lumbo-sacral angle

Welcome to the sixth blog post in our series on running. My name is Michelle Ball, and I am a Gokhale Method® teacher living in Tasmania. I am also a lifelong runner and am passionate about sharing the benefits of healthy posture with the running community, be that beginners, seasoned runners, or anyone in between. Even if you walk rather than run, the posture principles outlined in this post can still help you to enjoy an active and pain-free body well into old age.

Running with a well-positioned upper body

In this post we will consider the upper body. Runners are inclined to pay far less attention to the upper half of the body than the lower half, as they focus on gait pattern, cadence, footwork, and propulsion. This is hardly surprising, but the lower body, while super-busy, really is just half the story. 

Healthy posture in the upper body brings the following benefits:

• Protected spinal structures
• Improved biomechanics
• Unimpeded flow and momentum
• Support that makes the body feel lighter
• Athletic appearance

Healthy posture principles are important for the upper body as well as the lower. Implementing them can both protect your spine, and bring mechanical advantage to your running. Unsplash

I have found the upper body principles that we teach in the Gokhale Method® in-person Foundations and Pop-up courses, and our online Elements course, made a world of difference to my running. Let me share some key points with you. . .

Anchoring your ribs

As explained in my previous post, Running: Part 5: Anteverted Pelvis, a forward leaning position when running helps to avoid compression in the lower back. In our culture it is common that people have tight lower back muscles (erector spinae), and weak opposing muscles of the torso (internal obliques). This creates a sway back, which pulls the torso into a backward leaning position. A deliberate forward lean will help counter this. 

Here you can see me keeping a consistent forward angle throughout my torso, neck, and head.

Most people will benefit from some degree of forward rotation of the thorax to fully correct a sway and bring their torso into a straight and healthy alignment. This adjustment can be made and maintained by engagement of the internal oblique muscles, or rib anchor, as we Gokhale Method teachers call it. The rib anchor can be learned with a simple but precise maneuver which you can learn here. 

Overly contracted back and neck muscles can give a misleading feeling and appearance of being upright. In reality, overly muscles are pulling the lumbar and cervical spine into compression, threatening discs and nerves. Pexels

Deeper support and protection for your spine

Running is classed as a “high impact” activity. This is one reason to run with the best posture and technique you can. Even if you are running smoothly with impeccable form, running will generate additional forces that impact the spine on landing. Perhaps that is how “jogging” got its name! 

Using your inner corset while running lends natural protection to the joints, discs, and nerves of the spine in two important ways. Firstly, it creates and maintains length, and secondly, it confers stability, preventing untoward twisting, forward, back, and sideways movement. The trunk and pelvis remain a single unit, with no jiggling from micro-flexing and extension, or bobbing up and down—and the head travels at a continuous level, sparing the neck. In these respects good running form is the same as good walking form. The spine and its tissues are saved from both acute injury and long-term wear and tear. How to find and deploy your inner corset is explained in detail in Esther’s bestselling book, 8 Steps to a Pain-Free Back.

These two medical illustrations from 8 Steps to a Pain-Free Back show how, in modern times (e.g., 1990), deeper spinal curves have come to be regarded as normal and desirable. The Gokhale Method advocates a return to a straighter, longer spinal shape (e.g., 1911). 

Avoiding neck pain while running

Deep engagement of the inner corset will preserve length in the lumbar spine, and this supportive structure also encourages length in the cervical spine, or neck. In addition, locally, the longus colli muscle, which attaches to the front and side of the neck and upper thoracic vertebrae, needs to be engaged to draw the neck back into a tall, lengthened position in line with your body. 

The longus colli muscle (seen here in red) draws the vertebrae of the neck back into a healthy, tall, and spacious alignment. Wikimedia

Gliding your head up and back, while allowing your chin to rest down, will provide stable and relaxed carriage for your head, and a happier neck. You can learn how to glide your head back here.

Your head and neck want to remain back in line with your body, even as you lean forward. 

You don’t want to jut your chin forward and let your head literally run ahead of you. Pexels

Trunk stability

The trunk stability that protects the spine also enables efficiency when running, as energy is not dissipated into incidental movements that detract from forward motion. It enables all propulsion to be well channeled, rather than just pulling the spine around. As running expert Marc Cucazella reminds us, ‌“You‌ ‌can’t‌ ‌fire‌ ‌a‌ ‌cannon‌ ‌from‌ ‌a‌ ‌canoe.”‌ In the upper body this propulsion comes from the arms.

