[Emma]

Hi I wondered if someone could help with a query. Excuse me if the answer is very obvious! A young woman with very tight hamstrings has problems in stretching them, she finds it hard to sit up straight in straddle position and would have to have someone pressing her from behind to stretch down. My instructor suggested she has a tight lower back causing the difficulty.
She has very weak gluteal muscles and says she has difficulty engaging them even in specific exercises (I can see she barely uses them). How can she be helped to resolve the problem, and, for everyday life activity, would she have to reeducate herself to automatically engage them properly? What I mean is, if you are not using them to their full potencial, how can you "learn" to do so? Thanks if you can help me understand what's going on!

[lizzie]

It sounds like one of the reasons her hamstrings and lower back are so tight is that her gluteal muscles are not functioning as they should--I would explain to her that when she learns to really engage her glutes, she will most likely see a difference in her hamstring flexibility.

I have one glute that likes to switch off a lot, and when it's really lazy, the exercise I like best to "find" it again is lying on my stomach, knees bent at about 90 degrees, heels together, knees and toes apart (knees wider than shoulders). Forehead rests on the hands. First just press the heels together and feel the glutes engage. Then press the heels together and lift them up, so that the knees hover off the mat. It takes concentration to use the glutes and not just the hamstrings. Once she has the connection, it will become easier and easier to feel it in lots of different positions.

The good thing is that when you know how to engage the bottom, you can work it in just about every exercise. But it does take a lot of concentration. Soft knees, heels together, wrapping the thighs (forgive the shameless promotion), poking the muscle to give it a hint, will all help.

[Emma]

Thanks very much for the reply, that all makes sense and she has already started to consciously engage the glutes. Hopefully as you say we'll see a difference soon!

[Pilates Core]

I agree - the glutes fire first in a proper firing pattern. If the hamstrings are compensating by doing all the work, of course they're tight - they're doing two jobs!

Train the glutes by even just having her squeeze her bum and relax. Stott has an exercise called Heel Squeeze Prone that's great for getting difficult glutes to fire - not sure if it's in other charts or not. Basically lie prone, hands under the forehead, legs wide and laterally rotated with the knees bent, heels together toes apart. (think frog-like). Squeeze the heels together, then relax, repeat.

A PT told me that it takes something like 50k repetitions before it becomes habit - so it's a long process. But it IS doable - I've retrained several clients to fire glutes before hamstrings.

[Carole Amend]

hey lizzie and PC...seems you are both speaking of the same exercise?
I'd say the firing pattern depends on the relation to the support and the position.
Try grounding the sternum and the pb before squeezing or lifting the legs and see what happens....

Hi Emma:
In straddle position, make sure the client is all the way up on the sit bones, which will probably require the knees to bend. Keep the heels grounded and perpendicular to the floor. Just sitting there for a bit should already be a challenge. From there, maintain upright torso posture and roll the heels (no sliding), allowing the knees to follow. The quads will work, the psoas will find balance and the hamstring will lengthen. Eventually, (days/weeks/months depending) the legs will "fall" (do not push) to the ground and the hamstrings will develop a normal range. Note: do as many reps as the quads can take, then lie supine, legs together, until legs release (you can zip and unzip.."zippers"..the inner thighs here with slightly bent knees), before doing another set; do 3-5 sets.

Once enough weight is into pelvis, and she feels almost able to lift a foot off the ground, the legs will also begin to release; this will allow the pelvis to roll forward. Keeping the support in the sit bones and heels, focus on rotating the leg sockets (to work to keep the knees pointing to the ceiling) as the pelvis rolls towards the pb. This is to balance the inner thighs, which will help to balance the glutes. There's lots to note here on spinal position...many variations depending on what the body needs, but this is a start.

I call the above exercise "Heel Rocks"--one of our essentials. Over time, people can sit upright supported through a strong pelvis/torso and the legs will fall straight.

[Pilates Core]

Yes we are! For some reason, Lizzie's post didn't show up the first time I was here... weird. Sorry, Lizzie!

[bokfukata]

Good suggestions everyone. I'll have to try some of those.

I like what Lizzie has to say:

Quote

The good thing is that when you know how to engage the bottom, you can work it in just about every exercise. But it does take a lot of concentration. Soft knees, heels together, wrapping the thighs (forgive the shameless promotion), poking the muscle to give it a hint, will all help.

I have a lazy butt and have to be reminded constantly to use it. A sharp finger-poke and an equally sharp tone of voice do the trick for me but use whatever works for the student. Once I really realized that the junk in my trunk can actually be put to good use, good times are being had!

So why do some people/schools de-emphasize butt action?

[lizzie]

bokfukata, on 22 December 2009 - 07:09 PM, said:

So why do some people/schools de-emphasize butt action?

