What is considered the most powerful muscle in your body?

Is it the Masseter (Jaw) from all the chewing or perhaps the Quadriceps (Thigh) considered the most used of all the muscle groups?

In fact, most likely the muscle in question is being molded into the very chair you are sitting in as you read this article. That most rotund mass of rear-end muscle is called in fitness circles, the Gluteus Maximus.

So what makes this power house of a muscle so important?

For a start, it is responsible for launching you off your chairs as you stand up (at least it should do if you standup without leaning forward), it also powers you up hills and it makes you faster and more furious when running or jogging by helping to extend the hips backwards, boosting your stride length. Have you ever marveled or perhaps stared at the gluteals of a 100 yard sprinter? This is surely postural perfection personified!! Their enormous speed comes from both the power and flexibility of the Hip- Flexors and the power and the extendibility of the Hip extensors. To me these athletes prove muscle balance at its very best. I always relate to my clients that there should be an approximate strength ratio of 3-2 between the flexors and extensors of a joint to attain optimum speed and performance and structural balance. It is not uncommon for me to spot a strength ratio in these 2 muscle groups of 7-1 and since the hip-flexor is one of the most important postural muscles it can cause huge stresses on the lower back by pulling hard on the anterior structures of the lumbar spine causing an over-arching of that part of the back.

How many of us are actually achieving these strength ratios?

It is really not hard to detect, all you do is assess their range of movement in both directions and lengthen those muscle tissues until Full Range of Motion (FROM) is achieved. Then you can start to do your squats to build the gluteals and do your knees to chest exercises with resistance on the ankles to strengthen your hip-flexors (Illiopsoas). Quite simple really! Remember that it is not recommended to start the strengthening process until all the muscle groups are at full athletic range of motion or else you simply build muscle on top of already hyper- contracted tissues.

Your personal trainers and health care providers should be spotting these weaknesses and addressing them so as to swiftly bring your anatomical frame back into that ideal neutral or correct position. This will help to prevent wear and tear and overuse injuries in the future and help to achieve smoother and more effortless movement.

Since muscles work in opposite pairs i.e.; when the hip is being flexed as in walking upstairs the gluteus maximus is relaxed or switched off allowing greater freedom of movement. If the Glutes are tight and restricted it tends to prevent the efficiency of the hip flexor movement thus slowing you down and creating unnecessary resistance. In fact we suggest that instead of looking at your body being composed of 640 independent muscles it is more efficient to think in terms of the body being divided into 320 pairs of muscles. Each pair consists of an Agonist muscle that creates the movement and an Antagonist muscle on the other side of the joint that switches off or inhibits the movement. If you had both working at the same time you would stand perfectly still! This principle of Switch-on Switch-off is crucial to understanding how muscle weakness can and does inhibit mobility in general. By waking up and re-animating the neurological firing patterns of these weaker muscle groups such as the gluteus maximus, you are in fact re-educating them into a more active and efficient entity. Walking, running and sports all become easier and more effortless and more importantly injuries are dramatically reduced.

TIP FROM CHRIS

I suggest stretching the hip-flexors 3 times more than the Gluteus Maximus and suggest you strengthen the Gluteus Maximus 3 times more then the Hip-flexors.

Then go for a run and time yourself to see how fast you have become!!

Tackling those myriad Hong Kong hills and slopes should be a breeze.