Pelvic Alignment Part 2: Stability and Control

In riding we need to balance over our leg with an open hip to allow the horse to do his job comfortably. This often means a change in alignment from what our bodies are accustomed to, and we must use the major muscle groups to support that change.

In part one of this series, we defined anterior and posterior pelvic tilt and discussed how to find a neutral pelvic alignment on and off the horse. Hopefully since then you have been discovering what you need to do to prevent your pelvic soup from spilling (see part 1)! Today we are going to discuss some powerful things you can do to improve your ability to control your pelvic alignment through strength and mobility.

As mentioned in part one, the pelvis forms a bowl shape, and our goal is to keep that bowl from tipping too far forward or back. Attached to that bowl are some big muscle groups: the gluteal muscles (“glutes”) and hamstrings in the back, and the abdominals and hip flexors in the front. These are the major muscles that control your pelvic alignment, and play a huge role in your balance on the horse.

Anatomy time!

The below picture provides a rough idea of the location of the major muscle groups we are talking about. The glutes and hip flexors  work in opposition to each other: glutes extend your leg backwards, hip flexors bring it forward. When your leg is stabilized in one place, tightening the glutes will have the effect of tilting the pelvis backwards (posterior tilt) and tightening the hip flexors will tip it forward (anterior tilt).

Approximate locations of the major muscle groups: Abdominals (pink), hip flexors (yellow), gluteals (red) and hamstrings (blue)

The hamstrings bend your knee and also assist your glutes in extending your leg backwards. The abdominals stabilize your core, and help regulate the motion of your low back and pelvis. Long, weak abdominals may contribute to more of an anterior pelvic tilt, especially if the hip flexors are tight, as they allow that bowl to drop downward in front. Overcontracting them or drawing the belly in and back too much may contribute to posterior pelvic tilt. You can experiment with this right now if you are seated in a chair.

Changing Patterns

What we do with our bodies the majority of the day sets a pattern for how our body interacts with the world. For example, a lot of time spent sitting will lengthen our glutes, while shortening our hamstrings and hip flexors. In riding we need to balance over our leg with an open hip to allow the horse to do his job comfortably. This often means a change in alignment from what our bodies are accustomed to, and we must use the major muscle groups to support that change. For the majority of us that means activating the glutes and abs while allowing the hips to open.

Look familiar?  Desk work tends to lengthen and inhibit our glutes while shortening our hamstrings and hip flexors which is not an ideal pattern while riding.

Step One: Activate the glutes!

If glute engagement is weak in the saddle, we have trouble keeping up with the movement of the horse, and the heels and knees may tend to ride up. If you struggle with knees that grip up or if you tend to tip forward against your will, you may have overactive hip flexors and underactive glutes. This exercise will show you how to improve your glute activation:

Glute bridges:

1. Lie on your back and find your pelvic neutral. You should feel the flat of your back press gently into the floor. Brace your abdominals and squeeze your butt cheeks together to stabilize and protect your alignment. You should remain in pelvic neutral throughout the entire exercise.
2. Raise your hips and bum right off the ground until your body forms a straight line from knee to shoulder (this shouldn’t hurt! If you experience any back or leg pain during this, consult a therapist or trainer). While you’re up there, make sure you can feel the work in your glutes, NOT just your hamstrings! If you feel it mostly in your hams, come back down, squeeze those butt cheeks more and try again.
3. To make a difference in your riding, try working up to 3 sets of 10 lifts each day. Be sure to slowly raise and lower with a pause at the top. You can make it more difficult by picking up each leg one at a time at the top of your bridge.

Standing hip extensions:

Do this exercise in the barn as part of your warmup before getting into the saddle to improve your glute activation. It doesn’t involve lying on your back, so you will stay clean!

1. Stand next to a wall or counter for support. Find your pelvic neutral and brace your abdominals to help protect and support that alignment.
2. Shift your weight to one leg and squeeze the other butt cheek so the lifted leg starts to go back. Be careful not to extend your low back (see right hand photo) by going into anterior pelvic tilt! The movement should happen only in the hip.
3. Hold for 1-2 seconds, slowly lower and repeat.
4. Keep your knee straight to help turn off the hamstrings so your glutes are doing most of the work (I am not doing a great job of this in the photos…don’t be like me!).
5. To make a difference in your riding, try working up to 3 sets of 10 extensions on each leg every day. Be sure to slowly raise and lower with a pause at the top.

In the right hand photo I am extending too much through my lower back, which is causing anterior pelvic tilt. If I tried to bring my knee down and back like this in the saddle, I would end up in a fork seat. In the centre photo, I am correctly extending through the hip only. 

Step Two: Open the hips!

When the glutes lengthen, the hip flexors shorten and vise versa. In order to encourage the hip to open in the saddle, we need to increase glute activation as well as lengthening the hip flexors so the hip CAN open. A regular yoga-style stretching program is recommended to get the hip and pelvis mobility needed for riding and general spine health, but here is one of my favourites, targeted to open your hips in front while challenging your abdominal and glute activation.

Standing lunge:

1. Stand next to a wall for support. Place one foot a few feet ahead of the other, hip-width apart. Find your pelvic neutral and brace your abdominals to protect that alignment (are you starting to notice a theme here?).
2. Begin to bend the front knee to bring your body forward, keeping the back leg straight until you feel a stretch in the front of that hip. Be careful not to lose your pelvic alignment into anterior pelvic tilt; you will begin to arch through the back instead of stretching the hip flexor (see second photo)!
3. To enhance the stretch, squeeze the butt cheek of your back leg and think of shooting your back heel down into the floor. Feel how this opens the hip more.
4. Hold this position for thirty seconds to one minute per side, once or twice a day. This is a great stretch to do pre and post ride!

It is important to keep your back from extending when stretching the hip flexors. In the right hand photo, I am extending a bit too much through the low back instead of the hip.

Changing patterns takes consistent effort, but you don’t need to spend hours on a fitness program to develop body awareness and make a few important changes. Practicing for a few minutes each day, similar to the time you take to brush your teeth, can add a bit of shine to your ride. Happy riding!

-Steph

Questions or feedback? Get in touch!

steph@oncoursechiropractic.ca

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