Body Structure Makes "lying On Your Back Exercises" Vibrate

Hey guys,

I'm wondering if any of you experienced or have knowledge with what I experience.

Ever since I was a kid I've had the alien posture from American dad. My ass sticks out, my stomach sticks out and I have a big curve in the lower back. I don't have hyperlordosis it just seems to be my structure..

I don't know if you can really see it but this is what it looks like if I have absolutely NO muscle contraction.

like i said my stomach sticks out and so does my ass in opposite directions.

For the past 10 years I've always walked around with mild flexing in the abs to keep good posture, so I walk around like this

Now during the back line drill, even if I bring in my abs and flex my glutes maximally, I still have a slight curve as seen in this picture

Now it's not a medical condition or anything that causes me pain or problems, it's just damn annoying when doing exercises lying on my back. For example I have moderately strong abs (wheel rollouts, hanging leg raises, body levers, etc.) but when I try to do the back body line drill the amount of abdominal force I need to generate in order to keep a PERFECTLY flat back is the same amount of tension I generate when doing an L-sit. And we all know the hollow hold is supposed to be much less demanding.

Also because of this body shape, when I do certain exercises on my back like hollow hold, leg raises, etc. my body starts shaking/vibrating on its own

So after a 60s hollow hold it's as if I did 30 seconds L-Sit

Anyone else experience this or think its just a hip flexor/hamstring tightness thing?

PS - I've had this body shape since I was little and I was always able to do very well in athletics in a variety of sports. I'm not saying it's a bad thing, just curious if anyone knows anything about it.

thanks in advance

I don't believe there is any reason to worry about your 'at ease' posture.

However it would be good to be capable of flattening the lower back when it's required as it's a key element of many gymnastics strength elements.

A simple exercise is to lay on your back with knees bent and roll your hips till the lower back completely touches the ground.

One thing in your last picture that can cause things to go wrong is the idea of bringing your stomach in. This can work in more relaxed conditions, but you will actually relax the abs except the very lowest bit. For strength work you want to tense the abs and fill them as if you were blowing up a balloon, doing this will strongly round the back.

It's just bad posture:

You need stronger abs and glutes, and you need to stretch your hip flexors

phrak said:

You need stronger abs and glutes, and you need to stretch your hip flexors

the good posture is the same as my second picture. he has his abs slightly tightened as well

im doubting its a strength issue. i mean i can do harop curls, no problem 2x DL, front lever pulls and I don't think those are prereqs to good posture.

not saying it's not possible but it doesn't seem to make sense to me. tight hip flexors is definitely a possibility however so I'll look into that.

Cole Dano said:

I don't believe there is any reason to worry about your 'at ease' posture.

well that's good, although it makes me feel like a fatass lol. I'll try the hip roll movement you explained. thanks

Joey Frad said:

the good posture is the same as my second picture. he has his abs slightly tightened as well

The second picture still has a pretty drastic lumbar arch, all things considered.

Joey Frad said:

im doubting its a strength issue. i mean i can do harop curls, no problem 2x DL, front lever pulls and I don't think those are prereqs to good posture.

not saying it's not possible but it doesn't seem to make sense to me. tight hip flexors is definitely a possibility however so I'll look into that.

It's not about absolute strength, but about relative strength. You have a 2xBW DL, but that just means your abs are going to have to be even stronger to produce good posture.

Spend some stime stretching out your quads/hip flexors and your lower back.

Edit: Looking at the last two pics, it also seems like you don't have control over your pelvis, because I see no change in the tilt (but it's hard to tell)

do you have a recommended hip flexor stretch, i know a bunch but maybe you have a better one?

When in doubt, refer to Kit Laughlin's work.

Oh yes, Coach has mentioned his/her work often. I'm going to check it out pronto