Yoga Journal USA – June 2017

62

june 2017

yogajournal.com

ANATOMY

practice well

PHOTO: PAUL MILLER; ILLUSTRATION: MICHELE GRAHAM

FOR 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 Miller

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 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.