The
glutes are for more than just sitting! They must be strong and
supportive to keep us, especially us Orchard Park, NY back pain sufferers, walking, balanced, up-right.
Novelli Wellness Center takes gluteal muscle strength seriously, particularly
the gluteus medius muscle, one of the foremost supportive
spine muscles along with the gluteus maximus, tensor fascia latae, lumbar
multifidus, external oblique, erector spinae, and rectus abdominus. So many
muscles, so little space to talk about them all. Your
Orchard Park, NY chiropractor is focusing on the gluteal muscles
in this article. More
to come on the others!
FOCUSING ON WEAK GLUTEUS MUSCLES WITH SIDE PLANK OR BRIDGE
When supportive muscles are weak – gluteus maximus, gluteus
medius, multifidus and transverse abdominus – doing exercises
that strengthen those while not activating others like the erector
spinae and tensor fascia latae is advantageous. Side
bridge while raising the dominant leg is one exercise that showed itself to be good to
activate the gluteal muscle and not the tensor fascia latae
muscle. (An aside: Back bridge exercise was beneficial in strengthening the multifidus muscle.) (1)
A variation of side plank is the side-sling plank.
Researchers found that it improved gluteus
medius strength after injuries. Side-sling plank with hip
medial rotation demonstrated itself superior in
patients with gluteus medius weakness but dominant
tensor fasciae latae. (2) Side bridge exercises were documented
to strengthen hip, trunk, and abdominal muscles in addition to being able to challenge trunk muscles without high lumbar compression, an
important detail for back pain sufferers like those
Novelli Wellness Center takes care of in our Orchard Park, NY chiropractic
office. Another variation that was described as being better than the others for strengthening a weak
gluteus medius muscle was the side bridge with knee flexion. (3) When glute
muscles are weaker than their neighboring muscles,
exercises concentrated on triggering the gluteus
max and gluteus medius without involving surrounding muscles like the tensor
fascia latae, etc., are vital. One easy exercise that triggered
the gluteus maximus and gluteus medius muscles while keeping to a minimum tensor fascia latae muscles was the clam
exercise. (4) With such a variety of exercises to pick from, allow your Orchard Park, NY chiropractor to help pinpoint
which of your supportive muscles are weak and decide which
exercises - natrual parts of chiropractic care - are most beneficial in strengthening them.
CONTACT Novelli Wellness Center
Listen to this PODCAST
with Dr. Robert Krause on The Back Doctors Podcast with
Dr. Michael Johnson as he discusses care of a patient with degenerative disc disease and back pain
who found relief with The Cox® Technic System of Spinal Pain
Management that included exercise.
Schedule your Orchard Park, NY chiropractic appointment
with Novelli Wellness Center today. Don’t just sit on your weak glute muscles.
Strengthen them, so they can best support you!