Written by Natasha Wolff

According to the CDC surgeon general report, nearly 50-60 percent of Americans have a sedentary lifestyle and roughly 25 percent are completely inactive?

From that annoying lower back pain you just can’t seem to figure out or that chronic knee pain you get every time you take a long walk, inactive glutes are often the culprit.

People may experience lower back pain and will try everything but glute exercises (Maybe take this part “but glute exercises” out) to alleviate the pain.

What they don’t know is that the exercises you should be doing are all centered around strengthening the gluteus muscles and hip attachments to treat and prevent lower back pain and injury.

New York City-based fitness trainer and nutrition coach, Leigh Taylor Weissman, is leading the charge on changing the mindset about this important muscle group and how to engage it properly.

“The glutes are indirectly responsible for balancing and supporting almost your entire body but specifically initiate and control movement of the hips,”

says Weissman.

“Our hips connect to our lumbar spine, or lower back, and glutes as well as help control movement in the hamstring and quad (which control extension and flexion of the knee). When we sit all day, our hip flexors can become tight causing weakness or inactivity in the glute muscles.

As a result the glutes cannot kick in to help perform their usual job and the hips may take over to compensate.

This then causes the lower back to tighten up as the flexors tighten and assist the hip muscles to bear movement they are not strong enough to control.

The shift here can cause a myriad of issues from something as small as a pelvic tilt to disk degeneration.

The pain domino effect can be endless.”

With gyms back open and workout enthusiasts returning to their pre-Covid-19 routines, we talked to Weissman about strength and resistance training and how to prevent and correct inactive glutes and get the most out of each workout.

Trainer Leigh Taylor Weissman does a single arm dumbbell row

What exercises should you be doing to strengthen glutes and hip muscles?

Hip Thrusts to strengthen the gluteus maximus, the largest muscle in your body and the main muscle controlling hip extension.

Bulgarian Split Squats to work the lower glute max which will help with knee stability.

Seated banded abductions or abductions on a machine to work the glute medius, minimus and piriformis—all essential for strong and balanced hips to prevent lower back pain.

Single leg dumbbell deadlifts to work the glutes in the lengthened position to stabilize and strengthen the hamstrings attachment to the knee.

Barbell back squats and Barbell deadlifts to work the glute maximus in the lengthened position. Both exercises work to strengthen the supporting muscles of the hips, knee and back.

Pistol squats to work the rectus femoris one of the muscles responsible for hip flexion and stabilizing the knee.

Trainer Leigh Taylor Weissman does a barbell hip thrust

How can you build significant muscle?

Resistance training causes adaptations in our muscle fibers, one of these being increase in muscle size. It requires a lot, I mean a lot, of calories to build significant muscle in a short period of time, a fact one forgets when the fear of looking like the hulk prevents one from lifting. You can, however, gain a little bit of muscle, shape and tone the glutes, by simply eating intuitively, ensuring you’re getting enough protein and carbohydrates and adding weights to your routine.

How can this kind of workout not only help tone the body but also help with longevity?

Lifting has been shown to improve cardiovascular health, decrease risk of heart attacks and strokes, improve bone density, blood pressure and prevent diabetes and other metabolic disorders. Weightlifting is particularly helpful with those struggling with metabolic issues and weight. One of its greatest strengths, no pun intended, is resistance training’s ability to stabilize blood sugar (our body will put sugar to work pre- and post-exercise, as a means to fuel and repair the body). A new study released by the University of Kentucky College of Medicine and College of Health Sciences found that weight training actually causes fat cells to turn on their fat burning mode on a molecular level. We can now say lifting weight causes us to burn fat.

Trainer Leigh Taylor Weissman does a Bulgarian split squat

How do you know what the right exercises are for you?

First you may want to get an assessment from a glute specialist or physical therapist to analyze if there is an imbalance, why it exists and where it stems from. There may be an obvious indication, but there may not be a tell-tale sign and we want to get to the root of the problem. If you don’t have the time to see a professional, or simply want to begin incorporating glute work to stave off pain and injury, start with a booty band. Banded glute bridges off the floor, clam shells and seated banded hip abductions are great exercises to incorporate into your daily routine. If you have a desk job and lying on the floor isn’t an option, carve some time out of your day to do banded work in your chair. I would also encourage foam rolling your quads and lower back to release any tension in the hip flexors.

This post was originally published on dujour.com

The post The Exercises You Should Be Doing But Probably Aren’t first appeared on Leigh Taylor Method and is written by Leigh Taylor

This post originally appeared on our partner site, Furthermore by Equinox. 

Equinox offers nutrition coaching from certified instructors because it’s not just about what you eat, it’s about how you eat. So, we created Habit Forming, a monthly series devoted to bringing you actionable eating habits to help achieve your nutrition goals. This, the fourth installment, delves into the relationship between stress and appetite.

