TheBroBrah's Guide To Correcting Excessive APT.

[Slewot]

Well I have 2 questions
1.I need to strengthen my glutes, im currently doing weighted glute bridges with 25lb plate, and was wondering if thats enough exercise for the glutes if i do at least twice a day for 2-3 min., and if not what are some other glute exercises that i can do with minimal equipment(no barbell),? and i have some plates, dumbells, and med balls.


2.When i roll my back I feel kind of awkward like I feel like im inflicting pain that isn't even hitting a soft spot, should i roll left side of my back then alternate to left side, or whole lower back all in one roll?


ps. I use a hard plastic tube rolled in blankets as my foam roller lul, but seems to work fine

[svartberg]

Well I have 2 questions
1.I need to strengthen my glutes, im currently doing weighted glute bridges with 25lb plate, and was wondering if thats enough exercise for the glutes if i do at least twice a day for 2-3 min., and if not what are some other glute exercises that i can do with minimal equipment(no barbell),? and i have some plates, dumbells, and med balls.

2.When i roll my back I feel kind of awkward like I feel like im inflicting pain that isn't even hitting a soft spot, should i roll left side of my back then alternate to left side, or whole lower back all in one roll?

ps. I use a hard plastic tube rolled in blankets as my foam roller lul, but seems to work fine

1. Good post, cause I got the feeling you're doing heaps of mistakes.

Ok dude you're doing 25lb plate, which is roughly 11kg, On the other hand you keep asking questions not sure how this gonna fix your huge monkey ass.
I only gotten to 5x25s reps of 7kg, my ass feels battered after each set, and I already have pretty strong glutes, can squeeze them and what not. (since 3kg or so btw)
My conclusion is either you're heavier weight than me, or you're doing it wrong, or probably both.

• Go to the mirror, look at yourself on the side and squeeze your glutes (your ASS !), you should see your pelvis going in and glutes muscles contract.
• When you do glute bridges those are the muscles you always want squeezed (and pelvis in), otherwise you just work your back. (go watch more youtube vids showing proper bridge)
• I'm not sure how you would use a plate without busting your balls, because the weight has to be on your hips, not stomach. (that's why i use dumbell, with the weights on)
• You don't really need heavy weights tbh, is all quality over quantity, also look up youtube "Developing Hamstring Strength" tons of good exercises.
• Since you're not getting good results, You might wanna decrease the glute work to 3 times a week, because honestly you're developing muscle here, just like your biceps, etc ... (need rest days) <- worked for me
• I always start with a warmup set - bodyweight and then use smaller weight.
• I also heard that around 10kg you need to start putting a towel (or protective foam if you have barbell) to avoid pressure on your hip bones.

2. Nah man if that impro would work fine you wouldn't feel any pain .. might be time to stop being cheap on your body and buy a proper foam roller ..

[Slewot]

God damnit i hate apt

[Amaranti]

God damnit i hate apt

Tell me about it! It has ruined my life as a teenager. When all my friends went to the beach I was sitting at home because I didn't want to make a complete fool out of myself by showing my "freak-spine" to everyone at the beach. I just did some foam rolling and it still hurts but not as much as it did a few days ago. I also feel it's easier to tilt my pelvic into a neutral position, I don't have to struggle very much to keep myself in a correct posture. Tomorrow I will go through my entire stretching routine and foam roll like crazy because on Monday my journey to correcting my APT will start. This weekend is only to get a "feel" for my stretching routine and foam rolling. But next week I'm starting my full stretching and foam rolling program. By the end of April I'm hoping to see some great progress and by the end of May I will hopefully have fully corrected my APT.

[Slewot]

Tell me about it! It has ruined my life as a teenager. When all my friends went to the beach I was sitting at home because I didn't want to make a complete fool out of myself by showing my "freak-spine" to everyone at the beach. I just did some foam rolling and it still hurts but not as much as it did a few days ago. I also feel it's easier to tilt my pelvic into a neutral position, I don't have to struggle very much to keep myself in a correct posture. Tomorrow I will go through my entire stretching routine and foam roll like crazy because on Monday my journey to correcting my APT will start. This weekend is only to get a "feel" for my stretching routine and foam rolling. But next week I'm starting my full stretching and foam rolling program. By the end of April I'm hoping to see some great progress and by the end of May I will hopefully have fully corrected my APT.

ye im doing stretches 3 times a day and hoping by mid may/summer i can have it corrected for the most part so i can wear shorts / shirt without hoodie gl anyway

[Amaranti]

ye im doing stretches 3 times a day and hoping by mid may/summer i can have it corrected for the most part so i can wear shorts / shirt without hoodie gl anyway

Thanks, good luck to you as well!

