i was told when doing the butt bridge exercise, one has to flex the glutes and when you come up only the glutes should be flexed not the hamstrings. I tried this as i sat down and layed in a supine position with legs bent and i flexed the the glutes to bring my hips up to extension and everytime i came up my hams would flex hard. I find this very difficult to do. Should i do this to fire my glutes more? I seem to be firing it good but one person says the fact that my hamstrings is flexing doign on this certain exercise suggests im not optimally recruiting the muscles in my glutes. Suggestions?
I did this exercise recently with a specialist. he told me that it is important to keep your knees together and feel the weight in your heels. he also told me that it will work your glutes and your hamstrings…
You will feel both, but you want to focus on getting the glutes to do the lifting. As someone above, point your toes up, and use a blue mini band right above your knees. Keep your legs shoulder with apart. If you don’t have a mini band, have someone push against your knees (in). This will activate your glutes (if you resist), making your glutes do a lot more work. Try it, it works.
If your glutes aren’t doing the work, then your lower back is probably going into extension to get you up.
If your hamstring cramps, it means that it’s doing the majority of the work and your glutes need to step it up.
haha! I think you mean "if your hamstring cramps".
I guess the other key is to make sure you are activating your pelvic floor muscles…
isnt usign your pelvis floor muscles an example of holding your pee or preventing one from farting? I use the pelvic floor to activate my transverse abdominal for exercise to make sure it is firing properly. The butt bridges i feel it in my glutes and hamstrings. However this physio i went to she can do it and only use her glutes, when i feel her hamstrings upon elevation they are’nt flexing at all only her glutes, i find this very hard to do.
That’s a matter of practice. It’s a pilates type thing, activate only what you are aiming to activate.
I think this is called ‘dissociation’ of the glutes and hamstrings: where instead of firing individually, which would be optimal, the muscles fire together. It can be a problem when you run as the hamstrings try to do too much of the work, and, being much weaker muscles, they become prone to injury.
I agree with TopCat, it’s just a matter of training the muscles to fire individually rather than together. No biggie and is easily fixed with practice:)
Foot position is a big influance. The closer your feet are to you, the less hammy activation. The further your feet are away from you, the more activation your hams have. If you keep your feet flat on floor in the upper position, that may also effect hammy tension, versus dorsi-flexion. See which one gives less hammy tension. Your arms flat on ground, at your sides, all the way down to palms of hands and fingers, may effect the tension levals.
Why would you want to take out the hammy tension?
If you need to take out the hammy tension, try this alternative version instead;
Shoulders and head on the seat of your favourite armchair or sofa. Feet flat on the ground. Put yourself in the horizontal bridge position, with ankles directly, vertically, below the knees. With this version, you may find the tension shifts upward, more glute and lower back. If it gets easy, there’s allways the single leg versions. If you have the time, also add leather belt, or mini-band around both knees, and push slightly side ways against them during the squeeze. This should deffinately hit the glutes good.
Ha, thanks for that pick-up. I fixed it.
yeah man i’m going to attend some pilates classes.
dissociation huh? hmmm, well i can flex my glutes well, can flex each cheek nicely, but i am also trying to fire the glutes ONLY doing this bridge, so i’m thinking maybe my glutes aren’t firing like its supposed to be. I just got to thinking of the butt bridge because im doing fire hydrants to address a problem with my gluteus medius, which is another cause of my hips sagging.
From practicing on the transverse abdominal i can flex it in itself if i take a deep breathe and use the pelvic floor muscle, what i noticed though the left side has a delay flexion as in it doesnt flex all at once only the right side then a second later the left side flexes.
Your posterior chain (calves hams glutes erectors) all fire in sequence. You can’t have one without the other.
What you can have is a dominant ham. We get a ton of clients that sit all day (think of a massage therapist pressing a knot in a muscle. Now do that 8 hours a day for 10 years) The glutes shut off and the hams and low back take the load.
Take them slowly and build up the endurance first. Don’t worry about strength for awhile.
so do butt bridges slowly up and down? for about 3 months should that address the dominant ham problem?