Can Deadlifts Cause Slight Lordosis - Butt Sticking Out?

[mudrubble]

Hi Guys,

I've usually done bodyweight exercises until about 5 months ago when my recurring back pains took a turn and I developed sciatica and had to stop all exercise. I saw an MD, a chiro, a physio, and an acupunturist, and got maybe 20% better over 4 or 5 months.

Frustrated, I decided to take matters into my own hands and start weightlifting once my x-rays came back showing nothing wrong with my actual spine.

And it's been awesome, my sciatica is totally gone, back pains are down to a fraction of what they were, mostly thanks to deadlifts and back extensions, and maybe squats.

But here's where it gets strange. I find the strengthening of my lower back from deadlifts is now pulling my butt back, so that it sticks out somewhat like a gorilla's. It is also causing my belly to stick out, and I don't mean fat, I mean the whole belly, muscles and all, are sticking out and my butt is also sticking out in the other direction.

I can make constant corrections when I stand, but it seems that my lower back is strong enough that I find myself standing with my butt out once again.

I've NEVER had this problem in 37 years and it's only developed in the last 2 months since starting my weight training program.

Any advice? I want to pull my abs (my spine really, I can see the arch starts there) back in and put my ass back under my spine again.

I do a 10 minute ab routine consisting of 7 bodyweight exercises performed in a supeset, twice - and I do this every day I lift (3 x per week), so I really don't think my abs are weak at all. I can hang and point my toes up to the ceiling, even with a wall against my back, so I really don't think my abs are weak.

Any help?

Thanks

 

[_cato_]

The short answer to your question is that deadlifts won't "cause" excessive lordosis, but it's possible to develop that condition with a poor or imbalanced exercise selection which includes them.

The issue you are describing is usually the result of a strength and/or flexibility imbalance between two groups of muscles: 1. lower back and/or hip flexors and 2. abs and/or glutes.

Without knowing much about you, my first guess would be that you have strong/tight hipflexors and weak abs, despite your claims above. You might feel like your abs are strong because you can superset a lot of bodyweight exercises but that has less to do with strength and more to do with endurance. A lot of things people think of as being "abs exercises" actually has more to do with your hip flexors.

Here's two articles discussing your issue (excessive lordosis/anterior pelvis tilt):

T NATION | Hips Don't Lie: Fixing Your Force Couples
T NATION | Neanderthal No More - Part 1

 

[Tblock1]

also even though you may be doing heavy "ab" exercises often those are much more hip flexor exercises, leading to an even further imbalance