Strengthen Your Glutes!

If you've been a regular reader of my blog, you might have realized by now that I am a tiny bit injury-prone. I've heard something now from both my Physiotherapist and my Chiropractor. That something I keep hearing is that I have weak glute muscles. Since I have such weak glute muscles the rest of my body is compensating for those and in return, I get injured.

isn't that convenient? I'm missing 2 of them now.

I find it confusing that I have weak glutes because I do lunges regularly, especially after long runs. When my PT watched me do lunges the other day she noticed that my knees go inward when I do them. Oops, that's something else I do when I run; my knees almost cross over each other...which is something that I do to compensate for my weak glute muscles.

The combination of weak glute muscles and the way my knees go inward when I run makes me injury prone while running.

While running now I need to:
1. keep my knees a soccer ball width apart. Don't laugh, I find it challenging.
2. lift my knees way higher
3. keep my back straight. Slouching is so much more comfortable, isn't it?

In general I now need to:
1. not lean toward one side when I drive, watch t.v, etc.
2. keep my knees a soccer ball width apart and strengthen the muscles on my lower inner thighs

It might not sound like a lot, but it is a lot to keep track of when you're running. I'm confused because I was my fastest when I just ran. No garmin, nothin'. Ah well.

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Some exercises to help strengthen the glutes are:

• lunges
• step ups
• plie squats
• hip lifts

Some exercises that help strengthen the inner thighs:

• machine adductions
• power squat (a squat with a weighted bar)
• sumo deadlift
• side lunges
• wall squat with exercise ball (and soccer ball for between knees)

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Google these exercises if you're unsure how to do some of them.

(I got my exercises from these websites )

Questions:

Are you injury prone? 

What part of your body (if any) do you find weaker? or stronger?

Don't you wish there was a more feminine name for deadlifts?