[FeelTheFear]

ye im doing stretches 3 times a day and hoping by mid may/summer i can have it corrected for the most part so i can wear shorts / shirt without hoodie gl anyway

depending on how serious yours is it could take a LOT longer than that. I had a severe case and it's only like 1/3 to 1/2 better after a year of stretching 3-4x a day. The key is to continuously move, don't sit in the same position for more than 30 minutes. Just get up, do some lunges and walk around with glutes flexed

Oh yea, and when you do glute bridges, go for reps. Not static holds. Do a rep and hold the peak contraction phase for about 5 seconds, then release and do the next rep. Burns like hell but you will get better gains than isometrics.


also lol @ guys pics in this thread of their supposed "apt" when it's like literally half as bad as mine was (and still is)

[Slewot]

One question about holding the good posture

Am i supposed to see the arch gone when i squeeze glutes, push hips forward, and chest out
because when i do i still see kinda see and my ass still there to create a curve, and in order to get the arch completely gone i have to slightly bend my knees, is that ok or should i not bend my knees while standing?

thanks

[Amaranti]

I also have a question. When I tilt my pelvic in a straight position my lower back is no longer curved but my upper back still has a curve. I'm wondering if my upper back curve, called kyphosis I think, will be corrected when I correct my lordosis/APT. Because lordosis is accompanied with kyphosis I believe so one should fix the other right?

[svartberg]

Ok this was pretty much it, thoracic mobility the last piece of the puzzle.
Only a few days of that and my posture drastically improved, I don't recognize myself in the mirror anymore, my mind = blown.

I also have a question. When I tilt my pelvic in a straight position my lower back is no longer curved but my upper back still has a curve. I'm wondering if my upper back curve, called kyphosis I think, will be corrected when I correct my lordosis/APT. Because lordosis is accompanied with kyphosis I believe so one should fix the other right?

Nope it won't, looks like you have the same problem I have - APT + Kyphosis + Upper Cross Syndrome.
When you try to assume proper pose do you feel tight in the thoracic spine, right in the middle ? (erector spinae)

What you want is Thoracic mobility, search youtube for Thoracic Spine Mobilizations with Foam Roller, this stuff will blow your mind.
Tight lats/chest and weak traps (and afaik shoulders) also contribute to this, the exercise I gave ya before is all you need for traps/shoulders. (I'll only worry about chest/lats if you're doing upper body work)

Btw dude learn from your mistakes and take it easy on this foam roll this time, just like with APT it seems easy then the next few days you're sore as ****, only hurting your routine.
I know you can't wait to fix this, but you are doing a famous noob mistake of starting to hard, I would take all the weights out of your exercises until you're comfortable with it, work smarter not harder. (unless of course you're trying to get disc damage ?)
From my experience muscles develop when you rest, which is why 2-3 times a week for strength exercises are so popular. (that means your glute/plank work)

Anyway that's my advice, at the end of the day you can do whatever the F**k you wanna do

[Amaranti]

Oh man! That sounds really good but will that correct the curve in my upper back or at least improve it somewhat?
And are these exercises enough to do, or should I add some more exercises? youtube.com/watch?v=SxQkVD0UQNg

[svartberg]

Oh man! That sounds really good but will that correct the curve in my upper back or at least improve it somewhat?
And are these exercises enough to do, or should I add some more exercises? youtube.com/watch?v=SxQkVD0UQNg

Ye man it really helped mine.

Well I reckon you got a good idea of the muscles effecting your APT/Kyphosis now, you can just play around with the exercises based on that.
I wish I knew half as much as you when i started, I'm sure you'll do great dude.

[Amaranti]

Ye man it really helped mine.

