A Cup A Day

Hello and welcome to the inaugural “WELLNESS WEDNESDAY” !!! Where we will explore the roles of prevention and education for total body wellness. I find one of the most satisfying and important roles a physical therapist plays is to help people explore and understand how their bodies work, both to help heal and to prevent future injury. (**That being said, be sure to visit your friendly neighborhood PT should you be experiencing any symptoms 🙂 **)

So away we go! Pop quiz:

What do Sir Mix-A-Lot, Destiny’s Child, Meghan Trainor and I all have in common? ??

Yep, you nailed it…sometimes, it IS All about that bass. (sigh, I apologize that you now have that song stuck in your head).

So let’s talk about the all mighty GLUTES. Most people are familiar with the largest of the butt muscles, the gluteus maximus, but did you know there are TWO additional muscles that build up that bass? Yep, beneath the MAX we have my favorite of the gluteal muscles, the GLUTEUS MEDIUS and it’s partner in crime the GLUTEUS MINIMUS (our minimus is literally the mini-me of the medius performing the same actions but lies slightly deep to the medius).

Just deep (or below) the gluteus maximus we can see the all powerful gluteus medius

The Glute Med is such an important player for hip and knee stability! I often find runners and other serious athletes to be very weak in their glute med and often complain of hip or medial (inside) knee pain.

back view

Side view

super x-ray view with the medius muscle in red.

If you notice from it’s origin and insertion on the body, it serves a few functions:

• ABducts and medially (internally) rotates the leg
• Stabilizes the hip and the knee

Check it out:

Note the one action the Medius performs that is not in this video is medial or internal rotation at the hip.

As you can see, even a little weakness can cause a lot of stress and strain on your knee, hip, and low back. There are many fantastic exercises to help strengthen your glute med but we will touch on those next Wednesday … Get ready for a burning bootie 😉

If you are experiencing knee, hip, or low back pain visit your friendly neighborhood physical therapist! If you are in my neighborhood come visit me.