The 4 Best Anterior Pelvic Tilt Exercises

An anterior pelvic tilt is when your spine curves as a result of your pelvis being rotated forwards. It can often be quite visible as someone will be arching their back in quite an exaggerated way, making their buttocks stick out.

The pelvis is a super important part of the body as it allows us to walk, run, and generally move around day to day!

You can develop an anterior pelvic tilt from sitting for long periods of time without exercising or stretching. You could also develop it through cycling for long periods of time, wearing high heels or having flat feet. 

An anterior pelvic tilt signifies that your glute and abdominal muscles are weak, and your quads are tight. It is important to identify if you have an anterior pelvic tilt as it can be the cause of lower back pain, hip pain, knee pain, and posture problems. 

To find out if you have an anterior pelvic tilt, perform this test (the Thomas test):

• Sit yourself on the edge of a table and lie back so that your legs hang off at your knee, with your legs bent.
• Pull one leg in towards you and hold your knee. 
• Bend your leg until it rests on your chest.
• Repeat with your other leg. 
• If your pelvis is aligned correctly, the back of your resting leg will touch the table. If you find yourself needing to extend or rotate your resting leg to touch the table, your quads are tight and you could well have a tilted pelvis.

You can perform numerous exercises from the comfort of your home to combat an anterior pelvic tilt. Here are five:

1. Hip flexor stretch

• Step your left leg in front of you until your right knee touches the ground and you are in a lunge position.
• Bring your pelvis forward by tucking your tailbone under and squeezing your glute muscles.
• Keep leaning forward until you can feel a stretch in your right hip flexor and thigh.
• Hold here for 20-30 seconds and repeat on each leg 5 times.

2. Glute bridge

• Lie on your back with your legs bent and your feet flat on the floor, hip width apart.
• Push your tailbone into the ground, and pushing through the heels, lift your glutes off the ground. 
• Squeeze your glutes at the top of the bridge, hold for a couple of seconds and then lower yourself back down to the ground with control.
• Repeat this 10-15 times. 

3. Kickbacks

• Start on all fours, with your hands directly below your shoulders and your knees on the ground, hip width apart.
• To ensure your pelvis is in a neutral position, make sure your back stays parallel to the ground and doesn’t arch or over extend.
• Squeezing your core, send one leg to the back of the room, with your foot flexed. Squeeze the glute at the top of the movement.
• Bring the leg back to all fours and repeat 10-12 times on each leg.

4. Pelvic tilt

• Lie on your back on the floor, with your knees bent and your feet hip width apart.
• Think about pulling your belly button inwards and push your tailbone under, with your pelvis moving upwards towards the sky.
• Squeeze your glutes as you tilt your pelvis. Repeat this 15-20 times.
• This is a great way of finding your  neutral spine position.

To prevent developing an anterior pelvic tilt in the future, make an effort to get up and walk around frequently throughout the day, especially if you have a sedentary desk job.