It's the trend... once upon a time, the world was going nuts for the boob job. Now it's all about that bass, that bass, no treble. The thing is, this time around, it's not just about physical appearance. Having strong glutes is about way more than just feeling comfortable swinging our buttocks around on the beach this summer.
Around 80% of the folk who suffer with lower back pain, would experience a decrease in discomfort if they strengthened their glutes. This is a shocking percentage.... we could be in LESS pain, if we followed a well-rounded exercise program AND did the rehab our physios had given us.
There are 3 main parts of the butt - the Gluteus Maximus, Medius and Minimus, they all do cool stuff - namely thrust at things, move the leg out to the side, behind the body AND rotate the leg outwards. All super important tasks, as dull as the last three sound! An imbalance in this area can lead to many issues including the lower back pain mentioned above, knee pain (because our butt controls the alignment of our knees when we are moving), hip pain, poor posture AND surprisingly, issues with the feet.
With our beautiful buttocks, sometimes they forget how to do things. We sit down a lot more than nature intended, and as a symptom of this, we can end up with tightness around the hips and weak/tight glutes. Sometimes we can even be super fit and do loads of exercise, but our buttocks still don't work as the Queen of Cheeks designed us.
So here are a few things that you can do to improve the situation:
1. Perform glute activation exercise like these to get the juices flowing
Even as an experienced exerciser, these are great to help you focus on your mind to muscle connection and achieving the best lifts possible! Grab a set of glute bands and join in at home. To buy Phoenix bands click here and use the code AM20 so save 20%. All 3 exercises can be done unbanded, so there is no need to go shopping unless you want to! Try a minute of each exercise every day for a fortnight and reap the benefits!
This is the good old donkey kickback which can be performed banded or unbanded.... keep that tummy tight, arm joints stacked and the movement controlled!
This is the Clam! Basically it's flashing - but in a controlled manner. Make sure you are nice and comfy on the floor, feet anchored together and then slowly flash, squeezing your cheeks as you do it. Make sure you don't let that band twang you back in!
The good old glute bridge! Band it and lots of magic will happen to your abductors as well! Control the movement, think of squeezing under rather than through and keep those feet hip width apart with the toes turned out!
2. Stretch
It's good to be both strong AND flexible.... one is not much without the other and an imbalance of either kind can lead to an increased risk in injury. So strengthen those glutes AND then stretch them.... with a glute stretch like this.... 30 seconds each side
3. Join me for Bum Club
Every Tuesday at 6:30pm we perform these exercises and many others! The gang are kind, funny and thrusty.... the top 3 best qualities in any Bum Clubber. The class is just 30 minutes and £3.25 if booked online. To book in, click here!
Happy strengthening those glutes!
