Lower Crossed Syndrome

Sitting.  We all do it.  But sitting too long can cause problems.  One of them is lower crossed syndrome. Basically it’s an imbalance of tight and weak structures around the pelvis, hips, and lower back.  This imbalance can cause pain and dysfunction and an over arching of the lower back.

Lower crossed syndrome is a combination of weak glutes, weak abdominals, tight hip flexors, and a tight lower back.  This sets up a anterior tilt of the pelvis that puts excessive stress on the low back. Here’s the tilt:

Too much of this tilt creates a bad position for the pelvis and low back.  It puts too much torque on the back and the imbalance of the muscles creates a poor environment to properly stabilize the core.  It can affect your standing posture and even affect your golf game. Here’s an example:

The golfer on the left is exhibiting what’s called an S-Posture.  The golfer on the right is in a more neutral posture. The S-Posture can be detrimental to your back and golf swing.  The increased curvature in the lower back causes the abdominal muscle to relax, deactivating the core muscles. The lack of core stability can cause a loss of posture or reverse spine angle during the backswing. With the core off, all that torque is transmitted straight to the back and then you know what means, PAIN.

To correct this problem, you basically have to stretch the tight structures and strengthen the weak ones; and then train the core to work.  

A physical therapist at Par 5 Physical Therapy can help direct you on where to start.