Why Is The Most Powerful Muscle In The Body So Weak?
Last week, I was asked twice, "What are the glutes?"
When we use the term "glutes" we're usually referring to the whole complex of hip muscles--there are lots of hip stabilizers beneath the gluteus maximus.
The glutes are a critical component of overall health and athletic performance, yet are consistently weak and improperly trained.
They are the strongest muscles in the body but most people just use their gluteus maximus muscles to cushion their sitting.
All that sitting stretches the glutes and makes them weak.
Strong hips = feeling, moving, and looking good!
The glutes and other hip muscles stabilize the pelvis, affecting everything from your toes to your neck.
1. Strong glutes protect your back. Back injuries commonly occur when people use the little muscles in their lower back rather than using those big strong glutes. Learning HOW to move from your hips instead of your back is critical!
Strong hip muscles also prevent piriformis pain and IT band syndrome.
2. Strong glutes protect your knees. Knee pain commonly results from the hip muscles not keeping the knees aimed straight ahead.
Know someone whose knees turn in and/or feet turn out? Forget all that talk about "women and their wider hips..." or "knee tracking..." The problem starts at the hips.
3. Strong glutes protect your feet. Once your hips collapse inward due to muscle weakness, the force goes down the inside of your lower leg, leading to plantar fasciitis and bunions.
https://utahfootdoctors.com/
Yep, bunions aren't caused by wearing fancy shoes!
4. Strong glutes improve your balance. If the hip muscles don't stabilize your legs, it's easy to lose your balance. Then guess what you need to get back up again? YOUR GLUTES!!
5. Most people are doing lower body exercises wrong. They think those lunges, step-ups, squats, and bridges are working their glutes but if they don't know how to contract their glutes in an exercise, they’re likely to recruit other muscles like the quads, hamstrings, and back extensors, putting their back and/or knees at risk.
SO MANY clients have come to us who looked like competitive lifters....except their glutes were so weak they couldn't lie face-down on the table and lift their leg off of it. 😲
Invariably, they had impressive quads....and a flat backside....
Forget the Kardashians-- training glutes isn't just about a look - it's about being strong and saving your knees, hips, back, and feet!
