Anytime you’re standing, the muscles of your glutes and hamstrings are working. Trouble is, most of us are spending more and more of our days sitting—whether in front of a computer or 46-inch plasma. The impact of so much chair time: Our hip muscles not only become weak, they forget how to contract. This is especially true for your glutes. And that’s a shame, since your glutes are your body’s largest and perhaps most powerful muscle group.
What’s more, when either your glutes or hamstrings are weak, it disrupts the muscular balance of your body, which can cause pain and injuries in your knees, hips, and lower back. The solution? Make working your glutes and hamstrings a top priority, using the exercises in this chapter.
Bonus Benefits
Greater calorie burn! Since the glutes are your biggest muscle group, they’re also one of your top calorie burners.
Better posture! Weak glutes can cause your hips to tilt forward. This puts more stress on your spine. It also pushes your lower abdomen outward, making your belly stick out.
Healthier knees! Your anterior cruciate ligaments (ACLs) rely on your hamstrings to help them stabilize your knees. Having a strong set of hamstrings can help your ACLs do their job and lower your risk of injury.
MUSCLE MISTAKE
You Work Your Quads Harder Than Your Hamstrings
A study in the American Journal of Sports Medicine found that 70 percent of athletes with recurrent hamstring injuries suffered from muscle imbalances between their quadriceps and hamstrings. After correcting the imbalances by strengthening the hamstrings, every person in the study went injury-free for the entire 12-month follow-up. Now that’s strong medicine
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