Glut camp!

Busy worried about how your glut-eals are going to look in that teeny bikini this summer?

C'mon dudes, I know you worry about that kind of thing too :)

There is more to the posterior than just good looking buns folks. The tush you can bounce a quarter off of is just an added perk, a buy-one-get-one-free, if you will, of waking up the back side of your body.

On the back of our bodies, we have diagonal muscular 'slings' which activate in a sequential manner depending on the task. Too often, we fall into patterns where we neglect to use these muscles at all or we begin to fall into habits in which muscles are activated at erroneous times. This can lead to over-reliance on anterior muscles such as the pectorals, quads and hip flexors.

When these front muscles are dominating the back side, it alters the mechanics of our skeletal structure, thus leading to injury.

While extension exercises are great, it is important to be cautious that you are not training your body in a manner which is reinforcing your learned movement patterns. Meaning, your body can and will find ways to cheat by using anterior elements to accomplish extension moments!

Start slow so you can begin to understand the movement in the spine and how it interacts with more global movements occurring through the arms and legs.

Swimming:

1. Begin laying flat on your belly with your feet about hip width apart, arms stretched above your head. Towel roll under forehead.
2. Be mindful of the curve in your low back. Position your pelvis so that it is upright to your head, (hip bones are parallel to the floor). If you are having a hard time with this, position a cushion under your belly to give your low back some extra support.
   
3. Inhale to prepare. Begin the movement from the center of your back and Exhale as you reach your Right arm and Left Leg away from you until they feel like they want to float up off the floor.
   
4. Allow them to lift off the floor, about 6 inches. Inhale and return to the start position.
   
5. Repeat with Left arm and Right leg.
   
6. Following 5 repetitions of the steps above, enlist your head into the action by reaching your head out long in front of you with your arm, growing through the spine. Continue looking at the floor as you would in swimming. Repeat for 10 repetitions on each side.
   

How about you guys? Have you started to prepare for beach season or are you unconcerned? How about extension exercises, do you incorporate them into your routine?