There’s a deep connection between your mind and stomach, which is sometimes called the ‘second brain,’ explains Dominic Matteo, level 2 masterclass instructor at Precision Nutrition in Cleveland. That’s why the impact of negative emotions like stress and anxiety may cause overeating. “People tend to want to fill a void with food,” says Bethany Snodgrass, holistic health coach and operations manager at the Equinox Fitness Training Institute in New York City. They may feel as if a stressful event has taken something away from them and that food will fill the gap, she says.

Others experience the opposite effect and drastically reduce their eating when too many stressors impact their lives. “Nourishment is the last thing on someone’s mind if they’re so overwhelmed that the thought of food is nauseating,” Snodgrass explains.

Few people only fall into one camp. These physical and mental responses to heightened stress often depend on the situation at hand. Regardless, it’s easy to feel powerless in the face of these challenges.

Furthermore asked Matteo, Snodgrass, and more experts about ways you can remain true to your nutritional goals and practice emotional self-care.

The challenge: I’m so stressed, I’m eating everything in sight.
In addition to the aforementioned emotional reasons for overeating, there’s a physiological explanation as well: Your adrenal glands may pull minerals and vitamins away from other organs to produce stress hormones, such as cortisol, which could result in hunger, as your body needs to regain nutrients. In these situations, many reach for high-fat, high-sugar comfort foods, because they release the feel-good chemicals dopamine and serotonin. “It’s easy to retreat and soothe those feelings with food,” says Matteo.

The solutions:
Track your feelings and food. Keep a log of when and what you’re eating, the quantities you’re consuming, and how you feel before, during, and after. This may help to identify emotional-eating triggers. “A lot of times, you don’t catch yourself in those behaviors unless you track them,” says Lauren Deluca, Tier X coach at Gold Coast in Chicago.

Fuel up with healthy fat. If you’re an emotional eater, you’re likely drawn to junk foods in moments of stress because they trigger those happy chemicals mentioned above. Instead of reaching for fries, keep good-for-you snacks handy at work and home, including nuts and other foods high in healthy fats, and antioxidant-rich ingredients like berries, recommends Leigh Taylor Weissman, Equinox’s New York–based manager of food and beverage.

Just breathe. Before you grab something to eat, take some deep breaths. It can help you to destress, and thus realize you don’t need to consume anything in that moment. Count to ten while slowly inhaling and exhaling, or do face-down crocodile breathing to focus on belly breaths. “Breathing drills help put the thinking part of your brain back in control, as opposed to it being hijacked by your emotions,” Matteo says.

The challenge: I’m so stressed, I’ve completely lost my appetite.
When you’re overwhelmed and anxious, your body may release the fight-or-flight hormone adrenaline, which can derail your appetite and potentially cause nausea. Over time, this might lead to unwanted weight loss and disordered eating. Professional struggles and interpersonal challenges like illness or breakups often incite this kind of physical response. It’s not always a negative situation—heightened events like weddings, athletic competitions, and performances can introduce adrenaline as well. “People don’t want to consume food because they are getting the energy they need from the adrenaline, so they say, ‘I’m not hungry,’” Weissman says.

The solutions:
Eat like clockwork. Even if you don’t feel hungry, it’s important to stick to a regular dining routine. “[Your body’s] hunger and fullness cues are only regulated when you’re eating consistently. A small meal around the same time every day could bring back more of the response to eat,” says Deluca.

Seek comforting foods. Find something palatable when you’ve lost your appetite, even if it might be outside of your usual nutritional preferences, like a carb-forward dish that you might ordinarily avoid. If possible, pair it with something healthier so that you’re still nourishing yourself. “You have to get something inside of you to let your body know that you’re not starving,” Snodgrass says. “Starving yourself is just helping continue the cycle of stress internally.”

Plan meals ahead of time. Try to create a weekly meal plan by prepping, scheduling, or ordering ahead of time. “This doesn’t have to be elaborate; just knowing things like, ‘I’m eating here for breakfast, bringing this for lunch, and cooking that for dinner’ can make a huge difference in the overall allostatic load [the physical effects of stress] a person is dealing with,” says Matteo.

Do low-intensity exercise. Explore more restorative movements to increase your energy and appetite and, perhaps, provide endorphins. Exercise can be a stress reliever, but when you haven’t been eating as much, an intense workout may start to break down your immune system. “Go for a long walk or do some gentle yoga or another activity where you are getting the blood flow going while also focusing on breathing,” Matteo suggests.

The post Eating Well Under Stress first appeared on Leigh Taylor Method and is written by Leigh Taylor