Skip to main content

Glute Med and Min

 Glute medius  and glute minimus almost completes the opposite job of the glute maximus.  They are responsible for abduction of the hip (taking you leg out to the side of you body as if you were making a star shape), where the glute maximus is part of the muscle team the adducts the hip (taking the leg back towards the body). 

The glute medius and glute minimus medially rotates the hip (rotating at the hip joint so that the leg moves in towards the body) whereas the glute max laterally rotates the hip (rotating at the hip joint so that the leg moves away from the body)

Think about the clam exercise.  As the leg opens out and the hip rotates laterally the glute max is working.  However on the way back to the body the glute med and min are responsible.  Why does that exercise build so much?  Well you are using the glutes to open and close the leg.  Its important to keep the hip still so you get the work in both directions. 

The glute medius is imperative for pelvic stability.  What is pelvic stability?  When you walk or run you have a short time in your gait cycle when one leg is not in contact with the ground.  At this point your glute med is stopping you hip falling to the ground, preventing us having super wiggly hips.  

We all want to stay active and move well.  It is important to activate and work your glutes as part of a balanced fitness programme.  Come and try some Pilates and strengthen your glute muscles. 



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Pilates key principles: Concentration

 In a world of attention grabbing, Pilates is a 55 minute window of calm.  As a teacher of small group and solo Pilates I can tell if my clients are having a busy mind day. When the mind is elsewhere, movements are not as exact and clients ability to complete a challenging move is compromised.  It is OK to have a busy mind, we are not robots, however letting go of your thoughts and concentrating on the movements your body is making will help your Pilate practice to develop.  These are my top tips for concentration: 1) Be present, use the repetitive nature of the warm up to connect with every part of your body.  Try to visualize each part of your body, be selfish and only focus on yourself.  2) Pay attention to the alignment of your body.  The beautiful line from your toe, through your ankle, knee and then into your hip.  Maintaining correct alignment will increase the difficulty of an exercise.  Why not challenge yourself to completing level ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Glutes, min, med and max. Which one is one is working?

 Glutes, you have three glute muscles on each side of your body, which make up your bottom.  The glute minimus, glute medius and the glute maximum.  They do different jobs, so they need to be exercises in different ways.  Closest to the skin is the glute maximus.  If you press into the soft tissue of your bottom, you are pressing into your glute maximus.  This huge muscles covers up most of the other two glute muscles.  The glute maximus is the most powerful hip extensor muscles.  This muscle is responsible for taking the thigh behind your body line. (Hip flexion the thigh raises towards your tummy, hip extension the thigh is behind the body line, this happens when the back foot pushes off the ground when we walk).  The glute maximus also helps the body with the movement of hip adduction (stand on one leg and raise the other leg out the the side of your body up towards your hand/arm.  Adduction is the movement of this leg back in towards...
Post a Comment
Read more

Pilates key principles: Flow

 This is the point where we take everything we have learned over the past 5 months and combine it together.  Breath: The fuel for your power house  Pilates key principles: Breathing Concentration: Connecting your mind and your body  Pilates key principles: Concentration Centre: Your core, connecting to it and letting it power your movement  Pilates key principles: Centre Control: Using the exact alignment, avoiding excess tension, isolating muscles  and  Pilates key principles: Control Precision: The exact way the action is executed.  Pilates key principles: Precision We then add Flow so that the movement can flow smoothly and gracefully.  Combining all these essential elements into my Pilates practice is something that I am still working on.  I'm not sure I will ever hit the perfection target.  It is really important that everyone knows that their best is good enough.  However Pilates is bigger than turning up and waving...
Post a Comment
Read more