In this episode I'm going to get a bit more geeky. I am a self confessed human body nerd!

I love learning about the body, how it moves and how we can improve it. I then love sharing this passion with my clients and anybody that we listen to me haha.

In the last episode we looked at sleepy glutes and how to activate them. In this episode we will be exploring how yoga can help strengthen your glute muscles. This will improve running performance and reduce your injury risk.

Let's get into this episode…

WHAT THE GLUTES DO

A strong posterior chain, which includes the glutes, can increase running efficiency. They also help maintain proper form, prevent injury, and increase speed.

By increasing glute strength runners can build a strong, solid foundation. You can do that with exercises like bridges, squats, step-ups and single leg exercises.

These exercises will help you generate greater power while running. As well as reducing your risk of injury. So why wouldn't you want to improve your glute strength?

You don't need to lift heavy weights to strength train. Using your bodyweight is a great way to load your body. That's where yoga comes in.

Let's get a bit more in depth with what each glute muscles job is. This will illustrate how important they are to strengthen. Then we will look into yoga.

GLUTE MAXIMUS

The gluteus maximus (buttock muscle) is the primary extensor of the hip. It's the biggest muscle in the bum.

The glute max handles the power produced while running. Hip extension is when your leg extends behind your torso.

The glute max also helps to rotate the leg outward to aid with foot strike, as well propel the body forward.

The glutes help to stabilise the core during the stance and swing phases of the gait cycle. This contributes to proper balance and posture.

The gluteus maximus is the strongest and most powerful of the three gluteal muscles. It plays a major role when running because it helps to achieve efficient propulsion.

The glute max also helps you slow down when you need to decelerate. Strong gluteus max help reduce unnecessary force placed on the knees and ankles.

GLUTE MEDIUS

The gluteus medius is one of the most important muscles during running gait. It is closer to the hip and a lot smaller than the glute max.

It handles pelvic and hip stability while running, as well as helping to control hip rotation. Weak glute medius is the cause of a lot of issues at the hip, especially hip drop.

The glute medius helps to absorb shock. This creates stability and alignment which is great at protecting the lower back.

Without the gluteus medius, running would be much less efficient. You would also pick up a lot of injuries throughout the body.

GLUTE MINIMUS

The glute minimus is under the glute medius. It works with medius to provide stability and shock absorption during stance phase.

Its role is to control the external rotation of the hip joint at the beginning of the swing phase. This motion drives the hip forward during the forward swing.

The glute minimus also helps to decelerate the hip at the end of the swing phase. This partly controls the amount of swing. This helps the foot strike of the opposing leg.

The glute minimus helps protect the hip joints during the stance phase of running. Its job is to make sure the hip does not go into a hyperextended position which could lead to injury.

THE BENEFITS OF PRACTICING YOGA

Yoga has many well-studied benefits on the body. These are becoming clear to runners. Dedicating time to practice yoga will keep you running injury free.

Yoga will strengthen your body and increase your flexibility. This will create more efficiency when you are running.

Yoga poses target areas in which running doesn’t target and that are often neglected. Such as the upper back, hips and shoulders. Increasing flexibility in these areas can help reduce the risk of injury from an imbalanced running gait.

Yoga improves your breathing and relaxation. When you breathe better your body is more relaxed, less tense and more connected. Focusing on breath can help you become more aware of potential issues with your form.

Breathing will help improve your endurance. Managing breath and focusing on belly breathing will help reduce tension and stress. Your breath rhythm will also be much calmer. Hyperventilating causes the gases in your lungs to be out of balance. This limits oxygen uptake in the blood.

Yoga is great at improving your balance and proprioception. Improving balance and proprioception will make you more adaptable and agile. Especially when it comes to navigating terrain, whether it’s a tough race or a simple trail run.

When I started practicing yoga, it helped me connect to sensations in my body. I developed my body intelligence. I could feel when something didn't feel right. This helped me self-coach when I was exercising.

The breathing techniques transformed my stress and anxiety levels. Developing breath awareness helped my running. I could run for longer without trying harder.

It would take me 5-10 minutes to try to get into a rhythm with my breath. Bringing yoga breathing into my running changed that. I set my breath rhythm from the start of each run. This laid a foundation for relaxed running.

I definitely noticed a difference in the amount of times I was getting injured. The general aches reduced as I made my body more supple and less tight. I could feel which areas needed some work on them.

I know I'm biased. But the evidence is there. If you practice yoga you get a host of health benefits and it improves your running.

HOW YOGA STRENGTHENS MUSCLES

As I mentioned at the beginning of this episode. You don't need to life heavy weights to strength train. You also don't need to do HIIT workouts as fast as you can. You can strengthen muscles with yoga.

You have to understand which poses target the areas you are trying to strengthen.

Yoga strengthens muscles by using a combination of static holds and dynamic poses. Static holds involve using the muscle's own resistance to strengthen it. Dynamic poses create resistance against gravity. This helps to increase muscle mass and strength.

Isometric holds are a type of strength training exercise. This is where you hold a muscle in a static contraction for a period of time. This is a great way to maintain tension and build muscle strength in the targeted muscle.

You usually feel a burning sensation in the muscles working. This is a good insight that the muscle is under tension. It has to work against this tension. Put the muscles under repeated tension and they have to adapt to this stimulus.

They then grow stronger as a result of repeated stimulus.

SINGLE LEG EXERCISES ARE GREAT TO BUILD GLUTE STRENGTH

Single leg exercises help to target the glute muscles. Single leg exercises involve movements or poses with one leg doing the majority of the work.

You can also utilise tapping the glute muscles ensure they are activating. If they aren't activating, tapping them helps retrain your nervous system to activate. This activation will build strength against the resistance.

Doing single leg exercises will balance out weaknesses in each side. Your dominant or stronger side usually does the majority of work when running. Focused strengthening on each side balances this out.

Stronger glutes increases strength, power and stability when running.

10 YOGA POSES TO STRENGTHEN YOUR GLUTES

Finally, what are the 10 poses that are going to strengthen your glutes? Not all are standing poses. You can strengthen your glutes laid on the floor. So no excuses.

The 10 poses are:

1. Chair Pose

2. Crescent Lunge

3. Figure Four Pose

4. Glute Bridge Pose

5. Fire Hydrant

6. Warrior 3

7. Reverse Lunge with Reach

8. Goddess Pose

9. Donkey Kicks

10. Side Plank with Leg Lift