The Key to Posture Is In The Hips

When a person is concerned about their posture, it’s usually the head and shoulders they’re thinking about. But frequently, perhaps most often, it’s the position of your hips, and the support or lack thereof that they provide your trunk, that determines the position of your head and shoulders.

One way of defining core “strength” is the extent to which your legs hold your torso up so you can move around without falling over. Core strength is also what underpins good posture, and your hips are key.

When the situation of the hips is improved, the upper body feels lighter and freer. The torso and head line up more easily, and changes you make in your upper body are integrated so that your posture, and your movement, are better – without conscious effort.

For that reason, if I had to pick a number one entry point for improving posture, it would be the hips.

I had the incredible privilege of studying with a Czech neurologist and physical medicine expert named Vladimir Janda, in the year before his death in 2002. After the Berlin Wall came down in the 80s, Dr Janda’s work awoke a new consciousness in Western Europe and the United States, a new understanding of movement patterning and its influence not just on musculoskeletal health, but on health and disease generally.

One of Janda’s many brilliant concepts was lower crossed syndrome, where the hip flexors (psoas/iliacus) and the muscles along the low back spine (multifidi/erectors) are tight and contracted, and the glutes and abdominal muscles are inhibited (not able to contract well).

This pattern is extremely common. In fact, I have it, but I would never admit that to you because I don’t want to fall from the pedestal that I’m sincerely hoping you’ve put me on.

Lower crossed syndrome frequently involves the lower back being arched, pelvis tilted forward, and a subsequent little pooch forward in the abdomen. It tends to go along with upper crossed syndrome, which is for another newsletter, but generally amounts to the chest sagging and the head poking forward. Reader, I have that too.

[One of the things that helps me with clients is my own experience with, and rehabilitation of, some of the same issues they come to me with.]

The quickest way to “lose ten pounds” visually is to release the psoas/iiacus muscles, because it aligns the low back into a smaller curve, reducing the curve in the front as well. Releasing the hip flexor is also a quick jumpstart to improving core strength (your ability to balance and control your upper body over your legs).

At the bottom of this newsletter is a link to a short guided imagery recording for releasing your hip flexors. My posture classes always include 10-15 minutes of guided imagery for relaxation and body awareness. Guided imagery is underrated as a way to improve how you walk and stand, but most people do know how darned good it feels in general.

If you want more help with your posture, schedule an appointment here, or sign up for posture classes here.