which exercises best stretch/strengthen hip extensors/flexors and associated back/stomach muscles in the hyper-lordotic client.
Hi Debbie,
the first thing I was wondering is whether she is complaining of any back problems. Since she has been hyper-lordotic all her life, I would not upset the apple-cart by trying take her into ranges of motion that her body resists.
I would use exercises where her core muscles need to stabilize while keeping her pelvis neutral (even if her neutral is not the way we would typically define it. Teaching ‘drawing in’ maneuvers and using a ball to sit on for exercises can accomplish those tasks.
It sounds to me that you are just starting with this client. Just go easy at first and observe how she moves. Ultimately, every workout is an assessment, and you should be able to find appropriate ways once you know more about her.
Karin Singleton
www.meltnc.com
Hello Debbie,
Did you get doctor clearance and advice? Does she have physical rehabilitation information for you?
You can do almost any move for those areas, except, do not expect her to be able to have perfect form as a client without hyper lordosis. Also, avoid letting her lift both legs at the same time, and be happy with smaller range of motion.
Please, pay close attention to the client, and start off slowly with easy and gentle moves.
Good luck to you both.
As Karin and Natalie stated, you’ll want to watch your client’s form through each exercise, then keep breaking the exercise down, until she is able to complete the exercise without compromising that form.
Since this is something she has been dealing with all her life, then her progress will be slow. I always start clients off with feeling what a neutral alignment feels like. Photos of their current posture usually helps clients start to notice how that deviates from a neutral alignment. Then I start with just bringing awareness to one area of the body, usually the feet. Clients often can not focus on changing too many things at once as it becomes overwhelming. Then, like Karin, I work with the stability ball and the mat on basic stability exercises for the core, really having clients focus on maintaining their neutral postures. As to which exercises I choose, that is individual to each client and how their posture lines up.
Good luck! Start small and move slowly. She’s had this posture all her life, so it won’t change overnight.
