Behind the Scenes: Hips and Buttocks

What does an athlete who never stretches and a dedicated couch potato have in common? If you said they both really need to read this book, you’re right! But another answer is that even though one is actually an athlete, they both probably have tight hip flexors. To enhance your wealth of knowledge about your body, here are a few terms to tuck away regarding the hip and buttocks muscles and their functional roles (no, not the role of swaying to and fro to attract that special someone’s attention):

• Hip flexors: These muscles are also known as the iliopsoas (il-ee-oh-so-as) and are made up of three muscles — the psoas (so-as) major, psoas minor, and iliacus (il-ee-ah-kus) that run across the front of the hip and pass through the pelvis, attaching to your lower back area. They work together to flex the hips and rotate the lower spine. This area can get very tight because it gets a lot of use. The hip flexors are the muscles that lift your knee or move your leg forward is such movements as going up stairs, walking, running, or just about anything that has to do with forward motion. Ironically, these muscles can also get tight and shorten if you sit all day. And, because this muscle group attaches to your lower back area, if it is tight it can cause lower back pain.
• Glutes: One of the primary muscles of the buttocks; “glutes” is slang that collectively refers to the three muscles in the buttocks:
• Gluteus maximus: The largest and most superficial muscle in your buttocks, the maximus is responsible for hip extension, and it also helps rotate the hip outward.
• Gluteus medius: This muscle is the mid-size glute, and its function is to move your leg to the side (abduction of your hip joint). It also helps rotate your thigh inward and outward.
• Gluteus minimus: The smallest and deepest of the glutes. It also functions as a hip abductor and rotates the thigh inward and outward.
• Piriformis: The piriformis (peer-i-for-mus) plays an important role in stabilizing the spine, working together with the iliopsoas to create pelvic balance. If either the iliopsoas or the piriformis is excessively tight or weak, you can experience low back pain or other postural problems. That’s why it’s important to balance the strength and flexibility of the iliopsoas muscle (front of the hip) with the strength and flexibility of the glutes and piriformis (buttocks).