COREBAN SUP Australia: Gluteals Muscles

Friday, April 22, 2011

Gluteals Muscles

Gluteals - BUTT Muscles

Why is your Gluteal Region important for SUP.

Having weak or tight Gluteal Muscles will casue other areas of pain and fatique in your body while paddling. If you have poor techique and you find your hips, knees & calves are tight and sore look at improving your strength or stretching in your Gluteal region.

Poor Techique can cause your stabilizing muscles in your gluteals to work over time causing discomfort and injury. Improve your gluteal region to improve your paddling.

The Muscles of the Gluteal region are responsible for the extension, abduction, lateral rotation and slight medial rotation of the hip joint.

Starting from deep within the Butt region and working out the following muscles combine to form the Gluteals.

The Fensor fascia latea is seen form the lateral side of the gluteal region
Quadratus Femoris
Obturator Enternus
Inferior Gemellus
Piriformis
Gluteaus Minimus
Gluteaus Medius
Gluteaus Maximus

Arteries and Nerves

1. Superior Gluteal

2. Inferior Gluteal

3. Internal Pudendal

There are three arteries coming into the gluteal region through the greater sciatic foramen. The nerves of the glueal region are branches of the lumbosacral plexus:

Superior Gluteal Nerve
Inferior Gluteal Nerve
Sciatic Nerve
Posterior Femeral Cutaneous Nerve
Pudendal Nerve.

Gluteal Muscle imbalance and stretching exercise

The Gluteals can also be negativly affected by muscle imbalance problems with adjacent muscle groups. Muscle imbalance refers to the gluteal muscles being shortened while the hip extensor muscles are lengthened with the respect to each other. Inflexible hip flexors can cause an excessive anterior pelvic tilt which inhibits the gluteus maximus and tight adductors fascia lata can inhibit gluteus medius and minimus. Therefore, to ensure correct recruitment of the gluteals, the surrounding mobililiser muscles of the hip must be fully flexible.

A set of stretching exercises & specific strengthening exercises for the hip flexors, hamstrings, adductors and tensor fascia lata should be part of your flexibility program at the end of your training session.