Glut Trigger Point Release Exercise-Pocket Physio
Glut Trigger Point Release Exercise-Pocket Physio
Tight gluteals (gluts) are often experienced by runners. The chief driver of tight gluts is typically ‘weak gluts’. That is when gluteus maximus (the sitting/bottom muscles) gets tight it is often due to the gluts being weak, and not activated enough.
Why Do Gluts Become Tight?
Our gluteal muscles have a high tendency for becoming easily de-activated. One of the chief reasons for this is because we can in our day typically sit in the gluts for often prolonged periods of time and in effect ‘squash’ them! This in effect renders the activation and force producing ability of the muscle group to be less. When a muscle has to work harder it in essence develops dysfunctional and ‘unhappy’ bands of tissue within the muscle known as trigger points. The weak muscle also responds by getting ‘tighter’ (higher tone).
To read more about trigger points click HERE>> (the truth about trigger points).
One of the other chief reasons for tight gluts I find in runners is due to a weakness of the deeper hip stabilising muscles, namely the hip externals rotatores. These muscles (pictured below) are responsible for reducing or limiting the degree of hip internal rotation when a runner lands. If the hip undergoes excessive hip internal rotation (collapsing inwards) on landing, the glut max muscles in response typically wind up their activity levels to stop the inward rotation at the hip, becoming over-active and tight in the process.
The chief hip stability muscles of the hip (pg 220 ‘You CAN Run Pain Free!’
What id the best thing to do for Tight Gluteals?
There are three things you can do to improve your tight gluts:
- Interestingly the first thing to do is to strengthen the glut muscles. Why because a tight muscle is typically a weak muscle! Try this exercise to strengthen glut max, click HERE>> or activating the gluts with this exercise HERE>>
- Secondly trigger point therapy for the muscle group, see video below.
- Thirdly, stretch the gluts, click HERE>> for my favourite glut stretch for runners.
Transcript
Hey guys, I just want to introduce you today to a glut release using a trigger point device called the pocket physio.
This is my trigger point device of choice made by Locker room Sports which an excellent little device, less than $20.00. The Gluts are important to helping lower back pain also helping to reduce tightness at the back here which benefits the loading of the front of the hip and conditions such as hip impingement and things like that. To be able to use it you put the point up the ceiling and then you just leaver the weight onto the glut and then off the glut like so for one to two minutes.
So, that is the Pocket physio guys for the gluts. Have fun!
Brad Beer (APAM)
Physiotherapist, Author Amazon Bestseller You CAN Run Pain Free! and Founder POGO Physio
