Personal Training in Carterton, West Oxfordshire Est. 2018
"BUM" REVIEW
A strong backside for a good reason
Bum, Butt, Backside, Buttocks what ever you call it, it is made up of the Gluteal Muscles.
The gluteal muscles help your body stay upright, keep your body moving forward and help you power through your workouts and everyday activities. Keeping your posterior healthy can make a big difference in every move you make.
Together, these muscles encourage hip abduction (the movement of the leg away from the body) and prevents hip adduction (the movement of the leg toward the body). They stabilize the hip and help us balance. But the biggest job is in keeping us upright and pushing our bodies forward when we are walking.
So, strong gluteals are important for proper pelvic alignment, propulsion during walking and running and even standing on one leg. Gluteals also help support the lower back during lifting and help prevent knee injuries."
Three reasons strong glutes are important
Reduce back pain Reduce knee pain Increase power and exercise performance, this includes acceleration, jumping and even heavy lifting. If your gluteal muscles get weak, you may find yourself less powerful and less efficient.
Have you ever thought of having glute work as part of your massage?
Yes, your buttock muscles! You have read above, they’re a hugely important muscle group, we use them in most things we do with our bodies and they get a good workout with every step we take so to leave them out during a massage makes no sense!
We’re just a bit reserved, because, well, it’s our bum! But to a professional massage therapist your glutes are just like your calves, quads, trapezium or deltoids – a muscle that needs working on.
The gluteals are working all day, every day. Tight gluteals may be the cause of conditions such as low back pain, hips that feel stiff, hard to find comfortable sleeping positions, pain going down the back or side of the thigh and down to the ankle.
A gluteal massage will start by warming up the area with broad, full strokes. The gluteal massage may seem to take longer than other muscle groups, but it doesn’t work to go into these dense muscles too quickly.
They are strong and will naturally tense to the point that no progress will be made if they’re not warmed up first. After the area is warmed up its time to relax the deeper layers of this group, where using hands, mainly thumbs and the heel of the hand to keep contact with the muscles and feel their feedback, but don’t be surprised (as with all deep tissue massages) to find fists, forearms and elbows being used as the tools to manipulate your muscles.
There are four layers of muscle in the buttocks and the gluteus maximus is the first. After the maximus releases, your therapist can move to the gluteus medius and then gluteus minimus. Then it’s down to the deepest external rotators – this is where the Piriformis lies, and this little, often unknown muscle is often the troublemaker for Sciatic type pain.
The best way to get the most from your massage is to ensure access to the skin over the muscles and the fewer clothing obstructions there are the better. To get the greatest benefit from any leg, lower back or gluteal massage I would advise if you’re comfortable with it is to disrobe. You'll be completely draped at all times with a towel and only the area being massaged uncovered. Or if you prefer wearing pants, bikini bottoms, thong or speedos. Loose shorts are okay as well, as long as I can get to as much of the muscle as possible.