Treatment of the Lower Back Lordosis

[xzebrasx]

Anybody know good exercises to treat lordosis and improve posture? Is Roman Chair Back Extensions any good?

[ultra_whippet]

I would say that's not so appropriate for treating lordosis, you should focus more on strengthening your hamstrings and lower abdominals, and stretching your hip flexors.

[Fallen_Horse]

I do back extensions for my lordosis, and it seems to have definitely improved my lower back strength, but my gut still sticks out too far IMO.

[xzebrasx]

So it's Romanian Chair Back Extensions, Good-mornings and Hanging Leg Raises?

[ninearms]

The worst thing you can do for lordosis is work your lower back even more. This will only exacerbate the problem. At the moment tight hip flexors are pulling the pelvis down at the front, while tight erectors are pulling it up at the back, so it's tilted downwards. As the Whippet said, you need to hit your abs hard and stretch out those hip flexors in order to pull the pelvis back into alignment. I'd suggest doing standing ab pulldowns for your abs - they need to be strong, so you need to hit them with some heavy weight.

Chances are you also have glute activation issues too, so doing some activation work before your squats and deadlifts will help. Don't neglect your upper back either - make sure you work on thoracic spine mobility. Check out Eric Cressey and Mike Robertson's articles on T-Nation.

[SpugFab]

Who diagnosed the lordosis for you?

[xzebrasx]

Thanks, ninearms! But Deadlifts aren't off the menu completely, right?

Who diagnosed the lordosis for you?

Me.

[draco880]

I'm only recently recovering from serious, long-term back problems, and I hope I can save you some time here. First, your muscles might just be in spasm, which is to say, clenching and not letting go. If this is true, you need to get them to relax, and certainly shouldn't make them stronger. Poke around down there: do you have two clenched sets of spinor erectae muscles even while lying down? Lower back spasm is very common, but can be tricky to treat. I had good success using the Somaticsmethod, and if you're in Denver or Cali you can find someone who does NeuroEnergetic Release, or NER.
Also may be disc problems. An MRI is good but not definitive, as any doctor who doesn't suck will tell you. I would try to fix the muscles first via the above methods before worrying too much about disc degeneration, unless you're having pain going down the legs.
Actually, you know what? I'm over-doing this. What sort of pain are you having, and when? Is it crippling, or just annoying?