Inactive glutes: how much does it cost per mile?

Inactive glutes is bullshit. There is absolutely no proof anywhere that shows evidence of the glutes of sedentary people having any firing problems.

I suppose I'm picking apart your semantics and for that I apologize.

The glutes are not inactive, rather just overly weak due to an non-athletic stage when they were developing.

On the other hand, I completely agree about hip flexors and tight hips being a huge problem in today's youth. A lot of work needs to be done to open up the hips.(EVEN FOR DISTANCE RUNNERS) A favorite exercise of mine is Split Squat jumps where the glutes and hip flexors both work in conjunction nearly the same as actually running.

I don't think the glutes are inactive, but they are not nearly as active as they should be for the majority of distance runners and most Americans. Even in gyms, most people are working the muscles on their anterior side with the exception of their triceps and calves. They usually neglect hamstrings, glutes, all of their back and the posterior delts. It's as if they don't care about what they can't see with their naked eyes. The funny thing is that it's painfully obvious when someone works out regularly and they neglect these areas. You'd think that they'd notice how poor everybody's back side looks and get to work on their own, but they don't! I digress.

For the typical American, it is safe to say the quads are doing more work than they should and the glutes are being lazy. This is probably caused by sitting in chairs a lot and rarely having to get down to ground level to pick anything up or do any work. Many people even sit in a chair to put their shoes on and tie them. The problem with most distance runners is that they are moving so slowly that they spend too much time using a very limited range of motion. They need to incorporate (more) accelerations in their program year-round to make their body move through the ROM it is designed for. Running faster makes the stride longer and forces the hamstrings and glutes, which are "speed muscles" to go to work. With that said, I don't have a clue how much faster a 19-minute 5k runner could improve by bringing his glutes up to par.

The question is, how long can you do an asian/african squat (heels on the ground)?

2 minutes comfortably - with no practice.

It amazes me how some people can work in a full squat for hours, moving around just like they were taking steps while standing.

gluter wrote:

Common problem in todays society where we're always sitting, shortened hip flexors, inactive glutes and overworking legs a result. .

Sitting a lot does not shorten ones hip flexors, nor does it make ones glutes "inactive". Where did you come up with this?

My view is that, depending of the severity of it: there's potentially 15-30seconds! .

Your view is uneducated. Please do not opine on subjects you know nothing about.

[quote]years of work in the field wrote:

Sitting a lot does not shorten ones hip flexors, nor does it make ones glutes "inactive". Where did you come up with this?

http://www.waterfrontandwaterview.com/blog_wellness_other/11-11_office_imbalance.pdf

http://www.experiencelifemag.com/issues/january-february-2008/fit-body/go-to-glutes.html

http://stanford.wellsphere.com/exercise-article/fire-up-then-shape-up-your-glutes-part-5/198850

http://www.sbcoachescollege.com/articles/HamstringDominance.html

http://www.answers.com/topic/gluteal-muscles

Poppycock. Neither your hip flexors nor your stomach muscles are working to any appreciable extent while you are sitting down, certainly not any more than any other postural muscles. Sitting is not a way to exercise one's hip flexors and it most certainly does not "shorten" them.

The problem is not shortened muscles, it us unused ones. Being sedentary makes muscles WEAK. Your hip flexors get weak, your stomach muscles get weak, you back, your glutes, EVERYTHING gets weak.

The problem is certainly not some imbalance caused by sitting down. It is weakness caused by being sedentary.

quote]years of work in the field wrote:

Poppycock. Neither your hip flexors nor your stomach muscles are working to any appreciable extent while you are sitting down, certainly not any more than any other postural muscles. Sitting is not a way to exercise one's hip flexors and it most certainly does not "shorten" them.

The problem is not shortened muscles, it us unused ones. Being sedentary makes muscles WEAK. Your hip flexors get weak, your stomach muscles get weak, you back, your glutes, EVERYTHING gets weak.

The problem is certainly not some imbalance caused by sitting down. It is weakness caused by being sedentary.[/quote]

what are your years of work in the field in????

I have worked with wheelchair bound patients for years. People who spend 8 or more hours in a day in wheelchairs for many years, and rarely if ever stand, much less walk.These patients almost always end up with shortened hip flexors. If you try to stand them up, they are forced to bend forward because their hip flexors do not fully lengthen. This is can be measured objectively with a goniometer, and later by x ray if surgery is required to correct. If a muscle does not move thru full range of motion, it eventually accomodates to the new shorter range. This is pretty elementary stuff.

years of work in the field wrote:

Poppycock. Neither your hip flexors nor your stomach muscles are working to any appreciable extent while you are sitting down, certainly not any more than any other postural muscles. Sitting is not a way to exercise one's hip flexors and it most certainly does not "shorten" them.

