Are pelvic tilts worthless?
This is not medical advice. I have no studies to prove what I am claiming, just conveying impressions from clinical experience.
I recently joined Twitter (groan…) to help promote my newsletter. My target audience is former patients, or people wanting to learn about fitness. Unfortunately, all my contacts at this point are other people in the same business, either strength and conditioning coaches, or rehab.
We at times are a haughty, know it all bunch. An interminable knowledge bowl. The conversation is either wild claims about unproven techniques (mine included), or constantly presenting studies that prove that nothing we do works.
Thusly, enter pelvic tilts. An exercise that is widely derided as useless, and will accomplish nothing. There is actually a PT March Madness poll on Twitter, where we vote for the most useless modalities. Pelvic tilts are in the running. Our biz desperately needs a sense of humor, so this is a good thing.
Pelvic tilt motions by themselves may do nothing. It’s certainly not a core strengthening maneuver by itself. If someone has a stiff lower back, especially when exiting the bed in the morning, pelvic tilts may help decrease that pain associated with stiffness. We shouldn’t completely dismiss an exercise or movement from an entire population, because we don’t know the possible benefits to certain populations.
I like to use a pelvic tilt as a posture for rehab. (Even the word posture has been scoffed at by some in the profession as not important. Sometimes social media is the wet blanket on all ideas).
As I’ve stated previously, not all lower backs need more arch. Each case is different. We can use pelvic tilts to be diagnostic. Which position feels better? Which position decreases numbness running down your legs, or paresthesia? There are people who will says this does nothing. Say that to the patient who has horrible, chronic low back pain, who just found a less painful position. “Would you rather I be in pain, so that you can be “right?””
A pelvic tilt can be used to find a neutral, pain free spine, as shown in the first picture at the top of the article. I like to have people find this first, before strengthening the pelvic/abdominal/core/trunk area. We don’t want to strengthen or reinforce the wrong posture.
Are pelvic tilts worthless, given as a handout motion, without regard for the context of that person’s situation? Yes.
Are pelvic tilts useful to find a stable posture for core strengthening? Yes.
Click here to watch a video of pelvic stabilization
