26/10/2019
LORDOSIS, KYPHOSIS AND SCOLIOSIS | CMS Fitness Courses
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LORDOSIS, KYPHOSIS AND SCOLIOSIS
Hadyn Luke 11/11/2013
Tags: Anatomy & Physiology
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26/10/2019
LORDOSIS, KYPHOSIS AND SCOLIOSIS | CMS Fitness Courses
Today’s blog focuses on three types of spine curvature. It’s important for personal trainers to
recognise these issues, as it will affect the choice of training programme they set for clients
presenting with any of these three disorders.
We all have a slight kyphotic curve in the upper back and a slight lordotic curve in the lower
back, and this “neutral” spine relieves stress on the vertebrae and ligaments. However,
some people develop more prominent curvature.
WHAT ARE LORDOSIS, KYPHOSIS AND
SCOLIOSIS?
Lordosis is when the spine curves in excessively at the lower part of the back; also known
as swayback. It can be caused by a variety of conditions, including:
Osteoporosis
Obesity
Kyphosis
Achondroplasia
Pregnancy
Kyphosis is when the mid to upper back becomes rounded to a significant degree and is
often accompanied by an anterior pelvic tilt. It can be caused by:
Poor posture
Arthritis
Osteoporosis
Spine infections or tumours
Scoliosis is when the spine develops an S-shaped or C-shaped sideways curve – or lateral
deviation. Most commonly found in adolescents, it can be hereditary or cause by a birth
defect, an injury or disease. It can also develop from regularly carrying something heavy on
one side of the body – for example a mother carrying a child on her hip.
All three conditions will hamper movement and create additional stress on the spine and the
tissues that surround it.
SYMPTOMS OF SPINE CURVATURE
The symptoms of these conditions can vary from mild to severe but may include:
Lordosis – back pain, reduced mobility, pronounced buttocks, a gap between the floor and
the lower back when lying down.
Kyphosis – back and leg fatigue, curved upper back, head tilting forwards.
Scoliosis – leaning to one side, uneven hips, uneven shoulder blades.
FITNESS TRAINING AND BACK
PROBLEMS
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When exercising in a gym environment or during everyday activities such as lifting and
bending, it’s important for individuals to keep a neutral spine to avoid developing lower back
pain (see our blog on Lower back pain) or any of these more severe back conditions.
Personal trainers may find that clients who overtrain the anterior part of their body during
resistance training, for example by doing a lot of chest presses without working the opposite
muscles, can develop kyphosis (see our blog on Resistance exercise: How to avoid
overtraining).
Equally, those who spend long hours seated for work may develop tight hamstrings, which
bring the hip down into anterior pelvic tilt, which over-arches the back.
TREATMENT FOR SPINE CURVATURE
DISORDERS
Mild cases of lordosis and kyphosis can be treated with strengthening and corrective
exercises and physical therapy, while more severe cases may need medication, a back
brace or surgery. Obese people can help relieve symptoms by losing weight. Antiinflammatories can help, but personal trainers should be careful when training clients taking
medication as they may not feel pain when carrying out an exercise incorrectly and could
cause additional damage to the back.
For scoliosis, a back brace can benefit growing children to prevent the conditioning
worsening, although in some cases surgery may be needed.
CORRECTIVE EXERCISES
A fitness trainer can work with clients to address lordosis and kyphosis, whether using
corrective exercises or PNF stretching (see our blog on PNF stretching) to stimulate the
muscles in the back and retract the shoulders.
Lordosis – generally a client’s abdominal, hamstring and gluteus maximum muscles are
likely to be weak, which will affect their ability to carry out exercises such as the squat, the
Roman chair sit up and the standing military press. To counteract this, a personal trainer can
set the following as corrective exercises:
Crunches
Seated leg press
Leg curl
Kneeling hip flexor stretches and lower back stretches
Kyphosis – a client with kyphosis may struggle with overhead exercises, in particular the
shoulder press, seated triceps extension and overhead squat. The client may benefit from
carrying out the following:
Low rows
Lateral pull downs
Hamstring and hip flexor stretches
Scoleosis – although there are fewer exercise solutions for this particular condition, a
personal trainer could work with a client on stretching the concave side of the curve and
strengthening the muscles in the convex side of the curve.
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