I have been avoiding doing any leg muscles for a while now; anyone who's knows me knows I like to run, swim and bike and anyone who really knows me knows that (like many of us) my Glutes are my weakness!
So, here we go! The Gluteus Maximus!
The Gluteus Maximus is a large and powerful muscle; it's basic functional movement is for walking and running. The Gluteus Maximus's origin is from the Illium and lateral coccyx and it's insertion is the posterior, upper area of the femur.
Commonly our Glutes become weak from spending large amounts of time sitting during the day, weakness in our Glutes is then often overly compensated by other muscles 'picking up the slack,' such as the Quadriceps. This can lead to pelvic imbalance and pain in our hips, lower back and lateral aspect of knees.
So, how do we strengthen the area? My favourite is an exercise called 'Clam Shell' and here is how it is done:
1.Lie on your side with your knees slightly bent and with one leg on top of the other.
2. Keep your feet together and lift your top knee until it’s parallel with your hip.
3. Lower your knee back to the initial position, repeat, and then switch sides.
You can even add some resistance bands to increase intensity.
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