Posture - Lower Crossed Syndrome
Lower crossed syndrome is a descriptive postural term coined by Dr. Janda M.D. It is related to other postural types such as Upper Crossed Syndrome and Layered Syndrome.
These postures listed above are the most common of postural problems afflicting our world. They will be our focus for the majority of the postural content here on this blog. Yes, there are many other postural dysfunctions, but these are the most common in our society.
Not sure which postural dysfunction you have? Read 5 Posture Types You Can Change for Good.
In our previous blog post “3 Steps to Make Your Posture Great Again”, we discussed the 3-step process for improving your posture. So, if you’ve made it here, then you have probably finished these:
Step 1 – “Understanding Your Postural Type”.
Step 2 – “Changing the Habits that Contribute to Your Postural Type”
Step 3 – “Performing Specific Corrective Exercises for Your Postural Type.”
Here is a link to the 11 best and worst postural correcting braces, tools and exercise equipment.
Please remember fixing your posture won’t happen overnight, but it is imperative to your physical well-being as form always dictates function. The function that I’m referring to is Innate Essential #4 Movement.
What is Lower Crossed Syndrome?
Lower crossed syndrome, aka; anterior pelvic tilt, swayback or Lumbar hyperlordosis.
These are all postural types characterized by having an exaggerated lumbar spine (lower back) curvature and/or a forward tilting pelvis.
All of these postural types are also characterized by chronically short, tight muscles and chronically lengthened weak muscles.
The short and tight muscles are the hip flexors and the lower back extensors. The long, weak muscles are the abdominals and the glutes/hamstrings.
Why is Lower Crossed Syndrome so prevalent?
It all comes down to your Habits and Routines!
Sitting, Standing, Sleeping and maybe even eating.
If you haven’t heard, “sitting is the new smoking.”
Sitting habits have increased dramatically over the past century. The invention of the car and computer have strapped us to our chairs for longer and longer periods of time. This doesn’t even start to uncover the effect that industrialization has had on our now sedentary lifestyles.
We sit more and move less. Even worse, chronically poor posture when sitting adds up to create early degeneration, arthritis, osteoporosis, pain, headaches, neurological dysfunction and more.
5 Habits contributing to
Lower Crossed Syndrome
1. Sitting Posture
Sitting for short periods of time isn’t the problem. It’s chronic sitting that creates chronically shortened, tight hip flexor and lower back muscles. Naturally, these muscles are short and tight when sitting. The longer and more often you sit, the shorter and tighter these muscles will remain.
So, sit up straight. Put your head back on the headrest or even better, imagine you have a string pulling up from the top of your head elongating your neck. Pull your shoulder blades back (retract) and down towards your back pockets. Do this throughout the day at 10-20% muscle contraction.
2. Standing posture
When one chooses to stand after hours, days and months of sitting, their sitting form retains its effects on the body to some degree or another.
The degree of effect it has on you depends on how lazy you are. Committed might be a better way to say it. How committed are you to changing and controlling your standing habits?
A slight posterior pelvic tilt, as described below, can help reduce the effect of some of these tight, short muscles.
Often when I teach a standing posture, I refer to a ballet dancer. In ballet, they will teach you to stand up straight like you have a string at the top of your head pulling you up from your feet.
This helps to elongate the neck upward instead of forward. The pull from the imaginary string also discourages the anterior pelvic tilt seen in lower crossed syndrome.
Try it! It’s hard to have bad posture when you’re practicing this string technique.
3. Sleeping posture
Sleeping – When one chooses to lay down after hours, days and months of sitting and standing with poor posture, the form is not easily forgotten. The effect of poor, chronic postures will carry over into other positions of posture.
This usually makes the fetal position one of comfort. It mimics your sitting posture enabling the same muscles to remain short and tight and others long and weak.
Stomach sleeping can have similar enabling effects on these short muscles of the back and the long muscles of the abdomen.
Sleeping on the back is the best anatomically correct sleeping position.
Again, its not that the positions are bad for a short period of time. It’s the chronicity in which you use the positions that is bad. I often hit the snooze button and lay on my stomach for a few minutes.
Ideally one would sleep on their back for the majority of the night.
It is imperative that you don’t stack up pillows to watch television or when using your phone in bed. Please avoid falling asleep with your head craned forward under 2 or 3 pillows.
I really only use one and I simply roll the end under to support my neck.
4. Distended Abdomens weigh in...
In my personal experience, digestive problems can also contribute to your postural malformations.
The majority of my family suffers from digestive dysfunction and as a result, the abdomen will bloat and protrude. The body will have to accommodate for this distension by relaxing the abdominal muscles, tightening the back muscles and tilting the pelvis forward.
This is also true for those that carry more weight around their midsection from obesity or even pregnancy.
5. Joint stacking
Often when standing people will perform what I have termed as joint stacking.
Joint stacking is performed when you approach the end range of motion of one joint thus locking it out. The force is then passed on the next joint and likely stacked into a locked position also.
This creates an erect posture while using little to no energy. This reduces caloric consumption as well as muscle contraction. It is efficient.
The problem with joint stacking is it increases the pressure inside the joints and strains the end range of ligaments and tendons.
This leads to early wear and tear degeneration (osteoarthritis) of the joints and surrounding tissues.
At the same time, it weakens the intrinsic muscles used to properly hold up your body against gravity.
Finally, it contributes to poor postural control and leads to increased Upper Crossed, Lower Crossed and Layered Syndrome.
