Having a toned booty looks great, but there has to be other
benefits to strengthening your glutes right? Your gluteals (maximus,
medius, and minimus) are the largest and strongest muscles in your body,
and they aren’t just for show.
Your glutes and hamstrings work together to extend, rotate, and
abduct the hip. It is extremely important to strengthen these muscles,
and doing so comes with a multitude of benefits. Building your gluteals
can improve your poster, improve athletic performance, decrease your
risk of injury, and so much more. Here are just a few advantages to
strengthening your glutes:
#1: Improved Posture
While slouching may feel way more comfortable than standing up
straight, it can have many negative effects on your body. Many of us
suffer from poor posture, and at times it seems almost impossible to
fix. Having weak or underdeveloped glutes can have detrimental effects
on your posture, as they are part of your body’s stabilization system.
When your glutes aren’t properly toned, your latissimus dorsi
overcompensates, pulling the torso and shoulders out of their proper
position. If your hip flexors are stronger than your glutes, they can
pull your pelvis into an unnatural alignment. This can cause both poor
posture and pain. So how can you fix this problem? Simply adding some squats, lunges, and dead lifts
to
your current routine is a good place to start. Make sure to properly
stretch out the opposing hip flexors for the best results.
#2: Injury Prevention
Your glutes are one of the main supporters of your lower back. When
your glutes are weak, they may not be able to preform their main
function: hip extension. If your glutes can’t do it, your body
will find other muscles to take over the job. However, these helper
muscles weren’t designed for that task and can become over-stressed
quite easily. This can lead to pain and compression in the lumbar spine,
hips, and knees.
Glutes that aren’t preforming properly increase the risk of injury to
the knees, lower back, hamstrings, and groin. Therefore, strengthening
these muscles is extremely important when trying to protect your body
from injuries. Strong glutes help decrease the risk of injury during
exercises like dead lifting by taking some of the pressure off your
lower back. Protect these muscles by strengthening your glutes through
exercises like hip thrusts, single leg dead lifts, and clam shells.
#3: Athletic Performance
Not only do strong glutes decrease your risk of injury, they can also
help improve your overall athletic performance. Your glutes are
responsible for accelerating, decelerating, changing directions, and
creating explosive power in jumps. High performance sports require you
to have strong glutes and hip extensors in order to achieve the best
results. Athletes with strong glutes will be faster and more explosive
in their movements compared to those with weaker glutes. In order to
strengthen these muscles, try adding some l ower body strength training or going for a run.
#4: Defeat Back Pain
The glutes play a major role in relieving some of the stress and
pressure from your lower back. Your glutes help control the movement of
the pelvis, hips, legs, and torso. The glutes help slow down the flexion
of your hips which helps counteract the downward pull of gravity. This
helps prevent your lumbar spine from over-rounding forward. Your glutes
help to stabilize the pelvis and movement in the hip joint. Therefore,
having strong glutes means that your lower back doesn’t bear the full
force of your motion. Using a roller to properly stretch and massage
your glute muscles can help promote better movement of the pevlis, hips,
and legs.
Final Thoughts
While having a well toned rear end looks great, the benefits go much
deeper than just appearance. Having strong glutes is an integral part of
your body’s overall health. Powerful glutes play a key role in how
efficiently your body moves, and helps to limit the amount of stress put
on your lower back. It is extremely important not to overlook the
glutes when working out, so make sure to add some glute strengthening
exercise to your current routine.
If you are interested in learning more ways to improve your glute
strength or simply want to know how to live a healthier lifestyle,
contact a staff member at Unique Health and Fitness in New York. We have a full equipped gym that can help you accomplish any health and fitness goal. Take a look at our locations here https://uniquehealthandfitness.com/.