Well I reckon you got a good idea of the muscles effecting your APT/Kyphosis now, you can just play around with the exercises based on that.
I wish I knew half as much as you when i started, I'm sure you'll do great dude.

You, and this thread, have been a tremendeous help! I thank you for that. By the way, have you corrected your APT/kyphosis? Do you have before/after pics?

[Slewot]

Yo svartberg or whoever has experience or knowledge in Apt correction

In order to maintain a straight pelvis i have to bend my knees slightly so there is no curve and monkey ass goes in,
Should i be bending my knees in order to hold a straight pelvis or just squeeze my glutes and thrust hips forward as much as i can?

Did you have this issue? and when will i not have to bend my knees and more?

Thanks

[Xes7]

Yo svartberg or whoever has experience or knowledge in Apt correction

In order to maintain a straight pelvis i have to bend my knees slightly so there is no curve and monkey ass goes in,
Should i be bending my knees in order to hold a straight pelvis or just squeeze my glutes and thrust hips forward as much as i can?

Did you have this issue? and when will i not have to bend my knees and more?

Thanks

Test your hammies if they're shortened/tight, it's probably what does the bending do not stretch your hamstrings tough as if it this is the case they're shortened/tight because your pelvic tilt is moved, as soon as you've fixed it you won't have to bend either. I have this too.

[Slewot]

Test your hammies if they're shortened/tight, it's probably what does the bending do not stretch your hamstrings tough as if it this is the case they're shortened/tight because your pelvic tilt is moved, as soon as you've fixed it you won't have to bend either. I have this too.

wait, so do nothing then =0? just keep squeezing them glutes?

[svartberg]

You, and this thread, have been a tremendeous help! I thank you for that. By the way, have you corrected your APT/kyphosis? Do you have before/after pics?

Np dude, once I get my camera back I'll take some shots, I wanna see this myself ..

Yo svartberg or whoever has experience or knowledge in Apt correction

In order to maintain a straight pelvis i have to bend my knees slightly so there is no curve and monkey ass goes in,
Should i be bending my knees in order to hold a straight pelvis or just squeeze my glutes and thrust hips forward as much as i can?

Did you have this issue? and when will i not have to bend my knees and more?

Thanks

Ya I had this issue, was because the muscles were too tight and didn't allow lumbar extension.
My guess is you need a proper foam roller, sorry man a pipe rolled with blankets doesn't count.

Btw your knees shouldn't lock ideally, you see people with good posture have their knees bend just a bit. (probably less then what you do), while APT dudes have their knees locked.
Also if you get lower back pain when you sleep on your back, put a pillow right under the knees, this works on the same concept of bending the knees to free lumbar mobility.

[PostMoves]

heres some of my random thoughts since I've been trying to deal with this issue for several months now..and while I've seen some change I still have it very noticeably.

the worst part about my apt is my protruding gut...Im 175 pounds and lean everywhere, yet I have a belly due to this. I sit at a computer for around 5 hours a day so that isn't helping. I try to consciously correct my posture every time I feel it slipping.

I can't figure out which is my biggest problem area....tight back/tight hip flexors? or weak glutes/weak lower abs? or all of them. I stretch my hip flexors every night religiously. only when I flex my abs do I then look normal from the side..and immediately when i relax them my belly sags down. this leads me to believe I really need to work on my core. however, it seems like EVERY lower ab/core exercise involves using the hip flexors.....and us apt brahs don't want those tightened...so I'm confused there.

I realized I had to change even the way I was walking and running. I never properly used my glutes when walking/running and overcompensated with my quads and hamstrings. After fixing this I can feel a glute pump after running and even got stretch marks on my butt (nohomo) from muscle growth.

I don't have a foam roller

I'm getting frustrated. any help/advice is appreciated....

[Daef]

Is it possible to accidentally use your back when doing weighted glute bridges/barbell hip thrusts? I was doing some today and towards the end of my sets i felt my lower back feeling...maybe not so much sore, but uncomfortable i guess? Just curious as to what i may have been doing?

heres some of my random thoughts since I've been trying to deal with this issue for several months now..and while I've seen some change I still have it very noticeably.

the worst part about my apt is my protruding gut...Im 175 pounds and lean everywhere, yet I have a belly due to this. I sit at a computer for around 5 hours a day so that isn't helping. I try to consciously correct my posture every time I feel it slipping.