Joint stacking is characterized by leaning to one side or another and also forward or backward in their respective planes of motions to the maximum of end range motions.(See Imbalanced figure above)
For this blog, we will concentrate on the Frontal plane Joint stacking translation. This looks a lot like Mom hip. (see pictures below)
You know, Mom hip. Where a parent holds their baby on one hip, with one arm to free up the other side of their body for utilization. It’s not just for Moms. Most humans do this in casual standing situations.
Which joints suffer when imbalanced with Frontal plane joint stacking?
- The arch drops as the foot pronates.
- The medial portion of the knee joint is at maximal articulation.
- The hip joint drives into the Illium causing rotation forward. (Anterior Pelvic Tilt)
- The Illium rotates forward causing a shearing force in the SI joint.
- The Lumbar and Thoracic spine compensate for a new center of gravity.
For more on joint stacking click the link here.
Why is Lower Crossed posture bad?
Chronic abnormal anatomical postures lead to abnormal biomechanics.
These altered biomechanics create early wear and tear on the body.
This can lead to early degeneration, pain and even worse, neurological dysfunction.
These neuropathies lead to poor sensory function, motor control and end-organ control. This is what many Chiropractors refer to as Subluxations.
What can we do about Lower Crossed Syndrome?
- Spatial awareness habits – Pay attention to your posture habits. Link to Posture.
- Corrective Exercises – There are hundreds. I’ve listed 11 below for you to start.
- Chiropractic – Helps restore joint mobility (flexibility) and neuromuscular control.
- Massage – Relaxes tight muscles and releases trigger points.
- Reduce digestive distress – My family avoids gluten as it causes our distended abdominal problems. Read the blog post Eat Real Food for more help.
- Reduce weight – Reduce your belly and you’ll change your center of gravity.
11 Exercises for Lower Crossed Syndrome
Click on the highlighted links in green for videos or see images below.
- Seated lower back stretch – Bend forward from a seated position to stretch the lumbar spine musculature. Hold for 30-60 seconds.
- Hip flexor stretch – Kneel with your left knee on the floor and your right leg at a 120-degree angle in front of you. Put your hands on your right knee and keep your back straight. Keeping your left knee pressed to the floor, lean forward into your right hip while squeezing the muscles in your left buttocks. Hold for 30-60 seconds.
- Quadricep stretch – Begin standing, grasp chair with one hand for support while flexing the opposite knee and using the free hand to grasp the foot. Maintain a neutral pelvis and keep both knees close together. Gently pull the heel towards the buttocks. Hold for 30-60 seconds.
- Quadratus Lumborum stretch – Stand with your feet shoulder distance apart and your left hand on your waist. Reach overhead with your right arm and lean toward your left side. Hold for 30-60 seconds.
- Pelvic Tilt – Lie on your back with the knees bent and the soles of the feet on the floor. Gently rock your hips towards your face. Your butt will not actually leave the floor, but you will feel your low back press into the floor. Hold for 30-60 seconds. Repeat 3-5 times.
- Glute Bridge – Lie on back with bent knees hip distance apart, and feet flat on mat stacked under the knees. Engage the core and squeeze your glutes as you lift your hips to a bridge. Return to the floor. Hold for 3-5 seconds 3 sets of 8-10.
- Planks – Lie face down in a push-up position. Place forearms down on the floor shoulder width apart and your feet flexed with the bottoms of your toes on the floor. Draw your navel toward your spine and tighten your buttocks. Hold 30-60 seconds for 3 sets.
- Kneeling hip extension – Get on all fours making a box. Extend one leg back at a time while squeezing the butt and holding the core tight. Hold for 3-5 seconds 3 sets of 8-10.
- Squats – Stand with your feet a little wider than hip-width apart, your toes turned out slightly and your arms resting at your sides. Bend your knees slowly, pushing your butt and hips out and down behind you as if you are sitting down into a chair. Keep your head and shoulders aligned over your knees and your knees aligned over your ankles. Lower your body until your thighs are parallel to the ground. Keep your knees externally rotating or tracking over your toes; don’t let them fall inward. As you lower down, raise your arms up and in front of you no higher than parallel to the ground. Straighten your legs to come up and lower your arms back to your side. Hold for 3-5 seconds 3 sets of 8-10.
- Lunges – Begin standing with your feet shoulder width apart and your hands on your hips. Step forward with one leg, flexing the knees to drop your hips. Descend until your rear knee nearly touches the ground. Your posture should remain upright, and your front knee should stay behind the front midfoot. Drive through the heel of your lead foot and extend both knees to raise yourself back up. Step forward with your rear foot, repeating the lunge on the opposite leg.
- Standing posterior pelvic tilt – Very Important – Perform a posterior pelvic tilt while standing. Hold pelvic tilt by squeezing the glutes and kegels. Hold tension at 10-20% throughout the day to strengthen the endurance of the core muscles. You should be able to talk, belly breath, walk and perform any major motion under this tension.
One Adjustment Action Step
1. Read 3 Steps to Make Your Posture Great Again!
2. Change your bad habits by creating spatial awareness routines.
3. Add specific exercises for your body type and imbalances.
4. Reduce your belly bloat or weight.
5. Add in therapies like Chiropractic or Massage to encourage change.
Happy Monday and stay tuned for our next postural blog post on Upper Crossed Syndrome. Please subscribe at the bottom of our page for our updates.
Any topics you would like to be discussed in the future? Contact us.
–Nick the DC
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