7 Yoga Poses Guaranteed to Strengthen & Tone Your Backside
Photo by Charles 🇵🇭 on Unsplash
Hola out there! I hope your beautiful self is living and enjoying life. Happy month of May! Congratulations to us all who survived the cold, scary months and are ready for some sun, salt, and yoga outside! ;)
You already know yoga is my lifeblood, and I love sharing what I can with you, especially if it can bring value or enhance your life in some way. So, I made a video for you, yes - YOU, to help you get a little stronger, feel a little taller, and walk a little higher.
Check out the video below where I detail 7 poses that will help you engage your backside muscles to build strength in your hamstrings, butt, and back. Do you work at a desk all day? Are you Hunchy McHuncherson? Are you only a front body worker outter? Do you use your arms to help you stand up or sit down? Watch this damn video then. You need it. Scroll down for the video. If you want to learn a little about these muscles, continue you on, my friends.
The Beauty of Your Peach
Our butts aren’t just for perching high in cute IG pictures, they are a powerhouse as far as muscle groups are concerned. First, there are actually three layers of muscles that make up the glutes - gluteus maximus, gluteus medius, and gluteus minimus. (Pretty simple, right?) Together, they help you to stand, jump, stabilize, move your legs, and dance a beautiful twerk when out with friends. 😏Without a strong tush, you also run the risk of injuring or straining other muscles and tendons, like the hamstrings. Engaging your glute muscles will not only stengthen them, but they might even grow larger! And yes, yoga can help it happen.
These Strings Are Nothing to Play With
The hamstrings are most familiar to me having been a sprinter and jumper all my life, which makes sense. The hammies’ job is to help flex the knee (bend the knee) and extend the hip (widen the distance between the top of your thigh and chest). There’s a lot of that action when running and jumping. They also tie into the pelvis and glute muscles, which is why when you see a person with tiny thighs but a larger-than-the-moon derrière, it raises some eyebrows. Generally when working out one, you inevitably work out the other. They’re like best friends! Strong hammies can help you run faster if you’re into that, but also help build a healthier back. Because they connect to the pelvis, when weak and tight, they can cause back pain. The hammies, like the butt, are also made up of a group of muscles ready to keep you strong and healthy if you keep them engaged and active over time.
The Back Is Where It’s At
My husband can tell you he’s tired of hearing me yell “SPINE HEALTH” at him when I feel like his posture is off or he should be taller than he is. (I’ve actually had the length of my spine measured before and after certain yoga poses & seen up to an inch and a half extension!) The back muscles do a host of things - protect and support the functioning of the spine, keep you upright when you stand and sit, help you twist your torso, AND support the glutes and abdominal muscles. The back muscles are no joke and deserve lots of love and care. If you’re weak in the back, maybe you have less mobility and flexion, more tightness, stress, or aches in that area that travel and effect other parts of your body. Take some time to move and stretch! Even a little movement over time can begin to make a world of difference.
Now, don’t get me wrong - there are tons of other movements, exercises, and yoga poses that also engage these muscles. These just happen to be the ones I chose to share. You can do any of these poses as stand alones or spread them throughout your practice at home!
Take a look, and if you enjoy it, find it useful, or think someone can benefit from watching - please share it!
If you want more yoga stuff from me like this, let me know! Or don’t, I’ll provide it anyway. I live to serve! ;)
-seria.
Featured beach bum photo by Jakob Owens on Unsplash
Sites consulted:
- Better Health
- Cedars-Sinai
- Yoganatomy