How Anterior Pelvic Tilt Affects Your Squat
The Invisible Force Limiting Your Depth, Glute Activation, Bracing, And Symmetry
If your squat has stalled, if you cannot hit depth without your lower back rounding, if one hip shifts at the bottom, or if your knees cave despite strong adductors, the problem is almost certainly your pelvis. Anterior pelvic tilt has quietly been sabotaging every rep you have done for years.
What Is Anterior Pelvic Tilt
Anterior pelvic tilt (APT) means your pelvis is tipped forward, creating an exaggerated arch in your lower back. In the lifting population, it is almost universal because heavy axial loading drives the nervous system into extension and reinforces the forward tilt with every squat and deadlift session. The Left AIC pattern identified by PRI adds a rotational component, making the tilt asymmetrical.
How APT Limits Squat Depth
When the pelvis tips forward, the acetabulum (hip socket) rotates upward. This reduces the available range of hip flexion before the femur runs into the rim of the socket. You experience this as a pinching sensation at the bottom of a squat, or as butt wink where the pelvis tucks under to gain the last few degrees of depth.
Why APT Inhibits Your Glutes In The Squat
APT places the glute max in a lengthened, mechanically disadvantaged position. Your brain reduces neural drive to the glutes because they cannot produce force efficiently from this position. Your squat becomes a quad and lower back exercise. You push through quads out of the hole, your lower back locks out the top, and your glutes are essentially passengers.
How APT Compromises Your Bracing
APT flares your ribs, which destroys your Zone of Apposition. You take a big breath to brace, but it goes into your chest. Your intra-abdominal pressure leaks through your open rib cage. Your lower back takes the compressive load that should be distributed across a pressurized core. This is why heavy squats always make your lower back tight.
The Corrective Warm Up That Fixes It
PRI corrective exercises performed as your squat warm up can produce noticeable changes in a single session. Depth improves because the hip socket is in a better position. Bracing feels more solid because the rib cage is down and the diaphragm is domed. Drive out of the hole improves because the glutes are contributing. MOVECHECK identifies which specific patterns are affecting your squat and generates the corrective warm up your body needs.
See This In Your Own Body
Every concept in this article is tested in the MOVECHECK assessment. Find out which patterns apply to you.
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