Do not get me started. The use of the hips - joints and muscles - has been one of the biggest Pilates lightbulbs for me. When I think of the amount of time some of my instructors used to spend saying "Relax the bottom" and "feel your glutes waving in the breeze", it kinda ticks me off, actually. And I was with a school who are pro-glutes, as things go. I know plenty of instructors who don't want glutes to fire in a shoulder bridge or a side leg lift. My school was keen to get the butt firing there, but not keen on it in Hundred, Roll Up or Teaser, for example.

I used to do hip flexor stretches (lunge/warrior-type poses) in nearly all my mat classes. Now I never do them, but I always feel freer in my hip flexors after a class. My hammies are looser, I roll better, my pushups are better, everything falls into place... people who don't work their butts are shortchanging themselves, in my experience.

Um, to answer the question: I think my reason for de-emphasising the tush was a belief that the core consisted of only abdominals (mainly transversus abdominis), pelvic floor and multifidus. I didn't want people using their "big bad" muscles to do the job of the core. Now, I don't want people to let go of their deep support muscles, but I certainly don't want them trying to use their TvA to extend their hips, or their multifidus to strongly rotate their spine, or their pelvic floor to bend their knee, or any of the other semi-harebrained things I used to suggest. (As a disclaimer, I'm sure that my school's HQ wouldn't have condoned all of those ideas - I picked them up from many sources, and some of them were enforced by my boss.)

I'm interested to hear other opinions here. I think (and hope) that demonising glutes was a brief PT phase.

[bokfukata]

Well, Lizzie, it seems that you and I are on the same proverbial page! None of my former teachers told me to squeeze my tush nearly as much as my current ones do and I'm ticked off (just slightly, mind you, because they did do lots of other wonderful things) at them for that. My big behind has turned out to be my friend rather than my enemy.

[gaile]

Its weird how some schools including my orginal one wanted everything relaxed aobut from the usual basic core muscles.We were always told relax your shoulders but actually teaching someone how to correctly use their shoulders is much better.You can always tell the teachers who come from that backgound from the mushy butt and the terrible teaser but again I have no idea why anyone thought you should be ignoring large chunks of the body when working out.Inner thighs have been the hardest thing to teach a group class as so many people use the quads etc instead.Getting knees to soften first seems to be the best way but I am happy to hear anything else that has worked for others.B I dont remember a large butt at all but if you did then you should definately mosey over to the UK where you would fit in just fine x

[Pilates Core]

I find glute med is the hardest thing to get a group class to work on. Quads start firing like crazy!

[LAville]

Caroles post was brilliant as usual. The position of the joint and transfer of weight, will permit the correct timing and firing of the muscles and that is crutial in order for the tight muscles to release tension (at the joints) so that movement can occur freely. You cannot force the body to change as force just generates more tension.

For me, coming from the fitness field and having an exercise science backgroud under my belt befor I started Pilates, I discounted the "don't use the butt cues". I always told my clients a strong butt means a strong back.... (the glutes tie in to the lats and the thorocolumbar ligaments and fascia and are responsible for hip extension so how can we Not use them.


I agree that those cues that Lizzie and Bokfu mentioned are really confusing, and are I really don't understand why it verbotin to use the glutes, when that muscle group is responsible for hip extension and I think that cueing not to use them is what causes the hamstrings to fire and cramp

[reinbeau]

I've always been told 'when in doubt, squeeze your butt!'. It's always worked for me. I do have issues with very tight quads and weak gluteal muscles myself, so I'm always working on that connection.

[LAville]

Emma: weakness in the Glute Med muscle is many times at the root of SI joint dysfunction.

But the Clam will really strengthen those muscles..

The "clam" with a small dyna-band around the upper thighs..side lying with knees bent at 45 angle..keep heels together and lift the top knee, being careful not to let the hips roll, rock or tilt backwards. do about 15 then add knee rotations..rotate knee toward ceiling and then to floor, keeping hips stable...do about 15

[taowave]

Great post L..

We need to work the entire posterior chain,and that includes the glutes,adductors as well as the hamstrings.There are specific instances where a muscle may be "dormant" and isolation may be called for,but your example of the connection between the lats and glutes is excellent.

Anatomy Trains was very interesting in that regard,and helped me understand that alot of the cues thrown out in Pilates are less than optimal.

LAville, on 28 December 2009 - 09:33 PM, said:

For me, coming from the fitness field and having an exercise science backgroud under my belt befor I started Pilates, I discounted the "don't use the butt cues". I always told my clients a strong butt means a strong back.... (the glutes tie in to the lats and the thorocolumbar ligaments and fascia and are responsible for hip extension so how can we Not use them.


