Australian_Yoga_Journal_October_2017

FOR MANY PEOPLE,appearance is
the top priority when it comes to
their posterior. But yoga
practitioners 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 stabilise 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 jeopardise the
health of this important muscle
group. For starters, our
increasingly sedentary lifestyles
are leading to what experts call
“gluteal amnesia”, in which the
butt muscles become
overstretched and underused
(read: weak). On the flip 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
PHOTOS: PAUL MILLER; ILLUSTRATION: MICHELE GRAHAMfind a happy medium. 75

october 2017

yogajournal.com.au

ANATOMY

your practice

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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 Miller

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 77.

Your 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 minimise

lumbar compression and transfer more of the backbending action into vertebrae higher up

the spine.