WHAT THE TUCK?
PELVIC TUCKING VS NEUTRAL SPINE
Nikki Naab-Levy February 1, 2018
To tuck or not to tuck? That is the great debate among Pilates teachers, barre instructors, and fitness professionals.
Some claim tucking saves your back and strengthens your abs.
Others argue it wrecks your spine n’ hips.
Who’s right?!
In this post, I’m going define what it means to tuck or have a neutral pelvis. I’ll also explain why you might choose one position over another.
But first, a PSA juu-uuust in case you decide reading is hard and biomechanics are boring.
Stop freaking tucking in standing work like squats and plies.
Doing it in a single instance – particularly without weight – isn’t a crisis. However, over time #100barreclasseslater, it can make your back, hips, and knees unhappy.
Why?
Hardcore tucking disrupts the natural movement of your knees, hips, and back. It also compresses the heck outta your joints.
Not sure what to do with your hips in a plie? Check out this video.
What’s a tuck?
Tuck
/tək/
verb
1. A posterior pelvic tilt where you gently roll the pubic bone towards the rib cage to flatten the low back curve. We call this an imprint in Pilates.
2. Sucking belly button to spine, flattening the back, and squeezing your butt – aka the “suck and tuck”
The first, I use for specific exercises. The second is a biomechanical nightmare, but I hear it cued a lot in fitness.
However, for most exercises, particularly when standing, the default pelvic position is neutral.
Dude, where’s my (neutral) pelvis?
Neutral pelvis + spine means your natural spinal curves are prevent. These curves act shock absorbers when your walk, squat, or deadlift. Performing these exercises outside of neutral may cause more force to land in your joints, which can contribute to pain.
The greater the impact or load (aka weight) involved, the greater the forces running through your joints + the more important your alignment becomes.
If you’re unfamiliar with the idea of neutral, see the video + definitions below.
NEUTRAL SPINE = ribs stacked roughly over the pelvis with a small low back curve present.
NEUTRAL PELVIS = pubic bone and front of the hip bones in roughly in the same plane.
I emphasize roughly, because everyone’s neutral will be different.
Forcing your body “neutral” position that hurts isn’t any better than forcing it into a tuck.
However, neutral alignment is a reasonable landmark during exercise, because:
It’s where forces pass most evenly through your joints for minimal compression
Your deep core (e.g. pelvic floor, diaphragm, multifidus, TVA) engage best from this position
You’ll get balanced muscle activation
An important aspect of core training is the ability resist spinal rotation against outside forces.
Conversely, forcing your pelvis into a tuck, jams your hips and back, and disrupts core timing.
In short, it’s a weird position that can contribute to repetitive stress injuries and pain with enough repetition and load.
And in the really long run, it can even = hip replacements. #justsaying
And that was a fancy way of saying the “suck and tuck” isn’t a functional or realistic way to move. If you’re unsure, try walking a mile like that.
It’ll look hilarious and you won’t get very far
But what about all the people who say that the suck and tuck will help your back and fix alignment?
I don’t think they’re trying to hurt you, but I do think they’re confused about the application of the #science
Here’s what we know about the core, the spine, and tucking:
You DO get more abdominal engagement from the outer unit of the core (6 pack muscle, obliques, ect) when you tuck. This applies to both imprint and the more aggressive tuck.
Imprinting can reduce low back tension if the low back muscles (extensors) are a hyper active.
Joint movement is healthy and flexion is a natural movement of the spine. You should be able to move your pelvis and your spine in all directions + without load, the risk of injury is low.
It’s possible to over recruit your abs and science has found that “strong” abs don’t mean less back pain. Rather, the ability to control + feel where you are in space is a better indicator of if your back will hurt.
When should you tuck?
1. During unloaded mobility or abdominal exercises that emphasize spinal articulation
Cat cow is a great exercise that happens to involve a pelvic tuck. The pelvis rolls under into a tuck and the spine gets to flex. Then the pelvis moves the opposite way and the spine extends.
You can also tuck during exercises like Pilates roll ups or articulated bridges.
If you aren’t injured, this is one way train your core to control movement through your spine.
Pain science suggests that body awareness is a key way of decreasing signals of pain, so this is a good thing!
2. If a core exercise is challenging and tucking will stop you from putting a big arch in your back.
A small tuck creates more abdominal engagement. This can help support your spine during exercises like dead bugs, where you lie on your back.
Ideally, you would be able to maintain a neutral position for these exercises. But if you don’t have the strength to do this, tucking can help you recruit your abs and minimize low back strain.
3. If you have an excessive anterior pelvic tilt.
For some people, the pelvis tips too anteriorly, which is the opposite position of tucking.
If this is you, going into a small tuck could help you find a more neutral pelvic position during exercise.
However, an anterior pelvic tilt can also come from the tension in the legs or the ribs. In these cases, tucking won’t address the problem.
For more information on this, watch the video below.
4. If you want to emphasize hip extension to access your glutes or stretch your hip flexors.
Tucking the pelvis emphasizes hip extension, which activates the glutes. This is helpful in glute exercises like bridges or hip thrusts.
Also, stretching the hip flexors can feel nice and the best way to stretch a hip flexor is through hip extension.
5. If you have a spinal pathology that requires moving with a flexion bias.
This is a #askyourdoc question, but for some spinal conditions it’s safer to work with the back a little rounded.
And if that was TMI, here are the quick n’ dirty rules:
Avoid tucking…
If you have a spinal condition where your doc or physical therapist told you not to.
During loaded standing exercises (e.g. squats with a barbell, deadlifts)
Gentle tucking is cool if…
You’re stretching your hip flexors
You’re practicing spinal articulation (usually with minimal load)
You’re targeting your glutes in a hip extension based exercise
You have an anterior pelvic tilt and it helps make you neutral
You have a spinal condition and your doctor told you to tuck
You feel your back moving into a big arch during a hard exercise and you need to find more core engagement
You’re trying to rock some sweet dance moves #anythinggoes
Conclusion:
I’m not in the militantly neutral camp.
I think your spine is built to move in all directions. I don’t have a problem with moving spinal flexion or tucking with a specific goal in mind.
But we create problems if we aggressively tuck in every exercise we do.
I understand that most fitness professionals are well meaning when they cue aggressive tucking.
Tons of people (myself included) look like they have a giant arch in their back and tucking makes it look better.
The problem is that the pelvic position isn’t always the problem. Often times it’s from poor placement of the ribs due to a poor thoracic/upper back mobility.
The suck and tuck might make things look better, but it can create more dysfunction, without addressing the underlying issue.
I realize that was a lot of information. This is the THIRD rewrite of a blog I wrote 4 years ago (yes, you read that right!)
So if you’ve got a question, please feel free to reach out to me via social media or email. I’d be happy to answer it!
And if you found the info in this blog helpful, I’d love for you to share it with your friends over brunch! #Ilovewaffles
Citation:
https://naablevy.com/pelvic-tuck-neutral-spine/