All About... Your Glutes

All About... Your Glutes

- Kristin Mahoney

AVOIDING DEAD BUTT SYNDROME

This preventable condition results when your glute muscles don’t function properly together.

HERE’S HOW IT WORKS

If you experience severe hip pain during and after running, or tend to shift the majority of your weight to one hip, you may suffer from gluteus medius tendinosis, aka “dead butt syndrome”. Your three gluteal muscles are all attached to the pelvis. If the larger gluteus maximus becomes weak, the smaller gluteus medius muscle takes on a workload it can’t handle, causing inflammation, damage, and pain.

HOW DO YOU FIX IT?

Left untreated, your knees, Achilles tendons, calves, and feet may be affected as they try to compensate for the pain and inflammation, so see a sports therapist for treatment. The syndrome can be reversed by consistently exercising the glute muscles on all planes (front-back, side-to-side, and rotationally).

Anatomy of Your Glutes

A. MAXIMUS

The maximus is one of the strongest muscles in your body. It’s responsible for the movement of your thigh and hip and is used when doing activities like rising from a sitting position, bent-leg deadlifting, and sprinting.