Hey everyone. So my back has always had a pronounced curve inward in my lower spine and hunch at the top to make sort of an’S’ shape. I recently wondered if this is negatively effecting my running so I was looked at by a doctor. I have hyporlordosis which is the extreme curvature of the lower spine. I looked into it and found it has a huge effect on performance. It causes anterior tilt in the pelvis (forward tilt) which gives me hugely sloppy backside mechanics and an unnecessarily increased ground contact time. On top of this, the lordosis also causes kyphosis which is basically a hunched back. This limits my shoulder rotation range and has caused me to develop a grossly poor arm form to compensate for lack of arm rotation.
I have a few videos demonstrating my poor mechanics from last year. Since then, I have greatly improved on my form but due to my hyperlordosis it is FAR from as good as it could be. I am treating the condition with exercises and it is purportedly completely reversible. At the end of the indoor season I will upload new footage to show how my form has changed due to these exercises and hopefully I can get some real advise before outdoor!
If anyone on here has/had this problem please contact me! Incorrect spinal posture is NOT as uncommon as you might think and I feel runners should be educated on the disorders that might be causing their seemingly ‘unfix-able’ poor form! Thanks – Matt
Video 1: Lane 3 Leg 2
Video 2: Lane 4
(sorry about the unintended ‘narrations’ hehe)