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june 2017yogajournal.comANATOMY
practice well
PHOTO: PAUL MILLER; ILLUSTRATION: MICHELE GRAHAMFOR MANY PEOPLE, appearance is
the top priority when it comes to
their posterior. But yoga practitio-
ners also know that the gluteals
can do so much more than look
great in jeans: They’re the primary
players in many of the movements
that make it possible to do yoga.
The gluteus maximus, medius, and
minimus—along with many other
smaller, supporting muscles—act
as a base of support for the pelvis
and hips. What’s more, these hard-
working muscles stabilize your
femur (thighbone) in your hip
socket, rotate your femur internally
and externally, and draw your leg
back. And yes, all of these actions
also help us stand and walk, and
even support us when we sit.
Unfortunately, there are
a number of ways we jeopardize
the health of this important muscle
group. For starters, our increas-
ingly sedentary lifestyles are lead-
ing to what experts call “gluteal
amnesia,” in which the butt mus-
cles become overstretched and
underused (read: weak). On the
fl ip side, it’s also possible to overuse
and overexert these muscles—
whether we’re excessively clenching
the tush in certain asanas, such
as Warrior Pose II or Wheel Pose,
or pushing too hard while running
or hiking. Not only do under- or
overworked glutes affect range of
motion in the hips and sacrum, but
strength imbalances can also lead
to instability or pain when we’re
on our mats. Here’s how to fi nd
a happy medium.Get to know ...
Your glutes
A strong, supportive bottom is key to a safe, pain-free practice. Here’s what
you need to know about the gluteus maximus, medius, and minimus muscles;
why our sedentary lifestyles are overstretching them; and how to use your
yoga practice to balance your backside.^ By Jill MillerYour backside in backbends
The gluteus maximus can be your best friend when it comes to safely
performing backbends. Yet overusing this big muscle by clenching your butt
as you backbend can lead to irritation and injury in the spine and sacroiliac
(SI) joint. In order to mitigate excessive spinal compression in backbends,
it’s helpful to use the buttocks and adductors (inner thighs) to support the
weight of the pelvis, hips, and spine. Work on the following actions:
STEP ONE
Make sure your feet are parallel to one another—and that the hips and
legs are not externally rotated, which compresses the SI joint and causes
the sacrum to tilt forward (nutation), possibly leading to pain.
STEP TWO
Activate your inner thighs to ensure that the gluteus maximus does not
turn the hips outward. Squeeze a block between your thighs in almost any
backbend to train your adductors to “turn on.”
STEP THREE
Contract your gluteals in order to posteriorly tilt (tuck) your pelvis while
simultaneously activating your abdominals as if doing Ardha Navasana
(Half Boat Pose). This will minimize lumbar compression and transfer more
of the backbending action into vertebrae higher up the spine.A NEW EPIDEMIC: GLUTEAL AMNESIA
Are you sitting right now? Squeeze your buttocks, then release them: You
should feel them tighten, then slacken. While slack muscles aren’t necessarily a
bad thing—all of our muscles shouldn’t be firing at all times, after all—resting
all of your body weight on your slack glute muscles (as you do when you sit)
creates a lengthening of the fascial tissues within and surrounding the glutes,
which weakens the gluteals’ natural tension. When the buttocks are excessively
weak, the quadriceps and hip flexors have to work harder to compensate, and
these muscular imbalances often sneakily follow us onto our mats to cause
problems and pain. Want help? Try the poses on page 64.