Why is that you hear that for running a basic foundation for good form is keeping a level pelvis (ie don’t let the bowl spill forward) bur for cycling I often hear that the correct posture is to roll you pelvis forward (ie spill the bowl forward)?
I ask because I am dealing with some adductor/hamstring/knee issues that I believe may be related to anterior pelvic tilt. When I focus on keeping a very level pelvis running it takes a lot of concentration but I run a lot smother with the feeling my glutes are more under me. I am wondering if using my abs to ke my pelvis rotated back could help on the bike but it seems contrary to conventional wisdom.
Love to hear from anyone who has worked through similar issues
You would not be the first person with tight hip flexors… Do you have a trendelenberg gait ? where the plevic more in the frontal plane pouring (“crashing”) out the side?
Not sure what trendelbirg’s gait is but I do have a sensation of my left glute kind of caving in and not supporting me like the right (seems like adductors and hamstring are taking over for it, getting overworked doing something they are not intended to do). Also, the left hip is overall very loose while the right hip is tighter (inner right knee hurts at times on the bike but not running)
Sounds like Adductor Stretching and Abductor strengthening is on the order for you. Look up some IT band threads and you should find a good start to some glute strengthening exercises.
Hip position (anterior/posterior tilt) is largely determined by the strength of your core musculature. Lower abdominals and pelvic floor (kegels) are responsible for controlling motion and NOT letting the “bowl spill forward” into an anterior tilt. An anterior tilt also increases lumbar lordosis (arched low back). You can imagine when running each time your foot hits the pavement, the ground reaction force travels up and when the spine is curved like that it is not equipped to handle the stress…this is where a lot of back ache comes in.
The other part of the equation is the hip musculature. The hip rotators (glute med, piriformis, gemelli, obturator and quadratus) are basically the rotator cuff of the hip. So the rotators and the core are supposed to keep the pelvis stable and neutral when walking and running.
The trendelenberg sign when standing on a single leg reveals an abductor weakness of the standing leg. Now when we think about running it is basically a series of one legged hops…and if our glutes and core isn’t strong enough to support our weight you will get a trendelenberg hip drop with every stride. This all adds up when you think about how many steps we take on a run.
The dominoe effect comes in once those muscles can’t control the pelvis and stabilize the back. If the core and glutes are weak then other muscles that cross the hip joint have to make up the slack. The hip flexors (psoas specifically), adductors and hamstrings end up having to do the job of stabilizing on top of their primary roles during the running gait cycle. They get overworked, tight and we end up in pain.
If our hips continue to cave in then the knee also suffers and caves in with a valgus stress and that places a lot of stress on the lateral portion of the knee and typically is a common cause of patellofemoral pain syndrome/lateral tracking/ITB syndrome/patellar tendonosis etc.
It sucks and I can attest to the pattern lol.
With biking I don’t think its so much of a forward position thats required as its more neutral thats more beneficial. Pedaling is also an open chain motion which places different stresses on the lower extremity. Running analysis is more of my comfort zone so anyone please feel free to comment on my bike analysis.