Strengthening the Glutes

Each month Rehab United Physical Therapy and Sports Performance Center will highlight a different topic for our RU Fit? blog. We will post training tips on our Facebook Page each week and summarize them at the end of each month. This August, we discussed "the glutes" and created handouts and a video for proper strengthening of the legs to help rehabilitate from prevent common injuries such as low-back and knee pain.  Read below for more!

Strengthening the Glutes To Prevent Low-Back and Knee Pain
The glutes (a number of muscles in the hip area, including the gluteus maximus, gluteus minimum and gluteus medius) are an extremely important muscle group. When functioning properly, the glutes assist almost every movement in life, aid in rehabilitation of other joints (such as the knees) and can also prevent injuries, like low-back pain.

Exercise Example - Sit-to-Stand Progression: Squats are a widely-accepted glute-strengthening exercise; however, after an injury some patients may lack the coordination, strength, or balance to complete a standard squat. The “sit to stand” is a great fundamental exercise to safely build lower-body strength.

• Sit-to-Stand Progression - Video
• Sit-to-Stand Progression - Handout (see below)

Exercise Example - Balance Reach. Balance is equally important as strength – the balance reach (and its variations) is an excellent exercise to build balance and strength.

• Balance Reach - Handout (see below)

Exercise Example - Piriformis Stretch. Hip flexibility (i.e. joint mobility) is equal, if not more important, than strength and balance.  The piriformis stretch, named after the piriformis (Latin for "pear-shaped") muscle located in the backside of the hips, stretches many of the glute muscles when performed with rotation (reaching left and right).

• Piriformis Stretch - Handout (see below)

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Nutrient-Dense Foods

Each month Rehab United Physical Therapy and Sports Performance Center will highlight a different topic for our RU Fit? blog.  We will post training tips on our Facebook Page each week and summarize them at the end of each month.  For July, we discussed nutrition, specifically nutrient-dense foods and drinks.  Read below for more!

Nutrient density refers to the amount of quality nutrients a food or beverage has for its volume.  Nutrient-dense foods have high amounts of vitamins, minerals and fiber with relatively few calories.  Examples include non-starchy vegetables, fruits, lean meats, and fat-free dairy.  Focus on nutrient-dense foods if weight loss is your goal.

Calorie-dense foods, on the other hand, have high amounts of calories for their volume.  Fried foods are an example of calorie-dense foods as they contain calories from the food itself (such as potatoes) plus the extra calories from the oil (and potentially the breading, which acts like a sponge for the oil).  Other examples include candy bars, regular soda, fruit juice, chips, cheese, most salad dressings and smoothies.  If weight gain is your goal, focus on calorie-dense foods that are also nutrient dense (nuts, seeds, dried fruits, nut butters, avocado, whole grains).

A few suggestions to increase the nutrient density of your meals and snacks:

Cut the Calories, keep the taste!
Breakfast: Use half whole eggs, half egg whites; Lunch: Have meat OR cheese on your sandwich; Dinner: Mix half of your pasta with cooked vegetables.

Sweeten drinks & snacks yourself:
1-2 teaspoons of sugar or honey in your tea will provide significantly less Calories than a bottled tea or soda. Likewise, a few teaspoons of honey, agave nectar or berries in plain yogurt will be less calories than "fruit on the bottom" yogurt and healthier than artificially-sweetened products.

Veggie taco shell:
Try butter leaf lettuce leaves instead of taco shells or tortillas to save around 100 Calories per taco!

Justin Robinson, MA,RD,CSSD,CSCS,FAFS
Registered Dietitian