Transcriber: Zsófia Herczeg Reviewer: Maurício Kakuei Tanaka
So, what you are sitting on right now
is the largest and most powerful muscle in the human body.
It goes by many different names:
glutes, butt, tush, derriere,
and many other names that cannot be said on a TEDx stage.
(Laughter)
Your glutes are not only responsible for the cushion
that you are currently sitting on,
but they also help stabilize your back, your hips and your knees.
They also provide power and force in movements
such as walking, running and jumping.
Even though our glutes
are the most powerful and largest muscle in the human body,
they’re also our laziest muscle.
Have you ever heard anyone being called a lazy - as I was saying,
(Laughter)
research has stated that sitting too long can be linked to heart disease, diabetes,
obesity and cancer.
Being sedentary,
your blood flow may be restricted, and your muscles may become inflamed
and therefore not function properly.
But if you sit for a prolonged period of time,
your butt will literally fall asleep.
This condition is known as dead butt syndrome.
Yes, it is a real thing.
It is also called gluteal amnesia.
If you don’t use it, you will lose it.
So, let’s talk about getting your rear in gear.
You engage your glutes every single day:
squatting down to pick up a package that has just arrived,
leaning over to give hugs to small children,
bending down to pet your pets.
You all engaged your glutes
when you lowered yourself into the chair that you are now sitting in.
We need our glutes to function properly
so we can walk, we can run, we can jump, we can get in and out of our car,
and we also can balance on one leg,
reaching up on high cabinets to get things down.
(Laughter)
There are three main muscles of our butts:
the gluteus maximus, which is your largest glute muscle;
the gluteus medius, which is your medium size muscle;
your gluteus minimus, which is your smallest muscle.
Dead butt syndrome happens
when your gluteus media stops working properly.
Because the gluteus medius helps stabilize your pelvis
if it’s not functioning properly,
other muscles will come in and kind of compensate for the imbalance.
And what happens is a lot of times you have pain in your back, your hips,
your knees and/or your ankles.
So how do you get dead butt syndrome?
This can happen when you sit too long,
whether it’s sitting in an office chair or driving for extended periods of time,
or you're just not engaging your glutes enough.
Dead butt syndrome has a lot to do with reciprocal inhibition.
So, reciprocal inhibition is when one muscle contracts,
the opposing muscle will relax.
So, take, for instance, a bicep curl.
When I do a bicep curl,
my bicep will contract and shorten,
and the muscle underneath it, which is your tricep,
is the opposing muscle,
will actually lengthen and relax.
So, anatomically speaking,
our glutes are on one side, and our hip flexors are on the other.
When we sit for long periods of time,
the hip flexors become tighter and more contracted
therefore our glutes will relax.
The key here is to get the glutes engaged to strengthen them to do a contraction
to hopefully allow the hip flexors to relax and lengthen.
This will help stabilize the pelvis and create more balance in those muscles.
By the way, your butt is not actually dead.
It’s not dying.
It’s just we’re not moving it so much, so it’s just not quite awake.
So, how do you get dead butt syndrome?
In physical therapy, there is a test called the Trendelenburg test.
It is very simple and easy to do.
You literally stand on one leg; you lift the other leg up.
If your hip drops down, you have a weak gluteus medius.
If you are able to maintain that and lift and elevate the hip,
then you know your gluteus medius is strong and working properly.
Another possible indicator is if you have a significant curve in your lower back.
This may signify that you have tight hip flexors
and just a lack of gluteal engagement.
So, what can you do to avoid getting dead butt syndrome?
You can take frequent breaks from sitting.
You can go on a walk.
Taking the stairs is actually an excellent way to engage your glutes
and include your stabilizer muscles.
Do some stretches and add in the following glute exercises
which I'm going to share with you today.
So, I would love if you participate with me on a couple of these exercises.
Don’t get nervous.
(Laughter)
The first one is the gluteal squeeze.
