Tip The SI Joint and Back Pain Search Skip to content Menu Menu follow us Store Articles Community Loyal-T Club Loyal-T Points Rewards Subscribe to Save Search Search The World s Trusted Source & Community for Elite Fitness Training Tip The SI Joint and Back Pain Two smart ways to fix it by Michael Shaughnessy April 27, 2021April 13, 2021 Tags It Hurts Fix It, Training Ever have pain off to the side of your back, close to the top of the pelvis? That's your SI joint barking at you. What s the SI Joint The sacroiliac joint connects the hip bones to the base of the spine. Its primary job is to absorb shock between the upper body, pelvis, and legs. Problems may arise if there's too much motion of the joint. It's reinforced by small, surrounding ligaments as well as muscles like the gluteus maximus and piriformis. The posterior oblique sling also comes into play because it runs diagonally across the SI joints from the lats to the opposite glute across the thoracolumbar fascia (low back connective tissue) on the back of the pelvis. This sling stabilizes the SI joints. Why Does It Cause Pain SI joint pain is often caused by the TFL (tensor fascia latae) being overly engaged. The TFL brings the hip into flexion and acts as a stabilizer of the pelvis while standing. If unchecked by the gluteus maximus and piriformis muscles, an imbalance occurs, causing pain and dysfunction. Additionally, the lats and glutes not properly working together contribute to the SI joint's instability. How Do I Fix It To address SI joint pain, release the overly-engaged TFL muscle and engage the weak, under-engaged glutes and piriformis. Perform movement patterns to activate or engage the posterior oblique sling muscles to create more reinforcement of the joints and low back. A byproduct of doing posterior oblique sling work is increasing awareness of your body by training the mind-muscle connection. These muscles are difficult to engage if you're arbitrarily going through the motions. This will transfer nicely to your regular lifts as your ability to voluntarily contract the lats and glutes increases. Methods Foam Roll the TFL Find the "front pocket line" on the upper leg. That's the area where your TFL is located. Grab a foam roller and lie on it. Once you feel an area of tenderness, hunker down on that spot and breathe through it. Hunt the pain down and smash it for two minutes. Split Stance Band Rotation Take a lunge stance. Grab the handle of a band or cable with the same hand as the front foot, using the other hand for support. Pull away from the apparatus, leading with the elbow to fire that same-side lat. As you pull, squeeze the glute of the extended leg. Don't over-rotate. Go as far as maximal engagement of the lat will go, then rotate back to the start position. Get The T Nation Newsletters Don' t Miss Out Expert Insights To Get Stronger, Gain Muscle Faster, And Take Your Lifting To The Next Level related posts Training Tip The Broke Lifter s Home Workout You don't need a garage full of gear for this workout. In fact, all you need is one dumbbell. Training Dr Sam Spinelli April 15 Training Tip Accelerate Workout Recovery Two Ways Lymphatic drainage: Sounds nasty, but it's not. Here's why you need to promote it and a couple of ridiculously easy ways to do it. Tips, Training Dr John Rusin June 1 Training Advanced Training Max-Growth Cluster Sets Cluster sets will get you jacked, but they neglect two important growth pathways. Maximum Growth Clusters hit all three. Here's how to do them. Bodybuilding, Training Christian Thibaudeau September 21 Training 5 Workouts for Non-Responsive Biceps Not genetically blessed? Here are the most proven workouts for those with lagging or non-responsive biceps. Arms, Bodybuilding, Training Christian Thibaudeau October 24