Bill Rodgers, tired and slow, near 60 years old...

what procedure or stretching process is best for correcting the pelvic tilt? My right leg manifests itself as the shorter of the two. Been standing on slant board taking weight on the right foot to elongate right hamstring.

Bump

You must have missed something. BR wrote that he hasn't stetched in 40 years- that is- HIS WHOLE CAREER! So- one of the greatest marathoners of all time, never did a thing to "correct" his discrepancy. Therefore I conclude that there is not much constructive you can do, other than learning to work with what you have. If you really feel you need to do something, go see a podiatrist, and perhaps you can work with inserts to lift one foot.

this is what i was told was wrong with me. Since the pelvis is in a unique position to contribute to the position and function of numerous parts of the body, especially the spine and the femur, an imbalance or lack of symmetry in the position of the pelvis has undesirable consequences throughout the entire lumbo-pelvic-femoral chain.

In a bio-mechanically correct person, the spine sits on top of a neutrally positioned sacrum (central portion of the pelvis) and a slight lordosis (arch forward). When the pelvis is anteriorly rotated, the sacrum is tipped forward and the rest of the spine has no choice but to follow suit. Rather than fall over forward, the body compensates for this excessive forward tilting of the lower spine by tilting backward at some point higher up the chain and thereby creates a large increase in the amount of curvature (lordosis) of the lower back. This deep curvature of the back can create various problems including muscle spasms, pinched nerves and possible damage to the intervertebral discs.

The misalignment between an anteriorly tilted pelvis and the lumbar spine (lower back) is the most obviously apparent change that occurs and can often be seen without any special testing. Additional less obvious changes also occur in the relationship between the pelvis and the femur. Due to the ligamentous structure around the pelvis, an anteriorly tilted pelvis causes the femur (usually the left femur due to the muscular arrangement of the body) to rotate inward. The inter-rotation of the femur creates a misalignment at the knee joint between the patella (kneecap) and the femur causing patella femoral pain. The inward rotation of the femur also causes a misalignment between the femur and the tibia (lower leg), which places additional stress on the ACL, MCL and patella tendon resulting in increased likelihood of injury to these ligaments and tendons.

The existence of patella femoral pain in the left knee now begins to have severe consequences back up the lumbo-pelvic-femoral chain, as well as for the right side of the body. Because of the pain in the left knee, the patient will compensate and begin to place more of their weight on their right side. The shifting of most the patient’s weight to the right side causes the left side of the pelvis to be pulled backwards and upwards causing a “shortening” of the left leg. The hips also move laterally to the right so as to place the right leg and foot more directly under the body. This increased usage and stress on the right knee and hip will cause severe damage to them over time.

The lateral shift of the hips to the right and the shortening of the left side cause the upper body to lean to the left from the pelvis upward. Since this leaning to the left is not normal for the patient, the patient corrects it by arching the spine sideways back to the right. This now places a right curvature-scoliosis (side to side) on the spine in addition to the increased lordosis (back to front) caused by the anteriorly tilted pelvis.

Since the pelvis is pulled not only upward, but backward as well, in order to transfer the weight to the right side, the patient will now also have a rotation of the upper body to the left. The patient will attempt to correct this by rotating the upper body to the right – this time causing a twisting of the spine to accomplish placing the upper body so it faces directly forward. The patient will now exhibit a lower back spine with increased curvature front-to-back (Lordosis), with side-to-side curvature and a rotational twist (Scoliosis).

A change in the condition of the hamstrings (back of legs) as a result of the forward tipped pelvic also compounds the biomechanical changes to the position of the spine, pelvis and femur. As the pelvis tips forward, the hamstrings become stretched (longer) and since an elongated muscle is a weaker muscle, the body must rely on other muscle groups to maintain its ability to stand upright. Normally the body uses the hamstrings, gluteals and oblique muscle groups to stand upright. Now the body is forced to compensate and to use the quadriceps, hip flexors and abdominal muscle groups to maintain the standing position. This leads to a continuing cycle of further weakening of the hamstrings, gluteals and oblique muscle groups and further increased use of the quadriceps, hip flexors and abdominal muscle groups.

Since the patient has also placed most of his weight on his right side, there is an additional imbalance between the right and left sides in terms of usage and therefore in terms of strength. The increase in the strength of the right side and the corresponding atrophying of the muscles on the left side leads to increased stress on the right knee and hip.

In order to correct the resulting biomechanical imbalance throughout the lumbo-pelvic-femoral chain and its manifestations of chronic lower back pain, patella femoral pain, sciatica, hip bursitis, hamstring pulls and other chronic postural disorders, it is necessary to first restore proper pelvic position and re-educate the body to neuromuscularly maintain that position.

Wow, sounds like an uncorrected upslip hip can shorten one's running career.