8 Comments

  1. Wow – great post! Love the first image of the muscles and the bones – I’m not a doctor/health care professional by any means but somehow I am so drawn to images like that – the human body is amazing! The information you shared is really resonating with me right now because for the past year I’ve been going to a yoga class that focuses on pelvic alignment – and how everything begins in the pelvis. The premise is that all the unevenness and imbalance in our bodies can be traced to pelvic misalignment, which then results in the quads working too hard (as you have written) and potentially a host of back, hip, and even shoulder issues. Amazing. It’s been such a great class because for many years of my yoga practice, I was going to vinyasa style classes (which are absolutely wonderful as well) but going slow in an alignment class really makes me focus on that often-neglected part of the body. This leads me to think… is the butt the new “core”?? 😉

    • gracefulfitness

      I am obsessed with pelvic alignment and stability as well, ask any of my Pilates students! The pelvis is definitely the essence of the core and its strengths and weaknesses ripple up and down the body with sometimes disastrous outcomes! I love that you found a good yoga fit for you and that it is teaching you they ‘why’ of the pose, not just the ‘how’.

  2. Wow, I didn’t know any of this. I do tend to do total body workouts, or workouts that focus on push/pull muscles on oposite days. But I can speak first hand about the pain that comes from weak hamstrings and glutes. This past week my knee has been slipping out of place after I did an intense hamstring workout. My hamstrings were sore for days and my knee bugged me so much I had to take a few days in a row off to rest. All healed now and everything is back to normal, and now I know that putting special attention and care on these muscles could help avoid injury in the future. 🙂

  3. I typically do full body circuits when I workout, but I make sure all the areas are covered. Squats are one of my favorites, but I never really thought about how unbalanced squats can be. Deadlifts and hip extensions are also some favorites of mine, though. I like having a sore butt. 🙂 It reminds me I worked hard.

  4. Thanks for this post! I feel like I sit (at work) all day and run/train all night… my IT band has been driving me crazy these past couple of weekends on my long runs while training for a half marathon. Your info about over-working quads with the weak glutes/hams makes so much sense, I’ll have to up my ante in that department. Looking forward to the stretches in tomorrow’s post!

  5. I recently added a serious deadlift regimen to my training & LOVE it. Your posts are always so detailed & informative. I’m often cautioning people (especially runners) to balance their lower body by focusing on glutes (especially medius) & hamstrings. Really great information Faith!

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