower abdominal muscles held tight, hands and feet touch the floor, nothing in between. the movement from there to downward facing works the lower abs, a lot.

Hold downward facing dog for five breaths as in this.

[media] [/media]

Note the breathing stlye. Lower abdomen is pulled right in (bodybuilders vacuum pose style. Breathing is done
wit the rib cage.

Alignment is the thing.

I've seen more than one big muscly type who can't do hanging knees to chest because they keep their lumbar permanently extended and just seem to have no idea how to use their muscles to curl up the lower abdomen. They can do sit ups with a flat body, but they can't curl up.

[OrderInChaos]

I've seen more than one big muscly type who can't do hanging knees to chest because they keep their lumbar permanently extended and just seem to have no idea how to use their muscles to curl up the lower abdomen. They can do sit ups with a flat body, but they can't curl up.

Hit that squarely on the head, that is me (sans any aspersions of being a muscly dude, just big lol). My wife putting me to shame on the situp tests + Never Gymless crunches protocol (lower reps, 5+ second hold at the top) made me question the past years' training.

Those videos are extremely useful, thanks for sharing. Diaphragmatic breathing is one thing mentioned in this thread that I'm modestly familiar and competent with/at, adding that to my cool-downs and pre-bed routine. Thanks again.

ACFT comments

Just for context, on the current test people aim for about 240 (80 per category) to be respectable, 70 is fine, and below that you're put on mandatory remedial PT. I'd see the benefits of that policy continuing especially if someone's a 340 DL'er but right at the limits with the run, which is presently a much tougher standard just for passing. 10 pushups to reach 60pts/minimum passing is really low, lower than the current 1min test to enter basic... the scale seems awfully steep. People are freaking out about the LTK fearing failure. But the run just gets so much easier that all the other stuff is worth it in my eyes... still a reward for anyone who can make 13:00 or better.

I understand that you might have to do sit-ups as part of a test, but I still think you could drop them from your training. Knees-to-chest hanging from a bar would prepare you for a sit-up test just fine.

I'll replace all my flexion abs stuff with these and do just that since my next test means less than future ones. Thanks for clarifying!

[iamsmu]

Just for context, on the current test people aim for about 240 (80 per category) to be respectable, 70 is fine, and below that you're put on mandatory remedial PT. I'd see the benefits of that policy continuing especially if someone's a 340 DL'er but right at the limits with the run, which is presently a much tougher standard just for passing. 10 pushups to reach 60pts/minimum passing is really low, lower than the current 1min test to enter basic... the scale seems awfully steep. People are freaking out about the LTK fearing failure. But the run just gets so much easier that all the other stuff is worth it in my eyes... still a reward for anyone who can make 13:00 or better.

Tried these. They are fun. I just got 20 in less than a minute, but watching the movement standard video again, I realize that I didn't go all the way straight arm for every rep. (My bar is a little low.) When I got tired on rep 17, it was difficult to not twist around.

Suggestion: the arms will likely wear out faster than the core. I'd do as little arm bend as needed to get the knees high enough. Film it. I was hitting with my right but not my left knee on many of the first 10. I didn't realize.

(My wife just got 20 without bending her arms at the top???)

My knees were a little too low on some early reps too. I'll practice. I bet that if someone can do 10, they could get to 20 in 6 weeks with practice. Non kipping toes to bar seem more difficult than these. I think l-sits would probably be enough core work to make these no so difficult too.



Right after I posted that, this showed up on my IG making me look fat and clumsy. My IG is more of a sad bloopers reel than anything at this point.

[OrderInChaos]

I bet you squat more than that dude. Funny how b-ball shorts are popular with the functional movement/"bodyweight jakkt" influencer/social media peeps. Need more silkies lol....

[iamsmu]

Looks like the leg tuck is the killer exercise.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/articl ... ailymailus

[DCR]

Not sure if this still is relevant to the OP, but I had an embarrassingly bad case of ATP (full on Donald Duck squats), in part from my beer gut but also due to years of doing shit that exacerbated it. The most helpful tactic for me was to cut that stuff out, either by modifying form or exercise. As just two examples, ditching squatting with my back and adopting Max Aita’s style, and ditching barbell rows for T-bar rows.

[OrderInChaos]

The most helpful tactic for me was to cut that stuff out, either by modifying form or exercise. As just two examples, ditching squatting with my back and adopting Max Aita’s style, and ditching barbell rows for T-bar rows.

The knee raises have been really helpful, and I've done occasional hollow-holds like smu recommended above; have been a slacker regarding true yoga, just sticking to basic long hold stretches.

I did exactly as you described with bench; I could lordosis myself to the point of having my tailbone dig straight into the bench and cause a small cyst over time... instead, I've been clenching my ass making the navel-down into an almost "feet-up bench" posture... which fixes the tailbone plus no more cyst.

That and front squatting!

[DCR]

That and front squatting!

I was recommended and considered that as well, but loathe front squatting. Not remotely flexible enough to rack it, dislike the cross grip for lack of perfect symmetry (yes, I'm that neurotic), and don't have the patience/desire to figure our the wraps grip. As an alternative, I did a bunch of Zercher squatting, which I find strangely enjoyable, perhaps just for the oddity of it. I think they helped. At various times I've considered making Zerchers my main squat, but on each such occasion my second thought was that that would be insane.

[OrderInChaos]

That and front squatting!

I was recommended and considered that as well, but loathe front squatting. Not remotely flexible enough to rack it, dislike the cross grip for lack of perfect symmetry (yes, I'm that neurotic), and don't have the patience/desire to figure our the wraps grip. As an alternative, I did a bunch of Zercher squatting, which I find strangely enjoyable, perhaps just for the oddity of it. I think they helped. At various times I've considered making Zerchers my main squat, but on each such occasion my second thought was that that would be insane.

@cwd, you're needed!

(You really find straps grip tough?)

[DCR]

(You really find straps grip tough?)

Never tried - don't have a pair. I've always hook gripped my DLs and don't rack pull or the like (my DL isn't nearly strong enough to justify supplemental work). I could get a pair easily of course, but why bother when Zerchers are so much fun?