I agree that those cues that Lizzie and Bokfu mentioned are really confusing, and are I really don't understand why it verbotin to use the glutes, when that muscle group is responsible for hip extension and I think that cueing not to use them is what causes the hamstrings to fire and cramp

[PilatesTCI]

What's really funny about the move away from glute work by many Pilates teachers is that one of the original claims made about Pilates (from Romana) is that it produces a "high, tight, toned Pilates tushy" which doesn't come from letting your glutes flap in the breeze!

[Siri Galliano]

PilatesTCI, on 02 January 2010 - 12:55 PM, said:

What's really funny about the move away from glute work by many Pilates teachers is that one of the original claims made about Pilates (from Romana) is that it produces a "high, tight, toned Pilates tushy" which doesn't come from letting your glutes flap in the breeze!

If someone has sciatica, that's a reason to not enforce squeezing, as to tighten the butt
can inflamme the nerve. sometimes the reason gets lost for why we do or dont do something
or why someone learned a certain way.

Otherwise, if you have a Gratz electric chair or wunda chair, that' a quick way
to get the bottom off of the thighs. the Electric Chair is the most unappreciated least
known of any apparatus outside of Romana's teachers. It was always the last exercise you did in the system at Drago's.

For your client if you have the complete system, you could really stretch the hamstrings
on the Ladder Barrel or Cadillac, then explain the three moves that builds a butt;
the glutes bring the knees to the chest, extend the leg, and externally rotate it.
they also stabilize the trunk, as in the short box.

Even though we do not spot reduce, we work the whole body, that being said, Romana
would teach me every butt exercise followed by every butt exercise since I worked on
so many Hollywood movies and that's what the stars needed. also, when I first learned from
her in 1989 I had a torn rotator so she would use me to demonstrate all the butt
exercises instead of Long Backstretch, etc.

If you know where the butt ends, and end the exercise there, like in the knee stretches
or Elephant,your mind will build the butt quicker. If you're the type to think Elephant is
an extension like a downward dog and push way back into your hamstrings, you'll have
no differentiation.

I can say "butt" in 15 different languages. That's fun if you get tired of the same word
over and over again.


Other best saying:"A butt is a butt is a butt"
or never cancel one butt for another one.

Happy new to all of you,
Siri Galliano

[fitdiva2007]

I am always working on my glutes, not the least reason is because I have hip issues. I also like having nicely developed glutes as well. I have a couple of links to share.
The first is this article in Figure Athlete (don't open at work!!!). I failed the first test (I think my hip flexors are too tight) and barely passed the second. It is really eye opening, and may help you think about how some muscles (e.g. hamstrings) can really overcompensate for weak glutes.

Here's another blog post, entitled 'Respecting the Glutes' that talks about training the glutes for function, rather than just aesthetics.

Also, I really like kettlebell training, because it really focuses on the posterior chain. In many ways, it is quite complementary to pilates work (see Chris Robinson's website) because every exercise is a total body exercise.

[taowave]

Hi FD,
Thanks for the articles...One of my pet peeves with Pilates is it doesnt really work the posterior chain enough.It is one of the main reasons I still incorporate weight training and stability ball training into my workouts.I dont think there is any exercise that is better than the traditional Back Squat with free weights.If you really want to build hip drive and glute strength,then learn how to squat correctly..

As for the two exercises,I would get a stability ball,lay supine with your feet on the stability ball and roll up into a reverse plank.From there,roll(pull) the ball towards your body as you bend your knees in(hamstring curl).If need be,keep your hands on your glutes to ensure they are firing.Extend your legs out and come back into a reverse plank and hold.As you get stronger,do the same motion with one leg on the ball and the other liftd slightly off the ball and extended straight.You can also take it out to the side perpedicualr to the body as in Tendon Stretch. Make sure you engage your glutes,adductors and squeeze your calves together as you extend.

When you get really strong,you can place your hands overhead as opposed to by your sides.I promise you in 60 days you will find those other exercise a walk in the park:)

T

fitdiva2007, on 02 January 2010 - 10:04 PM, said:

I am always working on my glutes, not the least reason is because I have hip issues. I also like having nicely developed glutes as well. I have a couple of links to share.
The first is this article in Figure Athlete (don't open at work!!!). I failed the first test (I think my hip flexors are too tight) and barely passed the second. It is really eye opening, and may help you think about how some muscles (e.g. hamstrings) can really overcompensate for weak glutes.

Here's another blog post, entitled 'Respecting the Glutes' that talks about training the glutes for function, rather than just aesthetics.

Also, I really like kettlebell training, because it really focuses on the posterior chain. In many ways, it is quite complementary to pilates work (see Chris Robinson's website) because every exercise is a total body exercise.

[Pilates Core]

Tao, I don't know if it's a Stott-specific thing, but we have tonnnnns of posterior-chain exercises. If you're willing to go outside the box, so to speak, check out a Stott manual - you may find some good stuff in there.