Arm movements in running

Whereas in glidewalking the arms largely rest, in running the arms actively contribute to propulsion and alternate with the leg action. In sprinting the arms are especially important, moving straight forward and back like pistons on either side of the body. The arms‌ ‌are bent at‌ ‌45 degrees ‌or‌ ‌slightly‌ ‌more,‌ with the hands‌ ‌moved ‌in‌ ‌a‌ ‌circular‌, ‌‌rearward‌ ‌pull motion,‌ ‌‌as‌ ‌if‌ ‌you‌ ‌were‌ ‌chopping‌ ‌wood.‌ The arms‌ ‌then‌ ‌recoil‌ ‌forward,‌ ‌very slightly rotating‌ the shoulders‌.‌ What you don’t want is the arms to be crossing the midline of your body and pulling you off balance. Arm action can be much more relaxed at an easy jogging pace or in distance running. 

The vigorous piston action of the arms in sprinting requires a well-configured shoulder joint. Unsplash

Whatever your running speed, it is extremely important that the shoulders be well positioned, so that the joint—where the bone of the upper arm, shoulder blade, and collarbone meet—can connect well, and the soft tissues, nerves, and circulation can function optimally. You want your shoulders to be happily at home in their natural, posterior position. You can learn how to roll your shoulders back here.

Open, posterior shoulders will also help you to access breathing in your upper chest. If you tend to hunch forward, draw your elbows more together behind you to assist the external rotation of your shoulders.

Relaxed and bouncy shoulders

In gentler jogging and long distance running, the shoulder area can be more relaxed. Healthy alignment within the shoulder joint is still important for the hundreds of to-and-fro arm reps, and to cushion the impacts traveling through the joint with every stride. A healthy postural relationship between the upper back, the shoulder girdle, and the neck will help the shoulders to be responsive rather than held tight, and to bounce a little as you run. 

The trapezius muscle is at the center of healthy upper back, neck, and shoulder posture. It helps the shoulder to lift, lower, and gently bounce through impactful movement. Wikimedia

Stick or twist?

The synchronized alternation of arm and leg movement is vital for momentum and balance during running. This will be integrated by the torso twisting somewhat. There is a counter movement of pelvic rotation backward as the chest moves forward on the opposite side. The key is neither to over stiffen, nor over twist the torso. A stiff body keeps the hips from extending fully, can shorten your stride, and puts more pressure on the knees and leg joints. Over twisting can cause a “sloppy” run and impinge on the spinal joints. This is where staying tall with a strong inner corset is invaluable, as the inner corset allows healthy rotation both through and beyond it.  

In particular, avoid an upper/lower torso separation with twisting happening almost entirely at the T12/L1 junction, where the ribs meet the lumbar area. Twisting here is sometimes misguidedly encouraged to help power the arms, especially in fitness walking classes. However, there is no ball and socket joint at T12/L1 that makes swiveling here a good idea for the spine! 

This runner’s torso shows considerable rotation, but it is distributed along the spine—it does not twist at just one point. South African sprinter Wayde van Niekerk sets a world record at the 2016 Olympics. Alessandro Bianchi / Reuters

Olympic gold medalist Tirunesh Dibaba also shows even rotation of her torso from hip to opposite shoulder. I’ve also noticed that most East African runners have a significantly higher arm carriage, and are among the best runners in the world. Bretta Riches – Run Forefoot

If you would like guidance on any aspect of your posture and/or running, including your head, neck or shoulder position, consider scheduling an Initial Consultation, online or in person, with a Gokhale Method teacher.

Here are previous running posts you might like:

Running P1: Introduction, Esther Gokhale

Running P2: Meet Your Feet, Michelle Ball 

Running P3: How to choose running shoes, Michelle Ball 

Running P4: Taking care of your knees, Michelle Ball

Running P5: Anteverted Pelvis

If you would like to find out more about how the Gokhale Method can help support you, sign up to join one of our upcoming FREE Online Workshops.

