Another good reason to train your core

Ever heard of "Dead Butt Syndrome?" Yeah, neither had I, but it's legit. NYTimes author Jen Miller just wrote an interesting little blurb about her problems with her gluteus medius and I have to say that recently, I can relate a little. Quite conveniently, during the week of a lecture on the lower extremity I noticed some funny pain in my right hip. It turns out my gluteus medius was a bit unprepared for my cross training season.

The problem boils down to this: As an athlete works their legs, they frequently neglect their core which includes the butt muscles. The butt muscles or gluteal muscles are some of the most important, though, especially for runners because they stabilize the pelvis which is the platform for everything that you do. The most important muscles to do this for running are the gluteus medius and minimus (but mostly the medius). When you have a weak gluteus medius your pelvis tilts instead of remaining level.

A quick way to test is to try and balance on one leg. This may be enough to make your pelvis tilt (although it may not be as dramatic as the diagram). If that's not enough, try doing a one leg squat, if your knee turns or bends in towards your midline ("valgus knee") then the odds are good that your hips could use some strengthening. If you still aren't convinced lay on your side and open your legs like a scissors. Have someone push down steadily and firmly but not violently on your leg while you try to keep them open. I was shocked to learn how much weaker my right side really was compared to my left.

Here are a few suggestions.

1) The clamshell

For this exercise you should lay on your side with your knees bent and open your knees like a clamshell.

As you can see by the thrilled look on this guy's face it's not the coolest exercise, but it's practical.

2) Glut Bridge

You can call this whatever you want, a bridge, a butt lift, all the same it's good work for your backside. Lay on your back with your knees bent and feet flat on the floor. Tensing your butt muscles lift your body so that you make a triangle (your feet/shins and the floor should make a right angle and your body is the hypotenuse).

3)Tight rope walk/Dumbbell walkouts

Don't worry you don't have to have access to a sky scraper to do this one, just a couple dumbbells. Take two dumbbells between 8 and 20 pounds each (start light) and walk around heel to toe like your are balancing on a tightrope. This may not seem like a lot, but because your toes are in line you must stabilize your pelvis with every step. You can see a video here.

Doing 2-3 sets of these exercises with 8-20 reps per set 3-5 times a week will work wonders. Another important aspect of taking care of your hips is to be sure and stretch. Just a little bit of extra time each day doing these exercises and stretching could mean the difference between playing and sitting on the sidelines.

For more core workouts and butt rehab try here and if you specifically are looking for a runner's core workout check out this workout at the Runner's World website.