Hidden Effect of Lordosis: Side Effect You Need to Know

There’s a surprising side effect that could be holding you in Lordosis – something you may not have even realised.

What is it?  Internal Rotation.

Now obviously I'm exaggerating a bit. But when we go into the lordotic posture with that extended anterior pelvic tilt, one of the side effects that can come along with it, is an internal rotation of the hips. And that can have further impact down in the knee, the foot and the ankle.

When this happens it’s important to be able to open out the hip so we can get into a better external rotation, or at least ease the tight muscles that are holding us out of alignment.

So which muscles are involved?

Understanding what’s happening with the muscles when you’re in a lordotic position will help you to understand the mechanism for creating (and therefore correcting) this internal rotation side effect.

Consider the inward curvature that occurs when you’re in Lordosis. You can feel that the muscles of the lower mid-spine have become squashed, while those of the lower back are lengthened. You should also feel a tightness through the hip flexors.

There are a huge number of muscles involved. We’re talking the gluteus medius, the anterior fibers on the front of the hip, gluteus minimus and the tensor fascia lata, or TFL. As well as the adductors that go down the inside of the leg. All those muscles are pulling your knee inward and internally rotating you at the hip.

And that’s before you even get to the issue of the lordosis.

The key to correction is untangling this internal rotation first.

How to correct internal rotation: create external rotation

To get those muscles open and go into an external rotation, we're going to go through two fundamental stretches.

Stretch number one: the easier one

First, come down onto one knee, being aware of whether you’re in internal rotation. Then move that leg, deliberately, out into external rotation. It’s not as simple as just pushing it out, you need to take a wide stance – i.e. put the foot out wide to open out the adductor muscles. You're then going to put a hand on the floor and use that arm to just push the knee out that little bit further to enhance the stretch. This will start to open up that hip joint.

The other thing to be mindful of is what the spine is doing during this exercise.  Try to maintain a proper posture, concentrating on creating a more neutral position in your spine.

Stretch number two: the harder one

I advise watching the tutorial above from around 4:40 to make sure you’re getting this exercise right.

But at it’s most tricky we’re essentially using a raised surface – here I use a Step - to create an extreme external rotation. The goal is to get to the point where your foot, ankle and knee are all making contact with the raised surface, with your lower leg creating a parallel line to the floor. Holding this position stretches the adductors as well as creating that external rotation, opening out all the muscles.

However, it may take you some time to be able to get into that position. That’s fine. You can add cushions to the raised surface at the point you’ll rest your knee. These will raise the knee to a more comfortable level, still creating an external rotation but to a less extreme extent. Over a period of time you can then begin to reduce the number of cushions you are using to more gradually  open out those muscles and take you out of that internal rotation

Enhancing the external rotation: further exercises

Once you’re able to open the hip out with stretches, you can then start using exercises to build up the ability to hold the position more effectively.

I suggest a bridge, a squat and a clam. You might disagree, but I think these are great, simple exercises to start opening out the hips.

The bridge

We'll start with the bridge using a short band to help. Put the band around just below your knees, with you feet hip to shoulder width apart. Then lie back, push you knees out into that external rotation, then lift your bottom to come up and squeeze the hips. This will allow you to access the posterior fibres of gluteus medius and also gluteus maximus, to be able to hold the hip in a better position.

The squat

The squat is essentially doing the same thing, just without the band. So you’re going to consciously push your knees out as you go down, and then when you come back up, allow them to gravitate in. Do not allow them to internally rotate – focus on getting your knees out over the outside of your feet and maintaining proper (non-lordotic) posture, without sticking your bottom out. This will heighten the activity at the back and dampen it at the front, helping to get the right muscles working at the right time.

The clam

This isn’t an exercise that I always recommend, but I think it’s useful here as it allows you to feel the area of the muscle you want working. And it's a very simple exercise.

Again put the band around the knees, but this time come onto your side, with a slight hinge at the hip and a bend at the knee. Then just pull your top knee up by opening the hips. The key here is to keep your body facing forward and rotate only at the hip. This accesses the posterior fibres of glut medius to pull the hip out of that internal rotation.

If you need more advice and support on this subject, click here to start my How to Correct Lordosis 12-Week Online Program