It is no secret that a “big/tight/strong butts” are in. Not only are strong glutes desired because they fill out your favourite pair of jeans, but strong glutes also have multiple health benefits as well.
Glutes are made up of three muscles: gluteus minimus, gluteus medius, and gluteus maximus. Together, these muscles work to generate movement and stabilization in your hip complex (lower back, hips, and legs).
The larger and stronger your muscles are, the more calories they will burn at any given time (even in your sleep!), this is great news for people who want to lose weight or inches but don’t want to scale back their food intake as much.
When most people hear the term “core strength” they automatically think about the rectus abdominis (abs). In actuality that is a very small part of your core. The largest muscle group of your core is in fact the glutes. Having a strong core definitely entails having strong glutes. Having a strong core helps prevent injury as well as preventing lower back pain.
Stong glutes will take an enormous amount of stress off your lower back. Strong glutes will also improve your posture and can even make you look taller. Glutes play a big role in stabilizing the hips which is extremely important because this will prevent falling and also distributes proper movement patterns which could otherwise cause severe movement impairment from the hips down.
Another great benefit for training your glutes is that most of the exercises such as squats or deadlifts target the whole body as well. This will help with muscle co-ordination, function, and weight loss since the more muscles that are working, the more calories are needed to fuel that movement.
Bone density is also effected with muscle strengthening. Bone density is an issue as we age we will inevitably lose some of our former density but resistance exercises will actually help slow this process down and strengthen your bones. When elderly fall, their hips are at a big risk for fracture. Training glutes is a great preventative step to ensuring that falls don’t leave you as vulnerable as an untrained individual.
Finally, training your glutes will help with the aging process. Butts tend to start flattening and sagging with age. Training your glutes will ensure that you maintain that desired youthful shape. About the only downfall to training your glutes, is you might end up spending more money pants because you look so good in all of them!
By: Sylvia St. Gelais