Welcome to the fifth blog post in our series on running. My name is Michelle Ball, and I am a Gokhale Method® teacher living in Tasmania. I am also a lifelong runner and am passionate about sharing the benefits of healthy posture with the running community, be that beginners, seasoned runners, or anyone in between. Even if you don’t run, but do want an active and pain-free body well into old age, this blog post is for you!

What is an anteverted pelvis? 

Pelvis refers to the bony pelvis, and means basin, or bowl, in Latin. Anteverted means tipped, turned, or inclined forward, from the Latin ante to go before or in front, and vertere to turn. So we are referring to a pelvis that tips forward. 

The angled belt line of the Ubong tribesman on the left shows that his pelvis is anteverted—mildly tipped forward. Contrary to popular belief, an anteverted pelvis does not cause excessive lumbar lordosis (sway back) when there is a healthy angle at the L5-S1 junction. His back remains surprisingly straight by conventional standards. 

(a.) An anteverted pelvis facilitates heath posture. The commonly advocated “neutral pelvis.” (b.) is actually mildly tucked and does not allow the correct lumbo-sacral angle and stacking of the spine. (c.) A markedly tucked (retroverted) pelvis leads to a tense, compressed lumbar area, or to slumping., 

How an anteverted pelvis benefits the spine:

As you see in the image above, an anteverted pelvis (see example (a.)), is the foundation for a healthy, straighter, more vertical spine, which does not sway or round. It provides the correct orientation for the sacrum to support the L5-S1 disc, which is wedge-shaped, and then for the L5 vertebra and those above to stack well. A tucked pelvis, over time, will likely cause the L5-S1 disc to suffer wear and tear, bulging, or worse, and put pressure on the sciatic nerve roots.

(a.) An anteverted pelvis preserves the wedge-shaped L5-S1 disc. (b.) A tucked pelvis cannot accommodate this and the lower discs will suffer undue pressure and bulging toward the nerve roots.

Like the Ubong tribesmen and people throughout the nonindustrialized world, these elite runners show both an anteverted pelvis and an upright torso. Unsplash

Running leaning forward

Some running coaches teach a forward lean of the torso, which I agree reproduces some of the benefits of a healthy L5-S1 angle for runners who are currently stiff at that joint and therefore slightly tucked if they remain upright. Leaning forward helps compensate for any lack of L5-S1 angle, and harnesses power from the energy of impact when the back leg pushes off. 

Leaning forward is strongly advocated in the ChiRunning technique, which was developed by Danny Dreyer. You can watch Esther in conversation with Danny here, where he explains his approach.

Danny Dreyer advocates a forward lean when running, with shoulders, hips and ankles aligned. This is a useful technique to help orient the pelvis, especially if the L5-S1 angle does not allow for the torso to be upright. It also provides additional momentum.

World-renowned Kenyan runners often run with a good L5-S1 angle that anteverts the pelvis, combined with only a slight forward lean. Flikr

Powerful glutes 

An anteverted pelvis also confers mechanical advantage to the buttock muscles. With the behind behind, they can contract powerfully to pull the legs back and aid propulsion. Under-developed glutes are a common casualty when the pelvis is tucked. 

You can see here that I am running with my pelvis anteverted, and a slight lean forward, both of which put my glutes behind to help power my stride.

It is important that, in an effort to get your behind behind, the anteverted pelvis is not mimicked by simply sticking your bottom back with tension (sway) in the lower back. The pelvis needs to settle into anteversion naturally, with healthy articulation at the L5-S1 joint, relaxed back muscles and hip joints, and healthy alignment throughout the body. Gokhale Method teachers have the techniques and expertise to help you get there without inadvertently creating more postural problems. 

This runner has her behind behind her—but, as the creases in her top confirm, she is tensing her back into a sway and lifting her front ribcage to get there. Pexels

This footballer has his behind behind with an anteverted pelvis that articulates at L5-S1. His torso remains largely straight, which enables him to twist with good length in his spine, rather than compounding compressed discs and nerves. Pixabay

I find it interesting that a forward-leaning stance which aligns the torso with the extended back leg and supports pelvic anteversion is also a key ingredient in learning to glidewalk. Glidewalking is taught in detail in our Gokhale Method® in-person Foundations and Pop-up courses, and our online Elements course. Glidewalking produces a natural, smooth and powerful gait, which in particular strengthens the glutes and the feet. Students who have learned glidewalking find their running improved by the Downtime Training™of simply walking—but walking well. 