The problem is not shortened muscles, it us unused ones. Being sedentary makes muscles WEAK. Your hip flexors get weak, your stomach muscles get weak, you back, your glutes, EVERYTHING gets weak.

The problem is certainly not some imbalance caused by sitting down. It is weakness caused by being sedentary.

I do not agree. I feel there is an imbalance caused by a lot of sitting...

years of work in the field wrote:

gluter wrote:

Common problem in todays society where we're always sitting, shortened hip flexors, inactive glutes and overworking legs a result. .

Sitting a lot does not shorten ones hip flexors, nor does it make ones glutes "inactive". Where did you come up with this?

My view is that, depending of the severity of it: there's potentially 15-30seconds! .

Your view is uneducated. Please do not opine on subjects you know nothing about.

If sitting alot does not shorten ones hip flexors, then what does? Or do you not believe that muscles get shorter?

YOUR view is uneducated! YOU should not opine on subjects you obviously know nothing about!

New york PT wrote:

If sitting alot does not shorten ones hip flexors, then what does?

Nothing does. Or rather, that is not the problem. People are not suffering from "shortened" hip flexors. I have yet to encounter a patient who lacked adequate range of motion in his/her hip flexors. I have encountered many with weak hip flexors, as well as other weak postural muscles.

This is why core exercises and things like Yoga are so good for your running. It's not an imbalance. It's weakness

years of work in the field wrote:

[quote]New york PT wrote:

People are not suffering from "shortened" hip flexors. I have yet to encounter a patient who lacked adequate range of motion in his/her hip flexors. I

Wait let me get this straight. You don't believe that tight and shortened hip flexors exist? Then according to you my patients must have been faking it for all these years.

Please tell me what your source material is for your claim that nothing causes hip flexor shortening.

I agree with years of work in the field. No such thing as "shortened" flexors. Weak ones? Yes.

steven j. wrote:

I agree with years of work in the field. No such thing as "shortened" flexors. Weak ones? Yes.

There is a very large amount of rrsearch that states that there is. But perhaps you know better

I believe when people speak of abnormally "shortened" or "lengthened" muscles they are refering to a changing in the normal alignment not so much the actual property of the muscle.

If you have a severe anterior tilt you will have "lengthened" your hamstrings. I've seen clients who could barely raise their leg up to 45 degrees from a supine position.

If your pelvis is tilted forward then looking straight on this "shortens" the iliacus muscle.

Sitting all day puts your glutes and hamstrings in a stretched position. This is bad. This is why we have tons of people walking around with an anterior tilt. Their hip flexors and hamstrings are tight.

I'm not so sold on the "inactive glutes" but if you have a tight low back or have low back pain your problems start in the hamstrings and glutes. Remember, all motions are done with more than one muscle. If one is weaker then the others will do more of the work.

I have yet to see a runner with weak glutes. Do you have a flat butt or a bubble butt? That's a crude way of getting a good idea of where you stand as far as glute development. Still worried? Do sprints.

Alan

[quote]Runningart2004 wrote:

I believe when people speak of abnormally "shortened" or "lengthened" muscles they are refering to a changing in the normal alignment not so much the actual property of the muscle.

That is incorrect.

If a muscle is left in a shortened position for an extended period of time, it adapts to the shortened length. if you held your elbow at a 90 degree angle for 1 month, without ever moving out of that position, the muscle will shorten and that will become its new resting length. You will not be able to straighten it out past that position without surgery or a very long slow lengthening program via dynamic splinting.

This is not an alignment issue. This is an adaptation issue.

original poster here,

we're getting slighty off the point here, and playing with words. tight hip flexors/glutes might be constitute an imbalance in RUNNERS (who rely heavily upon such large important muscle groups) as well as a weakness. for everyone else, its no big deal until they start fitness adventures and get injured.

my opinion does stand thank you very much.

and im saying that mile splits can decrease with the same energy expenditure because, IN SEVERE CASES of inactive glutes hips (be it an imbalance/weakness), huge inefficiencies are evident.

by the way, nice links there, PTF.

no bullshit here, this is all extremely relevant to would-be athletes and athletes.