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Monday, January 31, 2011

USE IT OR LOSE IT

Come on admit it, there isn’t a single guy out there who doesn’t take a second look or say ogling at the beautiful piece of ass walking right in front of you. Ok ladies you can wipe that smile from your face as it goes to you as well. Don’t deny me; I have seen the ladies crank their head to get a good look at that muscular butt walking past you.
Well today it’s all about ass or say glutes, whichever keeps you more focused.
     I will be writing it in two parts, with the first one talking about what the glutes are and what happens when they get weak. In the later part I will be talking about exercises to strengthen and activate the glutes muscles

ok thats enough  please keep reading

Before we read further I want to thank Bret Contreras or “The Glute GUY” for his major work in glutes www.bretcontreras.com The major reason for me to come up with this blog was the ass whooping I received from the row I had done. All I had to do was post a good time on the 500mtrs row (thanks to the manipulating talks from the welsh wizard Nathan) and believe me forget the time I was forced to stop half way through. My hamstrings, glutes and lower back gave up on me or let’s say these bloody muscles never supported me in my row.

It was like old age in my 20’s!!!!
I was completely disappointed in my performance. Despite having a good physique I understood for obtaining maximum results all the muscles have to work informally. So after the ass whooping I received from the row, I put some serious workouts on towards my glutes which helped me to perform on my rowing exercise. Now I am able to do a 500mtrs row to a 2000mtrs row, not with the record timings, but being able to row at a steady pace for that long distances have been a major achievement.
ASS-Activation in progress
Every one who is reading this blog right now is seated on your ass either in your office chair or a couch which means your glute muscles are getting wasted due to constant pressure and misuse.

Let’s see the stats below to see how an average male would spend his day upon awakening till he hits the bed again and see the % of his glutes worked or activated


Timespend
Activity
% of muscle used

8hours@work
Moderate
2

6hours@bed sleeping
Light
.5

2hours@gym
Medium
2


4hours@housework
Light
2

2hours driving
Light
.5

2hours standing
Light
1
Total time                  intensity                    muscle used
24hrs
Light
8


So as you can see this is the average use of your glute muscle. Not much is happening in the lower department. Yeah, Well I am going to throw some light so you can see what those buns are capable of doing.
Now let’s see the importance of glutes, not that I want to keep it all scientific and technical but for those who would like to know that

The gluteal muscles are the three muscles that make up the buttocks: the gluteus maximus muscle, gluteus medius muscle and gluteus minimus muscle. The gluteus maximus is the largest of the gluteal muscles and one of the strongest muscles in the human body. Yes you read that right, its one of the strongest muscle or you can say that the powerhouse of your body. More than providing power for a average individual that’s the muscle that helps in keeping your posture upright by providing support for your lower back, pelvis, hips, knees and then finally your ankle and foot.
It’s a centre point which connects various muscle of your body in the right proportion and providing stability. There is an article written by my colleague on the ‘magnificence of mobility’:
http://nathanwilliamstraining.blogspot.com/2011/01/magnificence-of-mobility.html
In this blog entry, he clearly states about the importance of mobility and flexibility - Check it out.
Now let’s find out what happens when weak glutes and training mixex up:
Assume glutes to be a power plant supplying power and support to various muscles like the hip, lower back, thighs, core and muscles connected to the above as well. So what happens when the glutes become weak or they don’t perform?

The Hips
Glutes play a major role in hip joint stability or say movement of the hip. The hip flexors work in the movement of the leg, basic walking, one leg can only go forward when the other leg goes backwards and for that you need glute activation. Say that the glutes are weak,  all the extra work load is done by the hips and thighs. Due to the constant pressure and tightness the pelvic region is forced to adapt to the new workload and it leads to posterior pelvic tilt or what we simply say FLAT ASS Not only that but with tight hip flexors you end up with an anterior rotated pelvis like the Kalahari bushmen and that’s an ass you wouldn’t want to have!


now choose which ass you want to end up with


You can choose which one you would opt for. Both of them have been caused due to poor or no glute activation.

Bonus tip: How many of us end up doing countless crunches and still complaint about the lack of ab development respective of the well diet you maintain? It looks like we just discovered who is been taking in all the crunches we do. Due to the poor glute activation, the hips have been working hard, making them tight which in turn acts as a sponge absorbing all the crunches you have doing.

feeling Jealous!
 
keep on crunching














The knees
We have seen 3 major problems with weak glutes, but that’s not it here comes the normal, common worry
Coach, my knee hurts while I run, coach-my knee is kinda feeling sensitive. I am sure we run to a doctor and a couple of X-rays and scans later, the doc says you are fine just take it easy and here you go-this is a pain killer. What a relief the doc has given us a green light to train! Couple of painkillers and anti-inflammatory pills later and we are off to the gym. Shit! we end up with the same issue - why?
There is not rocket science behind it, due to the tight hip flexors and weak glutes the Tensor fascia latae (TFL) and the Iliotibial Band (ITB) create a tibial external rotation to the femur creating excessive stress at the knee. The knee is not out of position and all the walking and running and exercises you have been doing is causing more damage   and that’s an injury you want to keep off.
Ok, we know what a weak glute can give us - weak back, pelvic problems, tight hips, painful knees and Weak ankles
It is important to understand that the entire lower body is connected in a sort of weird way. The ankles, knees, and hips all support each other to some extent. Ankle pain may not be entirely from problems in the ankle. In fact, it is more likely a result of poor knee and/or poor hip mobility and/or stability. On the same note, knee pain is most likely due to the hip or ankle and hip pain is most likely due to the knee or ankle. These three joint systems are all connected and imbalance in one may lead to issues in another.

Shit… that’s a lot of injuries that we can prevent just by training the glutes! In Part 2 of this article I will show you the best training, exercises and techniques you can do to get those solid glutes….
Ass-ta la vista, Baby!

1 comment:

  1. Nice start on the blog mate. Glutes are massive in performance so its an un-trained area where most people are lacking. I will spread the word on my page and through FB :)

    ReplyDelete