Let’s dive into two key concepts to help you find stability in your pelvis and relieve common issues like lower back pain, hip discomfort, knee pain, SI joint issues, and sciatica. By following the Success Formula, you can prevent injuries, reduce pain, protect your organs and optimize your movement.
- Flexibility
- Stability
- Strength
- Power
Understanding the Success Formula: Flexibility, Stability, Strength, and Power
A lot of us want to jump straight to strength training to build muscle that looks good in pictures, but without a solid foundation, that approach can lead to more damage than good. I like to use what I call the Success Formula: start with flexibility, then build stability, add strength, and finally, train for power. Each stage builds on the last, ensuring that your joints, muscles, and connective tissues are ready to handle increasing demands.
Flexibility: The Foundation
Flexibility is essential because it allows your joints to move freely without restriction. This freedom is particularly important in the pelvis, hips, and lower back. If you lack flexibility in these areas, other muscles may overcompensate, which can lead to pain and strain.
In the video above, I demonstrate a flexibility exercise using a Swiss ball. With the ball positioned between your belly button and pubic bone, you can gently stretch and open up areas like the lumbar spine, hamstrings, and even the adductors. For an extra stretch, bring your knees wide and feet together, letting your legs relax to stretch the glutes, piriformis, and other muscles that get tight from prolonged sitting.
Stability: Activating the Reflexive System
Once you’ve worked on flexibility, the next step is stability. Stability doesn’t mean rigidly bracing your core; it’s about activating reflexive stability in your spine and pelvis so that your body can adapt to movement without conscious control. To practice this, I suggest a simple but powerful exercise: with your feet together and legs slightly elevated on the ball, swing them gently side to side. This movement activates your spine’s natural reflexive stability, encouraging your core, spine, and diaphragm to work together harmoniously. As you get comfortable, you can speed up the movement to add a level of challenge, training your spine and core to respond quickly and stay stable.
Strength: Integrating Muscle Groups
Once flexibility and stability are in place, you’re ready for strength training, but it’s essential to focus on integration rather than isolation. Many people try to isolate muscles like the glutes or hip flexors, but they don’t work in isolation in real life. To create true functional strength, engage the entire chain of muscles supporting each joint.
An exercise I recommend for this stage involves driving one knee into the ball while lifting the opposite foot. This action engages the hip flexors, abs, glutes, and other surrounding muscles. You’ll feel a deep engagement in the glutes and a stretch through the hip flexors, enhancing hip stability and control, which is key for activities like walking, running, and even everyday movements.
Power: Building Explosiveness Safely
The final step is power, which is about generating force quickly. This can be challenging without risking injury, so I recommend using quick, controlled movements to build speed and coordination rather than relying on heavy weights. A simple but effective drill for power is to “flipper kick” your legs while balanced on the ball, aiming for fast, controlled reps. Keep your spine stable and focusing on the pace of the movement, rather than the range.
Power drills like this are great for activating the multifidus muscles, obliques, and other stabilizers that support dynamic movement. Remember, power work is intense and doesn’t need to last long; about 20 to 30 seconds per set is sufficient. Just be sure to rest thoroughly afterward to allow recovery.
Why This Approach Works
If you’re struggling with pain or instability, jumping straight to heavy lifting or intense workouts can make things worse. For example, if you try to strengthen your glutes without first addressing hip and pelvic stability, larger muscles will try to compensate, potentially leading to joint pain or muscle strain.
Building up flexibility, stability, and strength first allows your body to handle power and speed safely. This approach isn’t just for athletes—it’s essential for anyone who wants a pain-free, functional body. Many people focus solely on aesthetics and muscle isolation, but it’s just as important to consider the connective tissues, ligaments, and even organs in the pelvic area, which support movement and overall health.
Take Control of Your Body’s Health
Integrating flexibility, stability, strength, and power helps you move better, with less pain, and it lays the foundation for other movements, whether that’s lifting, running, or even yoga. I’ve used this approach to overcome my own back pain and sciatica, and I’ve seen it transform others’ health as well.
If you want to dive deeper, check out my courses at Four Lights Wellness, where I cover both physical and mental aspects of wellness. My course Healing (e)Motions: Trauma Release Exercises for People with Stress offers targeted physiological exercises aimed at reducing stress and mental health dysfunctions that can contribute to physical pain. I have a course coming up focused on movement for pain relief, called Crawling Out of Pain.
You can also sign up for my newsletter or subscribe to my Substack, which is packed with tips and insights on living a healthier, happier life. Additionally, if you’re curious about how these practices can be tailored specifically to your needs, I offer a free consultation to see if working together 1:1 could be beneficial. Let’s keep building that foundation and enjoy a happy, healthy life!