Common Mistakes Doing the Posterior Pelvic Tilt Exercise

If you have low back pain, you may benefit from the skilled services of a physical therapist (PT) to help you decrease your pain, improve your spinal range of motion, and increase your abdominal and core strength.YourPT can assess your specific conditionand teach you an exercise progression for your back to help you return to your previous level of function and mobility.One very important exercise that your PT may teach you is the posteriorpelvic tilt exercise.This exercise is the main component of a lumbar spine stabilization program, and your PT may spend a considerable amount of time in the clinic making sure you are doing it right.Many people who perform the pelvic tilt exercise for back pain perform it incorrectly. They simply do not have the neuromuscular control of their abdominal and core muscles to perform the pelvic tilt properly.Ben GoldsteinCommon MistakesHere are some common mistakes that you may make when performing the posterior pelvic tilt exercise for low back pain:You are holding your breath.You are sticking out your stomach instead of tightening your abdominals.You are simply sucking in your gut instead of engaging your abdominals.You are lifting your buttocks off the ground into a bridge position.You are rolling your pelvis in the wrong direction.TipsHere’s a little trick to learn how to feel the correct muscles that should be contracting during your posterior pelvic tilt. Lie flat on your back with your knees bent. Place both hands on the sides of your abdomen just above your pelvis. Slowly blow out all of your breath, like you are trying to blow out a candle as slowly as possible.As you start to run out of air, keep blowing, and you should start to feel tightening of your transverse abdominus muscle. This muscle is one of your deep abdominal muscles that is responsible for bracing your spine when you are moving about.If you have low back pain, your PT can teach you the proper exercises to do for yourspecific condition. They can also teach you how to attain and maintainproper posture for your back.If yourPTprescribes the posterior pelvic tilt exercise as part of yourneutral spine coreexercise program, working to perform the exercise properly is essential. By exercising properly for your back, you can be sure to quickly and safely return to your previous level of function and activity.How to Do a Pelvic Tilt

If you have low back pain, you may benefit from the skilled services of a physical therapist (PT) to help you decrease your pain, improve your spinal range of motion, and increase your abdominal and core strength.YourPT can assess your specific conditionand teach you an exercise progression for your back to help you return to your previous level of function and mobility.

One very important exercise that your PT may teach you is the posteriorpelvic tilt exercise.This exercise is the main component of a lumbar spine stabilization program, and your PT may spend a considerable amount of time in the clinic making sure you are doing it right.

Many people who perform the pelvic tilt exercise for back pain perform it incorrectly. They simply do not have the neuromuscular control of their abdominal and core muscles to perform the pelvic tilt properly.

Ben Goldstein

Common Mistakes

Here are some common mistakes that you may make when performing the posterior pelvic tilt exercise for low back pain:

Tips

Here’s a little trick to learn how to feel the correct muscles that should be contracting during your posterior pelvic tilt. Lie flat on your back with your knees bent. Place both hands on the sides of your abdomen just above your pelvis. Slowly blow out all of your breath, like you are trying to blow out a candle as slowly as possible.

As you start to run out of air, keep blowing, and you should start to feel tightening of your transverse abdominus muscle. This muscle is one of your deep abdominal muscles that is responsible for bracing your spine when you are moving about.

If you have low back pain, your PT can teach you the proper exercises to do for yourspecific condition. They can also teach you how to attain and maintainproper posture for your back.

If yourPTprescribes the posterior pelvic tilt exercise as part of yourneutral spine coreexercise program, working to perform the exercise properly is essential. By exercising properly for your back, you can be sure to quickly and safely return to your previous level of function and activity.

How to Do a Pelvic Tilt

3 SourcesVerywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Shipton EA.Physical therapy approaches in the treatment of low back pain.Pain Therapy. 2018;7(2):127-137. doi. 10.1007/s40122-018-0105-x.Takaki S, Kaneoka K, Okubo Y, et al.Analysis of muscle activity during active pelvic tilting in sagittal plane.Phys Ther Res. 2016;19(1):50-57. doi:10.1298/ptr.e9900Bradley H, Esformes J.Breathing pattern disorders and functional movement.Int J Sports Phys Ther. 2014;9(1):28-39.

3 Sources

Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Shipton EA.Physical therapy approaches in the treatment of low back pain.Pain Therapy. 2018;7(2):127-137. doi. 10.1007/s40122-018-0105-x.Takaki S, Kaneoka K, Okubo Y, et al.Analysis of muscle activity during active pelvic tilting in sagittal plane.Phys Ther Res. 2016;19(1):50-57. doi:10.1298/ptr.e9900Bradley H, Esformes J.Breathing pattern disorders and functional movement.Int J Sports Phys Ther. 2014;9(1):28-39.

Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.

Shipton EA.Physical therapy approaches in the treatment of low back pain.Pain Therapy. 2018;7(2):127-137. doi. 10.1007/s40122-018-0105-x.Takaki S, Kaneoka K, Okubo Y, et al.Analysis of muscle activity during active pelvic tilting in sagittal plane.Phys Ther Res. 2016;19(1):50-57. doi:10.1298/ptr.e9900Bradley H, Esformes J.Breathing pattern disorders and functional movement.Int J Sports Phys Ther. 2014;9(1):28-39.

Shipton EA.Physical therapy approaches in the treatment of low back pain.Pain Therapy. 2018;7(2):127-137. doi. 10.1007/s40122-018-0105-x.

Takaki S, Kaneoka K, Okubo Y, et al.Analysis of muscle activity during active pelvic tilting in sagittal plane.Phys Ther Res. 2016;19(1):50-57. doi:10.1298/ptr.e9900

Bradley H, Esformes J.Breathing pattern disorders and functional movement.Int J Sports Phys Ther. 2014;9(1):28-39.

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