Abdominal Bracing vs. Pelvic Tilting

I’ve recently had a lot of conversations with patients about abdominal bracing and pelvic tilting.  Aren’t they the same thing?  What’s the difference?  

Dr. Jackie Riedel, PT, DPT, OCS on the blog today! If you've ever been to physical therapy for lower back pain or core strengthening, you've probably heard terms like abdominal bracing and pelvic tilting. While they might both sound and feel similar when doing them, they serve different purposes and play unique roles in rehabilitation and movement control.

Let’s break down what they are, how they are different, and when to use each exercise.

What Is Abdominal Bracing?

Abdominal bracing is a technique used to activate your core musculature.  The emphasis here is being able to engage and co-contract your abdominal muscles including the transverse abdominals, obliques, rectus abdominus, and spine stabilizers.  Although it may be tempting to ‘suck in’ your stomach when trying to perform abdominal bracing, it is important to keep breathing.  I’ll often cue patients to think about ‘pulling the rib cage down’ and drawing in abdominals as if a corset motion during exhalation.  Typically this is introduced when lying on your back with hips and knees bent with feet flat on the floor to help best learn and understand the movement before applying to more challenging positions.  

Ultimately, bracing can be incorporated during more functional exercises like squats, deadlifts, or even during everyday tasks like lifting activities.  This may be a helpful strategy in managing lower back pain, transferring force more efficiently, and improving upon performance with exercises like squats, deadlifts and overhead presses.

What Is Pelvic Tilting?

Pelvic tilting refers to the movement of the pelvis forward and backward. It’s more of a motor control exercise that can be helpful in finding and controlling a neutral spine positioning.  A posterior pelvic tilt, for example, flattens your lower back. Whereas alternatively, an anterior pelvic tilt arches your lower back.  This can help increase awareness of pelvic positioning and can be used to help improve lumbar mobility. 

So how do we know which one is better?

It completely depends upon the goals of the exercise and what may be best depending upon strength, mobility, and motor control.  Sometimes it may be more appropriate to use one over the other but many exercise may incorporate a combination of both abdominal bracing and pelvic tilting. For example, during a dead bug or bird-dog exercise, you’ll often tilt your pelvis to neutral, then brace before you begin moving your limbs.

Understanding the difference between abdominal bracing and pelvic tilting is crucial for building a strong, stable, and pain-free core. Whether you're rehabbing from an injury or just trying to move better, both of these tools belong in your toolbox.

Want help figuring out how to integrate these into your routine?  If you're looking for more personalized advice or need help developing a plan, reach out to us at The Method!