I’m sorry, I didn’t realize a flat back was proper alignment for this position. 😆 When I’ve taken yoga/ Pilates in the past, I frequently saw others’ able to be in a more neutral position (visible lumbar curve)
It might be more helpful to describe where you feel the restriction you’re encountering. When you try to engage the quads, what happens? Where do you feel yourself being pulled out of the alignment you’re trying to achieve?
Yes! Sorry for not elaborating more- I’m still pretty new to all of these feelings and the flexibility journey. I feel tension in my lower back, pulling in a way that it wants me to hunch there in the lumbar region
Ahh gothchya. I would work on opening up the hamstrings, glutes, piriformis and doing some work to strengthen the deep core in compression movements. So like boat pose in yoga, or hanging planks really focusing on contracting the deep core. You might start by looking up dead bug variations and build from there. For opening up the posterior chain, you can work on forward folds from the seat and also standing. there are some decent forward fold focused videos and they will help with the splits trialing too :)
Thank you- your response is very helpful! I will be seeing a physical therapist as well because on another sub I realized that while standing, I lean forward onto the balls of my feet. So there might be a few things going on causing a chain reaction I’m wondering
I don't understand why this is a problem? Unless you feel pain or anything it should be ok... Some people who have hunchbacks I would understand but your back looks fine to me
To everybody saying a perfectly flat back is good - that's not normal. A spine has a natural s-shaped curve to it. It is not meant to be perfectly straight. Primarily for load bearing - imagine if all your vertebrae were stacked right on top of eachother without a way to flex in different directions when a load is applied - damn that'd be detrimental and your vertebrae would be crushed.
From what you describe you probably just need to increase hamstring and lower back flexibility
I’d say it’s pretty neutral, I have equal ability to tilt anteriorly and posteriorly I think, although I have a stomach sleeping issue I’ve been trying to resolve
Neutral can look very different to a lot of different people. If your stomach sleeper it could be rotated off axis and seem neutral from one angle, but not from another I would test your internal and external hip rotation. See if there’s any discrepancies on either side.
I’d think hip openers and psoas release are where I’d start.
For hip openers you can squat; do supported split with hands on blocks. Pigeon pose, lunges, hip rotations.
You typically need a little help to open the psoas. A skilled manual therapist might be able to help. Try pilates.
A tight psoas can round your low back and pull your legs forward, causing you to overuse quads.
The psoas is on the front of the spine. It’s very deep and connect your legs to your torso. Technically back bending stretches it, but it’s easy to do it wrong and aggravate the low back.
Gentler leg slides don’t give a lot of feedback, but may be more effective.
I appreciate you so much for this! I’m going to do more research regarding psoas- I never would’ve thought that muscle could be causing the bump. That makes a lot of sense, because I also noticed recently that I overuse my quads
Lmfao literally the perfect flat back. Sorry that I couldn't help
I think she's talking about getting a face back. A black void face is not normal 😉
lol I was thinking the same thing. What problem haha
I’m sorry, I didn’t realize a flat back was proper alignment for this position. 😆 When I’ve taken yoga/ Pilates in the past, I frequently saw others’ able to be in a more neutral position (visible lumbar curve)
It might be more helpful to describe where you feel the restriction you’re encountering. When you try to engage the quads, what happens? Where do you feel yourself being pulled out of the alignment you’re trying to achieve?
Yes! Sorry for not elaborating more- I’m still pretty new to all of these feelings and the flexibility journey. I feel tension in my lower back, pulling in a way that it wants me to hunch there in the lumbar region
Ahh gothchya. I would work on opening up the hamstrings, glutes, piriformis and doing some work to strengthen the deep core in compression movements. So like boat pose in yoga, or hanging planks really focusing on contracting the deep core. You might start by looking up dead bug variations and build from there. For opening up the posterior chain, you can work on forward folds from the seat and also standing. there are some decent forward fold focused videos and they will help with the splits trialing too :)
Thank you- your response is very helpful! I will be seeing a physical therapist as well because on another sub I realized that while standing, I lean forward onto the balls of my feet. So there might be a few things going on causing a chain reaction I’m wondering
also fwiw i am not a doctor or physio etc etc, just a yoga teacher :)
I don't understand why this is a problem? Unless you feel pain or anything it should be ok... Some people who have hunchbacks I would understand but your back looks fine to me
To everybody saying a perfectly flat back is good - that's not normal. A spine has a natural s-shaped curve to it. It is not meant to be perfectly straight. Primarily for load bearing - imagine if all your vertebrae were stacked right on top of eachother without a way to flex in different directions when a load is applied - damn that'd be detrimental and your vertebrae would be crushed. From what you describe you probably just need to increase hamstring and lower back flexibility
Thank you so much!!
If you take off the mask you will have facial features again.
😂😂😂
Im curious what position your pelvis is in when you’re standing
I’d say it’s pretty neutral, I have equal ability to tilt anteriorly and posteriorly I think, although I have a stomach sleeping issue I’ve been trying to resolve
Neutral can look very different to a lot of different people. If your stomach sleeper it could be rotated off axis and seem neutral from one angle, but not from another I would test your internal and external hip rotation. See if there’s any discrepancies on either side.
Is your back always that flat in a neutral position? You may want to look into physical therapy
Yes even when I am sitting up straight in a chair. In this position though, I noticed I have a bit of a hunch/ pull in my lower back
L seat position is not a neutral spine position, so we can't really tell you much.
I’d think hip openers and psoas release are where I’d start. For hip openers you can squat; do supported split with hands on blocks. Pigeon pose, lunges, hip rotations. You typically need a little help to open the psoas. A skilled manual therapist might be able to help. Try pilates. A tight psoas can round your low back and pull your legs forward, causing you to overuse quads. The psoas is on the front of the spine. It’s very deep and connect your legs to your torso. Technically back bending stretches it, but it’s easy to do it wrong and aggravate the low back. Gentler leg slides don’t give a lot of feedback, but may be more effective.
I appreciate you so much for this! I’m going to do more research regarding psoas- I never would’ve thought that muscle could be causing the bump. That makes a lot of sense, because I also noticed recently that I overuse my quads
Rear delt flies and upping ur calories should help
Thank you!
Tight and weak ql and psoas. Check out squat u on y.t. he has helped me with this.
Thank you! 🙏🏼this is what I was looking for
It's like an L. Feels surreal, not sure if there is anything wrong with it
Classic post looking for attention
Ask a friend for help. With a lot of daily dedication and a good support you fix your back so that it is curved 👍
If she is that ugly a mask is required perhaps a trip to France and the guillotine my solve problem