Carrolltown Gluteus Muscle Weakness Helped by Exercise: Planks

There is so much more to the glutes than being seat cushions! They must be strong and supportive to keep us, especially us Carrolltown back pain sufferers, walking, balanced, up-right. Gormish Chiropractic & Rehabilitation takes gluteal muscle strength seriously, particularly the gluteus medius muscle, one of the foremost supportive spine muscles along with the gluteus maximus, tensor fascia latae, lumbar multifidus, external oblique, erector spinae, and rectus abdominus. So many muscles, so little time to talk about them all. Your Carrolltown chiropractor is focusing on the gluteal muscles in this article. The others will be discussed in the future.

FOCUSING ON WEAK GLUTEUS MUSCLES WITH SIDE PLANK OR BRIDGE

When supportive muscles are weak – gluteus maximus, gluteus medius, multifidus and transverse abdominus – doing exercises that strengthen those while not activating others like the erector spinae and tensor fascia latae is desirable. Side bridge while lifting the dominant leg is one exercise that demonstrated its ability to be good to activate the gluteal muscle over tensor fascia latae muscle. (Side note from this study: Back bridge exercise was beneficial in strengthening the multifidus muscle.) (1) One variation of side plank is the side-sling plank. Researchers found that it enhanced gluteus medius strength post-injury. Side-sling plank with hip medial rotation proved itself superior in patients with gluteus medius weakness  but  dominant tensor fasciae latae. (2) Side bridge exercises were documented to strengthen hip, trunk, and abdominal muscles as well as challenge trunk muscles without high lumbar compression, an important item for back pain sufferers like those Gormish Chiropractic & Rehabilitation takes care of in our Carrolltown chiropractic office. Another variation that showed itself better than the others for strengthening a weak gluteus medius muscle was the side bridge with knee flexion. (3) When glute muscles are weaker than their surrounding muscles, exercises focused on activating the gluteus max and gluteus medius without involving surrounding muscles like the tensor fascia latae, etc., are key. One easy exercise that activated the gluteus maximus and gluteus medius muscles while reducing the impact of the tensor fascia latae muscles was the clam exercise. (4) With so many different types of exercise possibilities, depend on your Carrolltown chiropractor to help pinpoint which of your supportive muscles are weak and decide which exercises - natrual parts of chiropractic care - are most beneficial in strengthening them.

CONTACT Gormish Chiropractic & Rehabilitation

Listen to this PODCAST with Dr. Robert Krause on The Back Doctors Podcast with Dr. Michael Johnson as he discusses care of a patient with degenerative disc disease and back pain who found relief with The Cox® Technic System of Spinal Pain Management that included exercise.

Schedule your Carrolltown chiropractic appointment with Gormish Chiropractic & Rehabilitation today. Don’t just sit on your weak glute muscles. Strengthen them, so they can best support you!