**Contrary to popular belief, having a shapely butt isn’t all about appearance or vanity. Watch this video and learn why you need to get stronger glutes!**
FREE 5-Minute Glute Workout:
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Having a strong rear-end not only helps improve posture, but it can significantly enhance injury prevention as well. The first thing we must remember is glutes are muscles. They are one of the strongest muscles in the body and are absolutely required in movements involving the hips and thighs like standing up, sitting down, and walking. Without the glutes, these activities would be extremely difficult if not impossible.
Many people take their glutes for granted. Having weak and/or inhibited glutes can cause more problems than people realize. Weak glutes can lead to a myriad of health issues; most commonly found being muscle imbalances. Here are a few surprising health problems than can be linked directly to weak glutes:
• Poor posture. Over time, weak glutes can cause the hips to tilt slightly forward (a.k.a. anterior pelvic tilt). If not corrected, this anterior pelvic tilt can lead to upper and lower body injuries.
• Low back pain. Many people mistakenly believe that lower back pain is caused by a problem with their lower back. They are linked but weak glutes leads to lower back issues. Your lower back depends on your hip flexors, glutes and hamstrings to remain balanced and strong. For example: If your glutes are not strong enough to fully engage when you bend forward, your spine must round forward excessively to lower your arms to the ground.
• Knee pain. Weak glutes can cause increased pressure on the cartilage around your knee. This is due to a higher amount of internal rotation on the femur.
• Hamstring strains. If the hamstrings become dominant during hip extension, it increases the risk of hamstring strains.
• Other lower body injuries. A study in the Journal of Orthopedic & Sports Physical Therapy found that the muscle imbalances caused by gluteal muscle weakness have been associated with several lower extremity injuries including patella femoral pain syndrome, iliotibial band friction syndrome, anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) sprains, and chronic ankle instability [3].
• Upper body issues. In addition to issues in the lower body, weak glutes can affect the upper body as well. When the hips are tilted forward or imbalanced, your postural muscles must work harder to keep the body aligned and upright. This unwanted mechanical stress can increase the risk of tension headaches as well as irritability in the muscles surrounding the upper back, shoulders and neck.
• Diminished sports performance. Strong glutes are essential for sports performance. Explosive movements seen in exercises such as basketball, volleyball, soccer, football, and running all require strong gluteal muscles. Few people would associate weak glute muscles with the ailments listed above.
As a result, a person may seek treatment for the injury itself, not realizing the actual source of the injury is weak glutes. As a result, if the glutes aren’t strengthened, they run the risk of re-injuring themselves once again. Because the quadriceps muscle group can often overpower the glutes, you want to make sure the glutes are getting the workout they deserve especially if you are an athlete.
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The #1 Exercise to Develop a Rounder Stronger Butt
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