Lower Crossed Syndrome (LCS), which is characterized by anterior pelvic tilt, swayback posture, and a bulging (not necessarily fat) abdomen, is a very common musculoskeletal condition nowadays, which isn’t surprising, seeing as a lot of contemporary humans sit on a chair for prolonged periods of time every day and don’t exercise much. Also, many gym goers adhere to an imbalanced exercise program and/or don’t perform the exercises they’re doing with good form. The bottom line is that we’re not providing our musculoskeletal systems with the stimuli they evolved to require in order to function correctly, and as a result, we develop poor posture, back pain, and other similar problems.
Over the years I’ve worked with a lot of clients who suffered from LCS, and I’ve put a lot of work into finding strategies that are useful for combatting this condition. LCS is no different from other mismatch conditions in that mismatch resolution is integral to its treatment. Basically, in order to treat LCS, one has to do the opposite of what caused LCS to develop in the first place. The most important this is probably to strengthen the muscles that have been weakened/lengthened over time as a result of excessive sitting, imbalanced training, etc.
A while back I put up an article here on the site in which I described the general plan I’ve been using to correct LCS. That article is pretty long and comprehensive. I suspect that some people may find it a little overwhelming. In order to uncomplicate things, I’ve now created a simple infographic that depicts the 6-step process of LCS correction. I hope you find it useful!
This is gold. Great post mate.
It’s not that easy. First and foremost: how to put that work into WALKING? It’s easy to do corrective exercises on the ground, but when you start walking, everything goes away.
This website, found by accident, has really helped me to understand how and why the exercises work to correct crossed syndrome. I am a 75 year old women who has just completed two rounds of physical therapy to help correct my balance problems and I was given these exercises to do but didn’t understand how they were going to help. The pictures are a great help and I’ll pass the info on to others in my family who are having issues with upper and lower crossed syndromes.