And you can do this in your chair.
You can do this tomorrow morning when you’re sipping on your coffee,
when you’re driving,
or when you’re having dinner later on tonight.
So the glute squeeze:
you’re literally squeezing your cheeks together
and relaxing,
and squeezing your cheeks together
and relaxing.
You’ll know if you’re doing this correctly
if you kind of raise up out of your seat.
Thank you for participating. I see you out there.
(Laughter)
So the next two exercises, you are welcome to participate.
You don’t have to.
But if you do, I would like you to all stand up.
Again, don’t get nervous.
If you have balance issues,
please hold on to a chair that’s sturdy in front of you.
Or if you have a buddy next to you,
just ask them if you can kind of hold on to them.
So, the first one, very similar to the Trendelenburg test.
You’re going to lift up one leg.
If you have trouble balancing, hold on to something or someone.
You’re going to drop your hip,
and then you’re going to raise your hip up.
Kind of like a little dance.
Right? That’s it.
And then you switch legs, and you can do the other side as well.
You didn’t know you were all going to exercise today, did you?
(Laughter)
The next exercise is called single leg squats.
There are many different variations to this.
This one that I’m going to demonstrate is the easiest one.
Don’t sit down.
This is the easiest one that you can do.
It’s great for beginners,
and if you have balance issues, it’s also a great one to start with.
So, the single leg squat: you’re just going to pop up one leg.
The leg you’re standing on has most of the weight.
The other one isn’t doing much.
You’re going to squat down a bit. Don’t go crazy. Just squat back a bit.
Like you’re imagining that you’re going to sit in that chair, right?
Then when you come up, squeeze that glute at the top.
Hold on to something if you need to, or someone,
and reach forward if you need some balance with those arms to kind of counterbalance.
Awesome. All right. Thank you. So, go ahead and sit down.
There are more exercises coming,
but you’re not going to be able to do them -
at least in this venue.
So, the next one are bridges.
You can do these at home, lying on the floor.
Your heels are on the floor, knees are bent, hands are by your side.
You’re going to tip your pelvis up and raise your pelvis up to the ceiling,
engaging your glutes.
What I like to tell people is once you start the repetitions,
you’re not allowed to touch the floor with your hips
until you’ve done all the repetitions.
That way you’re engaging the glutes the whole time.
The next one is kind of a throwback from the early aerobics classes.
So, side lying leg raises: you’re lying on the floor.
The bottom leg is tucked under for support.
The top leg’s going to be extended up to the ceiling.
It's very important that you lead with your heel on this exercise
because that's going to engage the glutes.
If you lead with your toes, you’re actually engaging your quads.
So make sure your hips are stacked during that exercise
and really lead with the heel.
All right. So, let’s recap on how to keep your butt happy,
healthy and alive and well.
So, repeat after me:
While sitting too long will make your butt forget -
(Audience) While sitting too long will make your butt forget -
Nicole Simonin: Moving your butt, you will never regret.
(Audience) Moving your butt, you will never regret.
NS: You’re good!
(Laughter)
So, here is your assignment.
(Laughter)
Get up and move your body.
There are so many things that you can do to move your body to engage your glutes:
taking the stairs, stretching, walking, dancing,
using the exercises that I demonstrated here today.
Make it simple.
As society continues to move towards a more computer and tech era,
we are sitting longer times at our office desk
only to come home to sit on the couch, watch TV, scroll, or do both.
This can have clearly side effects on our body as we do that.
So using the tips that I gave you today,
along with the exercises that I demonstrated,
can help you offset dead butt syndrome.
And just know that you can always bring your butt back from the dead at any time.
(Laughter)
It comes back to our bodies.
We’re really meant to move.
Having harmony between rest and activity
is really the key to keep your body healthy
and your butt alive and well.
And remember - altogether now:
While sitting too long will make your butt forget,
moving your butt, you will never regret.
Thank you.
(Applause)