Prominent Lower Abdomen? It Might Be This Muscle!
Lower back muscles may be unfamiliar to many, but some common issues related to them: Despite not being overweight, having a protruding abdomen, thick legs, pelvic anterior tilt, lower back pain, knee pain, and difficulty raising legsare relatively familiar. Today, let's start with the iliac muscles and small belly protrusion, and we will sequentially introduce other related issues. If you are interested, please remember to follow San Kin (Three Gold)!
01 What is the Iliacus Muscle?
The iliac muscle is the combination of the iliacus muscle and the quadratus lumborum.
Origin:The quadratus lumborum originates from the 12th rib and all vertebral bodies' lateral processes; the iliacus originates from the iliac fossa; the two muscles come together in front of the femoral head and stop at the femoral neck.
Function:Near fixation (fixing the pelvis) - bends and externally rotates the femur at the hip joint; distant fixation (fixing the leg) - when one side contracts, it causes trunk side bending; when both sides contract simultaneously, it causes trunk flexion andpelvic anterior tilt.
Diagram of Near Fixation Flexion
02 Iliacus Muscle Tension and Small Belly Protrusion
According to guidelines issued by the Canadian Public Health Agency:Sitting for 8-12 hours or more, sitting motionless everywhere, such as driving, using computers or mobile phonesMost modern people can be defined as sedentary people according to this standard.
Prolonged sitting maintains hip flexion, and as the iliacus muscle, the largest hip flexor, is passively shortened, it gradually becomes tense under the tension of the tense iliac muscle, causingthoracic lordosis and pelvic anterior tilt.
Iliacus Muscle Tension Pulling Pelvic Anterior Tilt Diagram
With pelvic anterior tilt, the internal organs in the abdominal cavity will shift further down and sink into the lower abdomen, which will visually cause the appearance of fat accumulation, even if there is not much fat in the abdomen, it will still make people feel that this is the result of fat accumulation.
Spinal neutral and pelvic anterior tilt plus forward head posture
03 Simple Iliacus Muscle Stretching Relaxation
If you also have the above problems, sedentary + small belly protrusion, San Kin suggests that you should do simple iliac muscle stretching and relaxation daily and after prolonged sitting.
- Place the soles of your feet on a sofa or stool, kneel on one knee, and step forward with one leg
- Squeeze the buttocks on the same side slightly and push them forward, and bend the torso slightly with the hand reaching over the head
- Feel the stretch on the upper side of the thigh and the side of the waist
- Stretch for 60s each side
- Do it 2-3 times a day, and try to stick to it every day.