I can't figure out which is my biggest problem area....tight back/tight hip flexors? or weak glutes/weak lower abs? or all of them. I stretch my hip flexors every night religiously. only when I flex my abs do I then look normal from the side..and immediately when i relax them my belly sags down. this leads me to believe I really need to work on my core. however, it seems like EVERY lower ab/core exercise involves using the hip flexors.....and us apt brahs don't want those tightened...so I'm confused there.

I realized I had to change even the way I was walking and running. I never properly used my glutes when walking/running and overcompensated with my quads and hamstrings. After fixing this I can feel a glute pump after running and even got stretch marks on my butt (nohomo) from muscle growth.

I don't have a foam roller

I'm getting frustrated. any help/advice is appreciated....

I'm in the same boat as you, my main concern is the gut and i am still working on my APT. However i'm confident working your core wont help flatten that out, the abs are made to bend and bulge outwards (think of guys with beer guts that then lose that visceral fat behind the abs, or pregnant women...for both of these things it bulges out, then comes flat again afterwards.....sometimes the fascia stretches from both of these things which requires a tummy tuck where they stitch the abs back together again, but thats a different story)

Its just everything inside of you falling forwards (picture your pelvis is a bowl of fruit and its tipped forward and everything is falling against your abs) So the main goal is just trying to get that pelvis in neutral position again.

[svartberg]

Is it possible to accidentally use your back when doing weighted glute bridges/barbell hip thrusts? I was doing some today and towards the end of my sets i felt my lower back feeling...maybe not so much sore, but uncomfortable i guess? Just curious as to what i may have been doing?

Yap, glute bridges also use your lower back muscles.
To what extent largely depends on how much you squeeze your glutes.

That's exactly why I try to tell brahs here to start from bodyweight and know your level.
• You don't activate your glutes enough -> your lower back take over (exercise misses the point)
• Your lower back isn't strong enough for the weights -> pressure goes to the discs (face palm)

Btw I treat this like any other weighted exercise, I do a warm up set beforehand, and I'm not afraid to drop the weight on the last reps if I feel my glutes are battered.

[svartberg]

heres some of my random thoughts since I've been ...
yadda yadda .... bla bla bla ...

I don't have a foam roller
I'm getting frustrated. any help/advice is appreciated....

Get a foam roller dude.

[Daef]

Yap, glute bridges also use your lower back muscles.
To what extent largely depends on how much you squeeze your glutes.

That's exactly why I try to tell brahs here to start from bodyweight and know your level.
• You don't activate your glutes enough -> your lower back take over (exercise misses the point)
• Your lower back isn't strong enough for the weights -> pressure goes to the discs (face palm)

Btw I treat this like any other weighted exercise, I do a warm up set beforehand, and I'm not afraid to drop the weight on the last reps if I feel my glutes are battered.

Yeah i think i gotta start dropping the weight too, i will really feel it the first couple of sets, then not so much towards the end.

[Amaranti]

OK, so I haven't really been stretching/foam rolling as much as I would like to. My quads, hip flexors and IT Band are beginning to release the "tension" so to speak. When I foam roll those muscles it doesn't hurt as much as it did the first time. But I can definitely feel a slight pain when I foam roll but it's much better now. I got myself a job at a movie store (can take home as many blu-ray movies I want, weeks before they are released ). Anyway, this new job of mine is perfect. I get to stand up for 10 hours which is great for my back. Less sitting = faster correction of APT. Too bad it's only 2 days a week. Would love to work 5 hours/week, that would be great for my back when I stand up all day long

As I said, I've been pretty lazy with my stretching/foam rolling. It would be great if someone here could post some before/after pics to get me motivated to stretch like a mofo! I wanted to show you guys a picture of my embarrassing spine and my chubby body. I'm in the process of cutting so don't make fun of me. As you can see my APT is pretty bad :/

I uploaded this picture of myself on a Swedish forum. The red line was to show how "uncentered" my upper body is.
The picture is from late February and not much has changed since. I'm working on it though but I must work much harder!!!
www.imgur.com/BOwAF

[Slewot]

lol wtf i feel like im the only one who has it worse in the ass and my gut barely even sticks out=\

been rolling/stretching for about 2 weeks now, tooks svarts advice doing glutes 3 times a week, took weight out and my glutes feel battered
lol did a 5 min hold for last sess yesterday, today it feels like i got assraped last night

definetly getting way easier to hold good posture

[svartberg]

OK, so I haven't really been stretching/foam rolling as much ...

