My next Pilates course – Stay In The Loop – covers the five main benefits of strengthening your glutes.
Our back sides (our glutes) are very important but become weakened because of our modern lifestyle, whether working for hours in front of a computer, stuck in traffic, sitting on trains or having prolonged periods of sitting at home.
We’ve given ourselves what I call “lazy glute syndrome”.
And then when our glutes become so resistant to firing up, our hip flexors become tight because they’re having to work too hard. This can lead to several health and mobility issues.
Now for the technical stuff …
We have three main muscles in the glute: gluteus maximus, gluteus medius, and gluteus minimus.
If you come to my class regularly, you’ll know how much I bang on about the importance of the glute medius (the middle glute)! It is the prime mover of abduction at the hip – in lay person terms, it moves your thigh away from the body midline.
The glute minimus acts as a hip stabiliser and also moves your thigh away from the hip, acting in synergy with the middle glute.
Then there’s the big glute: gluteus maximus, which is the primary hip extensor and the largest of the muscles. Its biggest job is to keep us upright and pushing us forward when we walk.
The glutes are the largest muscles in our body for a good reason and need to be worked regularly.
The 5 benefits of strengthening your glutes
1. Strong glutes decrease back pain
When our glute muscles are strong and firing correctly, they can do their job properly. Stress and pressure are relieved from our lower back and spine and therefore muscles like our hip flexors don’t need to over-compensate.
2. Strong glutes decrease knee pain and promote proper alignment
Strong glutes help with proper alignment between the hip knees and ankles … I often see clients with weak ankles that roll in, or with one or two knees that roll inwards, and are being treated for this when the actual problem is muscle atrophy in their glutes.
It's the deferred misalignment of the joints that causes the pain.
3. Strong glutes improve balance and stability
This is so important is this as we age.
Try standing on one leg and notice which side feels more unstable and weaker.
We don’t want to become so weak and unstable in either hip joint that we’re at risk of falling over when doing simple, everyday tasks such as cleaning, getting out of the bath or carrying shopping.
Being constantly worried about falling over has a real effect on our quality of life. Leading an independent life at home is important: Pilates V. Bone Density Pilates – What’s The Difference? explains how bone density Pilates focuses on areas prone to osteoporosis – such as wrists, hips and ankles – that are more likely to break in a fall.
4. Strong glutes will improve your posture
When glutes become inactive our posture suffers due to muscle atrophy (when muscles waste away due to inactivity).
Ensuring the glutes are strong helps stabilise the pelvis and support the spine, which is essential for better posture.
5. Last but not least, I’m calling out to all my walkers, golfers, runners, tennis players and gym lovers!
Try getting up from a chair – or even the floor – without using your hands. Can you do it?
Your fabulous backside is so powerful … and so essential to support your activity, reduce pain in the lower back and hips, and improve your performance.
Stay in the loop to strengthen those glutes
On my next course (in person at Bishop Gilpin and available online), I’ll show you how to use a new piece of equipment to strengthen the glutes: glute bands (I will supply these in class; if attending on Zoom, please buy them from Amazon here). We’ll pay particular attention to the medial glute.
We’ll also use longer bands to open the hips and stretch them – read about the importance of doing this in Tips For Hips.
And, of course, we’ll take a full body approach using familiar exercises to strengthen the core and back as well as stretch out our muscles.
Say goodbye to lazy glutes! Let’s stay in the loop together and look forward to leading happy, healthy, mobile lives and enjoying everyday activities free from pain or with as little as possible.
Stay In The Loop course dates
The course is run by me in person at Bishop Gilpin School, Wimbledon. This is an 8-week course at £96 and early booking is advised. To enrol, please click here
Starts: Tuesday 3rd September / Wednesday 4th September
Ends: Tuesday 22nd October / Wednesday 23rd October
Class times: Tuesday at 6.30pm; Wednesday at 6.30pm and 7.45pm.
Alternatively, why not join in via Zoom. To find out more or about my in-person Pilates for Bone Density course at The Wimbledon Club, please click here
See you on the mat soon!
