Can’t touch your toes? This is the real reason! Clue: It’s not your age!
I can’t touch my toes anymore! It’s not your age! Well, not technically.
We have to start somewhere of course but have you ever wondered why some people can’t touch their toes easily? Or not even get near?
Maybe that’s you?
Or maybe you know someone that struggles to even pick something off the floor. Ever wondered why it’s easy for some and very difficult for others?
It’s being tight in the muscles; yes. But which muscles?
As we age, we develop an imbalance in the body that evolves over longer periods of time. It’s not something that happens overnight but something that creeps up on us and we put it down to age.
When in fact it’s an imbalance of hamstrings. Okay so everyone has tight hamstrings. But some people find that their hamstrings are so tight that their hamstrings are pulling their entire pelvis down from the back of their body creating a tilt.
Their pelvis is no longer neutral. There’s some plus sides to this but essentially it’s an imbalance of muscles in the body.
This particular tilt is called a posterior pelvic tilt and means that they have very tight hamstrings pulling their pelvis down from the back of the body. It also means that their core (front lower core muscles/lower abs) are very strong. They have to compensate for the pelvic tilt that the tight hamstrings have created.
These tight and strong lower core and ab muscles means it’s very difficult to bend forward towards the floor. They will find it difficult to fold forwards because their pelvis is being pulled down.
How does this impact my back?
Very tight hamstrings with this particular type of pelvic tilt also means they have very strong hip flexors and glutes too. It does mean that the lower back is weaker, much weaker; because the tight hamstrings, core and glutes are doing all the work, all the time. So you can find that people with this particular pelvic tilt complain of a stiff lower back. If they find it difficult to fold forward, which they will, then they are going to struggle to stretch the back properly and regularly.
What else does it impact?
This one needs a little more observation but you may find that people with this particular pelvic tilt have a predominantly external rotation of the thighs/quads. On observation, this can be seen when they walk, run or even stand where their knees and even sometimes feet are pointing more outwardly. Unless corrected, the tighter muscles will only continue to get stronger and therefore the pelvic tilt will continue to move in the same direction.
How do I fix it?
With muscle imbalance it’s important to stretch the naturally tighter muscles which will help to give some short-term release. But to completely correct the issue, we have to strengthen the opposite muscles - the naturally weaker muscles in this particular body type with this particular pelvic tilt. This includes the quads/thighs; and in particular the lower back. Working towards keeping straightening your legs whenever possible and building quad strength. Backbends won’t be fun for you to start with but it’s the direction you want to go in! Backbends will allow you to stretch your hip flexors and your core/ab muscles as well as strengthen the lower back.
Yoga to stretch and strengthen
Yoga can be a great way to stretch naturally stronger muscles in the body and strengthen the naturally weaker muscles in the body. Finding a yoga teacher that understands different people’s bodies can help you in finding solutions personal to you.
The Good Food Yogi has observed hundreds of different body types and can give individual advice to help prioritise your muscle imbalances and determine your focus to transform how you move and use your body.
