The dreaded butt wink. We all know what it looks like so I’m not going to write another big post about it what it is but instead talk about a very simple fix.
Fixing a butt wink from Karise Wilson on Vimeo.
If a person has an anterior pelvic tilt, in which the pelvis is tipped forward as a result of tight structures anteriorly (hip flexors, quads) there will be a reversal of this posture as the person descends into a squat. If we can get the person to “correct” the tilt by activating the glutes and lower abdominals and start the squat with the pelvis in a more neutral position, VOILA! There should be less of a wink (or posterior pelvic rotation) as they pass parallel. The video below demonstrates a butt wink (video on the left) and a correction of pelvic tilt with minor butt wink (video on the right).
Now the trick is learning to control this under increasing load. I would recommend starting by making sure you can control this while doing air squats (and overhead squats with a broomstick) then progressing to squats with an empty barbell (front, back and overhead) and then finally with increasing load. If at any point you start to fail to maintain good control and relapse back into the butt wink, stop putting load on the bar and spend more time focusing on the quality of the movement without failing. Muscles to LENGTHEN to improve an anterior pelvic tilt:
- Hip flexors (iliopsoas, iliacus, rectus femoris)
- Lumbar erector spinae
Muscles to STRENGTHEN to improve an anterior pelvis tilt:
- Hamstrings
- Gluteus Maximus
- Abdominals
2015-03-04 09:23:26