Good hip health

The anteverted pelvis is part of nature’s blueprint for healthy human posture and sound biomechanics. It is no surprise therefore that it confers many benefits throughout the body. An anteverted pelvis gives the best fit and function for the hip joints, avoiding the misalignments that occur with tucking. Poorly aligned hips can cause bursitis, labral tears, and osteoarthritis within the joints, and soft tissue issues such as muscle strains, tendonitis, and ITB (iliotibial band) problems further down. 

Jogging or walking with a tucked pelvis encourages tight hip joints, internal rotation of the feet, legs, and hips, rounding of the torso, and forward head carriage. Pexels

Pain in the knees, lower legs, and feet 

When runners get pain in their knees, lower legs, or feet, one of the last places they are likely to look for a remedy is their pelvic position. They are far more likely to blame their shoes! While the right shoes are important, (see Running P3: How to choose running shoes), it is often a revelation for runners to realize how the angle of the pelvis affects their gait. 

One serious problem with tucking the pelvis that hits runners particularly hard is excessive heel strike. While this may also occur in walking with a tucked pelvis, running or even slow jogging will mean that an unduly forward thrusting front leg will suffer more impact. This may result in not only wear and tear, but immediate and painful damage, as the femoral head (top of the thigh bone) is jammed back into the hip socket, and the knee joint of a more forward and likely more straightened leg is jarred.  Sticking the heel forward is like ramming the brakes on while still stepping on the gas! The answer to a thudding heel strike is not to buy excessively padded shoes, but to antevert the pelvis.

A tucked pelvis points the thighs forward, resulting in an excessive heel strike and jarring through the front leg knee and hip. sportssurgeryclinic.com

This runner has her behind behind, but the orientation of her pelvis comes from a
swayed lumbar area, not from L5-S1. The front of her rib cage and chin are pulled up.
She is about to heel strike—bad news for her straightened front leg and hip joint. Unsplash

Doing a much better job, an anteverted pelvis:

• Puts the muscles and soft tissues, especially the glutes, in a position of mechanical advantage, without threatening the lumbar spine
• Enables better weight distribution and therefore bone health 
• Places the thigh in a healthier position to absorb forces in the hip socket 
• Allows landing with a bent front knee, with better shock absorption 
• Facilitates a light heel/midfoot landing, avoids excessive heel strike, is more energy-efficient

This runner has good form. Her behind is behind because of a pronounced angle at L5-S1 (anteverted pelvis). Her back remains largely straight, her shoulders back, her neck tall. She will land without unduly jarring her joints. Unsplash

Support for the pelvic organs 

An important benefit of an anteverted pelvis is that the bones of the pubis are able to play their part in supporting the pelvic organs. Organ prolapse and incontinence can affect everyone, especially as we age, and is also a common problem in our culture for women during or after pregnancy. When the pelvis is tucked the organ support is overly reliant on the soft tissues of the pelvic floor, such as the Kegel muscle.

(a.) With an anteverted pelvis, the pubic bone is positioned to support the pelvic organs. (b.) With a tucked pelvis, the Kegel muscle is obliged to assume this role.

There is nothing worse than getting a run in and having to use the bathroom, especially if there is not one available! Heather A. Dunfee is a physical therapist in the Mayo Clinic Healthy Living Program, and a certified Pregnancy and Postpartum Corrective Exercise Specialist. She does not refer specifically to the anteverted pelvis, but she is clear that tucking the pelvis is bad news:

For runners, good alignment can help your core to better absorb impact, preventing leaks. For example, a slight forward lean helps to put your deep core "canister" in the best alignment to do its job. Think about stacking your rib cage over your pelvis, something that comes naturally when running uphill. . . Hills are great because they force the body into a position of rib cage over pelvis and untuck the bum.

If you would like guidance on any aspect of your posture and/or running, including pelvic position, consider scheduling an Initial Consultation, online or in person, with a Gokhale Method teacher.

Here are previous running posts you might like:

Running P1: Introduction, Esther Gokhale

Running P2: Meet Your Feet, Michelle Ball 

Running P3: How to choose running shoes, Michelle Ball 

Running P4: Taking care of your knees, Michelle Ball

If you would like to find out more about how the Gokhale Method can help support you, sign up to join one of our upcoming FREE Online Workshops.