Your buttock muscles are some of the most important muscles to keep strong and healthy. This might sound funny, but it’s an accurate statement.
Your buttock muscles are responsible for just about all daily movement such as getting up off a chair, climbing steps, walking, running and jumping. The buttock also helps you stay healthy, as it acts as a stabilizer to your knees, hips and lumbar spine. Most people with back pain have weak buttock muscles. The buttock acts as a shock absorber to the lumbar spine. Without the strength of the buttock, the spine doesn’t absorb shock very well when moving, which can lead to back pain and pull the spine out of a neutral position. The buttock also helps to prevent your knees from buckling in or out when walking, running and stepping and is the main stabilizer to your hips. So if you have a history of hip pain the buttock is an important muscle to strengthen. And of course, who doesn’t want a nice looking butt!
An easy test to see if your buttock muscles are doing their job is performing the bridge. If you bridge and you feel the majority of the exercise in your low back, hamstrings or front of the thighs, then that’s a good indicator that the buttock isn’t doing its job.
Wake up the butt muscles with the three exercises below.
1. Bridge
2. Clam or band lateral and monster walks
3. Hip abduction
4. Squats, lunges and step-ups after you work on #1-3 first
We all know by now that sitting has been coined the new smoking.
Although most of us know about the dangers of sitting, we continue to sit at every chance we get. After sitting five to eight hours a day, people will go to the gym and sit on the machines to do their workout. Stand up and do your exercises at the gym. Excessive sitting can cause muscular imbalances, or in layman’s terms weakness and tightness throughout the body. For example, when you sit, your hips, hamstrings, chest and shoulders all tighten up. And if your hips get too tight the muscles on the other side (which is your buttock) won’t be able to contract which can set you up for pain and injury. Also, sitting for more than eight hours a day can reduce aerobic efficiency while elevating the “bad” cholesterol and increase the risk of high blood pressure or coronary disease. A simple but effective tip to help get up from the seated position is to keep a water bottle on your desk and sip throughout the day. This will force you to get up to go to the bathroom and stretch out.
Silver Stars Fitness is the premiere fitness company that specializes in working with the baby boomer and beyond client. We offer personal training, Yoga, Tai Chi, massage therapy and small group classes.
Class schedule is as follows:
Monday: 30 minute circuit 6:30pm
Monday: Balance & Fall Prevention @1230
Tuesday: Yoga @1030am
Tuesday: 30 Minute Circuit @12pm
Wednesday: 30 Minute Circuit training 1030am
Thursday: 30 Minute Circuit Training 10:00am
Friday: 30 Minute Circuit training 12:30
Sunday: Yoga @12pm
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