The Vital Glutes: Connecting the Gait Cycle to Pain and Dysfunction

found that weight-bearing strengthening exercises produce significantly higher Gmed activity than non-weight-bearing exercises. This may be related to the need for increased muscular control owing to the greater external torque forces on the femur and the pelvis.

It is known that 60–70% of the walking or running cycle is spent on the stance phase, which is restricted to one leg at a time (with 30–40% being spent on the swing phase). If you recall the lateral sling discussion in earlier chapters, we know that the stance phase incorporates the abductors, adductors on the ipsilateral leg, and the QL on the con

All muscles are invested inside fascia and as they contract, push out into the fascia, creating a stiffening around the joint. In the spine, contraction of the lumbar erector spinae and multifidus within the thoracolumbar fascia creates an extension force, assisting extension of the spine. When the lumbosacral multifidus contracts, it broadens post

Correct breathing technique could also be very beneficial to the lengthening of the psoas major because of the muscle’s attachment to the diaphragm.

Richardson et al. (1999) identified the lumbar multifidus and the TVA as the key stabilizers of the lumbar spine. Both muscles link in with the thoracolumbar fascia to provide what Richardson et al. refer to as “a natural, deep muscle corset to protect the back from injury.”

If the adductors receive more neural stimulus from the obturator nerve (as when the adductors have become the main stabilizing muscle instead of the Gmed), this compensation pattern will naturally take the hip into an increased medial rotation, adduction, and hip flexion. As a result, the knee drifts medially (valgus position) because of the increa

A refractory period (the brief period needed to restore the resting potential) of about 20 seconds occurs with RI; however, RI is thought to be less powerful than PIR.

The Gmax also has a role in stabilizing the SIJs and has been described as one of the force closure muscles. Some of the Gmax fibers attach to the sacrotuberous ligament and the thoracolumbar fascia, which is a very strong, non-contractile connective tissue that is tensioned by the activation of muscles connecting to it. One of the connections to t

Bilateral hypertonicity of the rectus femoris will cause the pelvis to adopt an anterior tilt, resulting in lower back pain due to the fifth lumbar vertebra facet joints being forced into a lordotic position.