More Pelvic Floor - Lesson 4 - Use Your Glutes
Image Source: https://community.babycenter.com
Use Your Glutes - to Support the Pelvic Floor (right down to the knees)
Teaching Tools for This Lesson: You will want 2 same size, small stick-like things - pens or pencils, knitting needles, chop sticks, etc. during this lesson. Also, padding for knees if you choose to kneel (optional).
The pelvic floor ideally operates like a trampoline, held by the sides but still flexible enough to bounce. Strong, mobile glutes help to suspend the pelvic floor. Tight glutes make the pelvic floor less elastic - and less able to handle the occasional cough or case of the giggles. In many cases, your pelvic floor isn’t weak, it’s tight!
The gluteus maximus is the heaviest and largest muscle in the body. The gluteus maximus is twice as heavy as the gluteus medius muscle and 27% heavier than the second heaviest muscle in the body. It attaches to the pelvis, which in the average female, accounts for 16% of the total body weight..
Those big, strong glutes suspend the pelvic floor and have a direct impact on it’s flexibility and strength . The gluteus muscles counterbalance the pelvic floor. If the pelvic floor muscles are weak, so are the gluteus muscles. If the glutes are overdeveloped, they can pull the sacrum too far back and create long-term pelvic floor weakening. Unbalanced glute use is another factor: gripping the glutes unevenly tightens the pelvic floor muscles unequally, setting up an imbalance that goes right to the feet.
This week, we squeeze those cheeks to feel the connection to pelvic turns, attend to the femurs rotating in the hip socket, and tuning into how the tush helps stabilize the knees. (The knee connection is a real revelation for me!)
The lesson moves through different orientations, from lying on the back to (optionally) kneeling to help build awareness of the power of the glutes and increased awareness of how a tight butt can affect things deep within.
Gluteal muscles - notice to connection down to the knees. images source: wikipedia
Dive into the anatomy with these amazing 3D animations of the gluteal musculature:
Muscle Anatomy Of The Hips & Buttocks - Everything You Need To Know - Dr. Nabil Ebraheim (good review of the musculature, better without the audio)
Muscles of the Gluteal Region - Part 1 - Anatomy Tutorial (Anatomy Zone)
Muscles of the Gluteal Region – Part 2 – Anatomy Tutorial (Anatomy Zone)
Les muscles de la hanche : petit fessier, moyen fessier (French titles, but great animation of muscle movement)
Grand fessier; tenseur du fascia lata, deltoïde fessier (muscles de la hanche) (French titles, but great animation of muscle movement)
Focus this week: Squeeze them Cheeks and find Release
How you might feel after this lesson: Deeply relaxed overall; Centered and Grounded; Deep breath; conscious connection from cheeks to feet in both directions; clearer alignment from pelvis to spine; better understanding of the connection from 'buns' to knees and ankles. Could be transformational for skiers, bikers, hikers, salseros and merengue dancers. Gets you ready to rock and roll the romantic way.