I uploaded this picture of myself on a Swedish forum. The red line was to show how "uncentered" my upper body is.
The picture is from late February and not much has changed since. I'm working on it though but I must work much harder!!!
www.imgur.com/BOwAF

From the pic, ye I definitely see that kyphosis way hard.
I recommended earlier to strengthen muscles for hunched shoulders & kyphosis, just to clarify when I said shoulders I was referring to rear shoulders. (I should have just say entire upper back and be done with it lol)

Dude congrats on the job, definitely gonna help things ey

lol wtf i feel like im the only one who has it worse in the ass and my gut barely even sticks out=\

been rolling/stretching for about 2 weeks now, tooks svarts advice doing glutes 3 times a week, took weight out and my glutes feel battered
lol did a 5 min hold for last sess yesterday, today it feels like i got assraped last night

definetly getting way easier to hold good posture

Great man glad to hear it's working out for you.

[Amaranti]

I will definitely add thoracic spine mobilization to my program as well as shoulder/upper body strengthening. I just did a complete stretching and foam rolling workout and it feels pretty good. I can foam roll now without much pain which is good because the first few days were pretty awful. This week has mostly been a "tryout" week. I've been modifying my program and this is how it looks.

* Warrior Lunge: 1 minute/leg
* Weighted Bridge: 2 minutes (I will make it 3 minutes when I feel 2 minutes is way to easy)
* Weighted Planks: 90 seconds
* Glute Ham Raises: 10 reps
* ATG Squats: 10 reps, 3 sets (light weights)
* Walking Lunges: 1 minute
* Lat Stretch: 1 minute
* Quads: 1 minute/leg
* Lying Leg Curls: 10 reps, 3 sets. (This one is a total killer for my hamstrings! Can't do this one more than 3 times/week)

Foam rolling my quads, hip flexors, lower back, upper back and IT Band.

Haven't decided yet what exercises to do for my shoulders/upper back. Can you give me a few exercises I can do to strengthen the muscles which makes my shoulders slouch forward and which causes my kyphosis?

[svartberg]

Haven't decided yet what exercises to do for my shoulders/upper back. Can you give me a few exercises I can do to strengthen the muscles which makes my shoulders slouch forward and which causes my kyphosis?

I really just started upper back seriously lately, I'd be a real twat if I start giving exercise advice mate.

For hunched shoulders though, just go to previous page where I gave ya first advice those ones worked for me.
Keep in mind those aren't apparently designed for rear deltoids & traps at all ! but I was in such a bad shape it worked perfect for me when I started.
Maybe you'll do a better job finding proper exercises that target these area ?

[Amaranti]

I really just started upper back seriously lately, I'd be a real twat if I start giving exercise advice mate.

For hunched shoulders though, just go to previous page where I gave ya first advice those ones worked for me.
Keep in mind those aren't apparently designed for rear deltoids & traps at all ! but I was in such a bad shape it worked perfect for me when I started.
Maybe you'll do a better job finding proper exercises that target these area ?

So basically for upper back curve (kyphosis) you must stretch your chest and strengthen your upper back. Am I right?

[svartberg]

So basically for upper back curve (kyphosis) you must stretch your chest and strengthen your upper back. Am I right?

Stretch chest & lats, ya that's the gist of it.
You really only need to roll/stretch those if they feel tight, also I've found they can be done much less frequently then APT ones.

Good luck dude, I'm really curious what exercises you come up with for upper back, and how they work for you after 4-6 weeks.

[Slewot]

So my curve looks like it has decreased a bit, tilt looks a little better its been about 3 weeks of stretching/rolling,easier to hold posture, monkey butt still there

started rolling on sides of quads and it hurts, front of quads and hip flexors dont hurt as much to roll on now
feels like hip flexor stretch isn't enough, should i be doing more stretching per session?
and i do bird dogs as well for activation

thanks