Should we all desire a toned, strong butt?
When we talk core muscles we think of our abdominals, hamstrings and quads. Yet, our core – or powerhouse - also includes a complex network of deep layers of muscles such as our transverse abdominis, hip flexors, back muscles and glutes.
Understanding these muscles and what they do is really important to help us learn more about our core.
I’ll be focusing on some of these muscle groups in a series of blogs helping us to understand our anatomy, exploring the importance to our core and looking at exercises we can do to target them in our Pilates workouts.
Why our glutes deserve more of our attention.
The glutes, or gluteal muscles, are a group of three muscles which make up the buttocks: the gluteus maximus, gluteus medius and gluteus minimus. They are our body's largest and most powerful muscle group and work together, with our hamstrings, to extend, rotate and abduct the hip. The glute maximus is also the largest of the three gluteal muscles and our body’s primary hip extensor.
Strong glutes are essential for:
Aligning the pelvis and ensuring hip stability and mobility;
Supporting the lower back during lifting motions, reducing back stress;
Executing many common lower body exercises and movements like squats, running, balancing on one leg, and even walking;
Reducing susceptibility to hamstring injury;
Enabling proper knee tracking, helping prevent knee injuries.
We often hanker after a well-toned posterior for aesthetic reasons. However, if we have under or overworked glutes it can affect the range of motion in the hips and sacrum. This can impact pelvic positioning and posture, leading to back problems. Issues originating with the glutes can also cause hip, knee and ankle problems - and can even be linked to shoulder pain (source).
The domino effect of poorly activated glutes
Unfortunately, our lifestyle involves a lot of sitting down - at a computer, in front of the TV, in a car - and this leads to the lack of activation of our glute muscles. They simply switch off. We then end top with weak and underused glutes - as well as tight hip flexors. This has a domino effect on the body:
Our hip flexors shorten when we sit. This tightening on the front makes the complementary muscles on the back – our butt - weaken and give up.
When we sit we tilt out pelvis forward, a position that makes our glutes less likely to activate and causing lower back ache.
Sitting on the glutes – even for short periods - can compress the tissues, starving them of oxygen, which also affects muscle activation.
So what can we do?
In order to improve function of the glutes, it’s important to challenge all of the gluteal muscles to help reduce chances of injury as well as better power your movements. Many glute exercises such as squats and lunges target just the glute maximus and it makes sense to include a variety of exercises to target the whole muscle group.
The great thing about Pilates is that it not just helps tone and sculpt your butt; it also helps build a strong core, improves your posture and so much more by targeting the muscles that support your hips, like your hamstrings, quads and outer and inner thighs.
Tone your butt with Pilates
Pilates is a great way to work on your posterior. It offers a balanced exercise routine that activates the different glute muscles, focusing on both your mobility and flexibility.
Pilates exercises to include in your glute workout include:
Bridges (with or without an activation band)
Lateral step out squat (with an activation band)
Leg lift (with or without an activation band)
Donkey kicks
Double leg kick
Heal beats
If you do have weak glutes and are starting out on your exercise path you may struggle to feel the glutes. During glute work, such as Pilates bridge, I often suggest you give your butt cheeks a tap first to wake them up.
And this may not be as strange as it sounds. Poor activation may be caused by sleepy muscles or by being be overshadowed by other muscles that are doing more than they need to be (source).
It is clear that we need strong glutes and hamstrings to improve our posture, alleviate lower back, hip and knee pain, as well as enhance athletic performance. It is also worth bearing in mind that as muscle burns more calories at rest than fat does, strengthening and toning the largest muscle groups in our body will not only help us look and feel great - but will also help accelerate fat loss too. Winner!!
So, working those glutes is a no brainer! And there’s no better time than now to show more respect to those humble glutes - and to start giving your butt some extra TLC.
If you are interested in learning more about Pilates - live instructor-led classes you can do from home - click here.
Sources and further reading
Pilates Anatomy (2nd Ed) - Rael Isacowitz & Karen Clippinger
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6670060/
https://www.verywellfit.com/best-butt-exercises-1230773
https://openhealthclinic.com/its-all-about-the-glutes/
https://www.muscleandstrength.com/articles/real-benefits-stronger-glutes
https://www.menshealth.com/fitness/g19546820/best-glutes-exercises/