by Last month, it was my tail that started to rise so badly that I could barely go to the kitchen and come back. My doctor confirmed that it was a pain in the sacroiliac joint and although it was probably mainly caused by the pregnancy hormones that relaxed my pelvis very soon, the problem was exacerbated by the instability of – you guessed it – weak buttocks.
I immediately went back to YouTube looking for some workouts that could help. In a video from BodyLove Pilates, trainer Ali Handley shares a buttock exercise with a seat belt around the calves: As you push your legs out into the belt, slowly raise and lower your heels while maintaining a firm heel. resistance. .
Watch a show starting at 8:18:
Following Handley for just eight reps, I immediately felt my middle glute on the outside of my hips explode — and I remained committed even when I was done. I walked my dog around the square right after, and felt the muscles still burning (also known as light burning at each step). This activation kept my pelvis more stable and less sore than it had been in a week.
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So I told myself that I would repeat the exercise every day. Which meant I did it for two days in a row and then I forgot about it right away.
I knew I had to make it a habit somehow. Because this is such a simple exercise that does not require much concentration, I realized that instead of devoting dedicated time, I could just incorporate it into my morning routine: Now, when I first sit down at work, I just wrap a resistance and squeeze my calves. for the first half hour (or until I get up to drink more coffee) and do a few heel lifts every now and then while checking email and Slack. I hold the band next to my laptop to remind me to put it on and because it does not take me extra time from my day, I actually do it.
This may be the easiest workout routine I have ever done. And also one of the most effective. In just over a week of regular exercise, I could feel these hard muscles become stronger and my pelvis stay more stable when I walk or run – which means I have experienced almost no SI joint pain.
I know, I know: Sounds too good to be true. Are such effects somehow somehow in my mind? I asked NASM-certified instructor Cecily McCullough, who works with clients in the functional P.Volve studio based gym, asking if this kind of habit could really be effective or if I just want to I think so it is and I experience some kind of virtual result.
He points out that working the buttocks while sitting can be a strategic way to isolate and target the right muscles. “When you sit, you have more support with your pelvis and spine, so you do not work against other factors, such as when you stand or even lie on the floor, you work against gravity,” he says. “And with sitting motion, it’s also a minimal range of motion, especially because the band adds resistance.” Even when I do not pay much attention to raising and lowering my heels, the movement is so small and limited that it is easy to maintain proper shape.
On the other hand, physiotherapist Theresa Marko, DPT, a representative of the American Physical Therapy Association and owner of Marko Physical Therapy in New York, says that my exercise would not fit into the glutes as much as just. tightening them together and releasing them while you sit. Or, even better, he says, to get up and move. “Frequent short breaks can go a long way in relieving problems before they start,” he says.
But as the cliché says, the best kind of training is what you will do. While there are many other ways to strengthen my buttocks, for now I will continue to do the one I can hardly think of.
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