Update

I have a hip impingement caused by a pretty severe anterior pelvic tilt. My posture has limited my training for a long time.  5 years ago, I  regularly squatted 500 lbs. I can't do this anymore because: 1)  I have  postural imbalances that create hip/knee issues and 2) life gets in the way of programming.  Because of the mobility/postural issues, I never can string enough good weeks or months in a row to make squat progress.  I can't get up to speed quickly enough before something in life gets in the way.

The thing is, physique-wise I'm much more developed than 5 years ago.  Much more.  The potential for strength is there, which makes this so frustrating.   As I've gained more experience, I I've figured out ways to work in enough mobility stuff to get me by. But instead of fixing the underlying structural issues, my thought process was always "What do I need to do right now so that I can train hard tonight."

I've read a lot of Mike Robertson's stuff tonight trying to formulate a plan.  He had great quote in his Hips Don't Lie article:  "I can't tell you how many times I've heard someone say, "I've trained like this for years and never had an issue, so I don't know what happened." You've constantly reinforced bad posture and poor movement patterns, and at some point your body is going to break down. It's the proverbial straw that broke the camel's back."  This happened to me 8 weeks ago when I squatted 185 and the hip impingement first reared its head. Finally showed up after (more or less) ignoring my anterior pelvic tilt for so long.

There are ebbs and flows to training. Sometimes you're getting bigger, sometimes you're getting stronger, sometimes you're conditioning and leaning out, and sometimes you're doing God knows what.  In the end however, you're always trying to make progress towards a more bad-ass version of yourself.  At least thats how I look at it.

So, I have to fix this shit. I'm not entirely sure how to do it yet, but I do know its going to take a long time and its going to fucking suck.  Essentially, I have to turn the photo on the right into the photo on the left:

Obviously this will be no easy task.  The first major obstacle is I don't really know shit about anatomy. Before correcting an imbalance, you must assess.  That isn't easy when you've got a shitload of issues going on.  My imbalances have been built through years of strength training. And I do all the "right"stuff. My problem is ignoring little issues over time that have finally grew into more complex problems.

The Plan

I am immediately dropping squatting.  I have no choice - its the only thing that actually makes my hip hurt.  I put it through unnecessary trauma tonight that I need to recover from. Next, I need to figure out how fucked up I really am.  Generally, I understand that from the front, my hip flexors are pulling my pelvis down because they are short and tight. From the back, my erectors are pulling the back side of the pelvis to produce anterior tilt as well.

This means I need to potentially strengthen: Rectus Abdominus, External Obliques, Gluteals, Hamstrings.  And this means I need to potentially stretch:  Psoas,  Iliacus, Rectus Femoris, TFL, Spinal Erectors.

My high level approach is this.  Over the next 2 months I will do the general shit that is prescribed to fix an anterior pelvic tilt.  In December when I am home, as long as it isn't $1000, I'll stop by Cressey Performance in Boston to get some more individualized/professional assessments. I run with that. In January, I'll have the option of driving down to iFast to get more individual work from Robertson/Hartman.  Again, as long as an assessment and all that stuff isn't $1000.  I need people that know what the fuck they are doing.  I can figure out the major shit, but I would love to have someone experienced actually take a look.