Flatten your Hyperlordotic Lumbar Spine

Do you have a hyperlordotic lumbar spine, and would you like to flatten that curve? In this tutorial I talk about three or four steps you can go through to be able to go from a hyperlordotic curve to a normal lordotic curve.

Clue: it’s about more than just stretching.

What do you need to know about the anatomy of the spine?

Probably the most important muscle in relation to the lumbar spine is the psoas muscle. Psoas, sometimes called psoas major, originates from the lumbar spine – lumbar vertebrae L1-L5 and a little bit from T12. It also joins to the diaphragm and goes through the pelvis, joining the inside of the leg.

I explain this in more detail in the video tutorial.

Vitally important for our stability, the psoas literally helps to hold our top and bottom together. But it’s because of where the psoas originates and inserts, that this is the muscle that ends up pulling on the lumbar spine, causing it to go into a hyperextended position.

Changing (and maintaining) the posture of the hips and spine

Suggesting we need to change the posture of the hip and of the spine might sound easy, but is tricky when we think about the fact we need to be able to maintain this new posture over time. In reality, we need the musculature and the fascia to loosen off so we can reposition the spine. And then use stretches and exercises to strengthen and ‘practise’ this position.

Stage one: The quadruped

Stage one is to understand the position of the spine that you need to create.

The way to do this is to go down onto all fours. Head to 3:20 in the video tutorial to see a demonstration.

If you’re hyperlordotic in the spine, and you’re able to look in a mirror when you’re in that all fours position, you’ll see a strong curve in the lower spine, with your bottom sticking up. You should be able to raise that curve to flatten it off or even up further into a ‘flexed’ position with your back arched. Work to find that mid-point between the hyperlordosis and the flexed spine.

This should be easy thanks to the flexion of your hips slackening the musculature at the front. It should be relatively straightforward to move from position to position.

You’ll then be able to use specific exercises and positions to challenge this and help to strengthen and maintain the posture and make it easier to stay in this position.

Stage two: Stretches to help correct hyperlordotic posture

Half-kneeling

First, we use a position where we’re on one knee, with the other foot on the floor and knee at right angles. I demonstrate this from around 5:00 in the tutorial.

Bring the pelvis under to ensure your bottom is not sticking out – you should be using your abdominals to keep a straight line from the knee through the hip up to the shoulder and up to the ear. This is a useful stretch for the anterior musculature, activating the glutes and stretching them out.

From the half kneeling position it’s a slight movement, bracing the abdominals and leaning slightly forward into the stretch. Hold that position. Then repeat on the other side.

The idea is that it’s easier to do that just on one side, so we're not putting full tension through the whole system. This all helps to open out the musculature so it’s easier to go back to and maintain the position of the spine that we need.

There are other exercises and stretches you can do, but here I want to focus more on the different stages you need to work through, and how you should be structuring your session to get maximum improvement.

Two knees

This is when things get a little harder. To advance the positions, we come down onto two knees. This creates extra length because of the bent knees, you’re activating the glutes on both sides in order to flatten the pelvis, activating the abdominals to flatten the spine. Hold this position.

And to enhance this still further and create even more length?

Go back onto one knee, or the half-kneeling position, and lift the back foot up with your hand to meet your bottom. All the time concentrating on using the glutes to pull in the pelvis and the abdominals to stabilise and flatten the spine. And using that kneeling position to come back to as a measure of position.

Head to around 08:25 in the video tutorial for more ideas and further extensions to activate the glutes and abdominals. These include exercises such as the bird dog, bridges, planks etc.  Plus some exercises where you're on your feet trying to improve range of movement through the hip.

That’s a very brief overview of the kind of progress that we take you through during the online 12-week program. If you’d like to know more and start correcting your lordosis click here