lumbar vertebrae

Over the decades that our students have gotten out of pain by learning the Gokhale Method®, it has become clear that healthy glutes are essential in this. Well-functioning glutes hold the key to unlocking many poor postural habits, and contribute to better biomechanics and movement. Good glute function will often solve pain and enable healing in apparently unconnected areas of the body. Let’s take a look at some of the common, and sometimes surprising, aches and pains that respond to our glute training…

If you tire easily in walking 

The gluteus maximus is designed to be the largest muscle in the body. You want these muscles to be well developed, rounded, and pert, rather than weak, flat, and droopy. You also want your glutes positioned behind you—that’s why it’s called your behind!—rather than underneath you because you tuck your pelvis.

Tucking the pelvis under the torso makes for weak, flat glutes.

The glutes power us from behind.

In a posterior position your glutes work to pull your thigh bones back, like little jets that efficiently propel you forward. And healthy glutes look good, too!

Do you have poor balance or a waddling gait?

With advancing years people sometimes experience new difficulty maintaining an easy balance in walking. Or they may be told that they have started to waddle from side to side—not ideal. The likely culprit here is a weakness in the gluteus medius muscle, located in the upper, outer quadrant of the buttocks. It plays an important role in balance as it controls the relative positions of the pelvis and leg. This muscle gets a lot of attention in our offerings—the in-person Gokhale Foundations course, one-day Gokhale Immersion Pop-up course, our online Gokhale Elements course, plus our Gokhale Active program.

Lower back pain

If the gluteal muscles are not powering your stride from behind, you will be overly reliant on the psoas, quads, and other anterior chain muscles pulling you forward. An overly tight, shortened psoas can cause a lot of trouble, including pulling on the lumbar vertebrae, causing a sway back with compression of the area’s discs, nerves, soft tissues, and bones. A stiff lower back in the morning can be a sign of a tight psoas muscle.

A tight and shortened psoas muscle can pull on the vertebrae, causing a swayed back and compression in the lumbar spine.

Can my glutes really affect my knee and hip?

It’s said that everything’s connected, and that’s true here…Weak glutes give rise to a tight psoas that can restrict and compact the hip because the psoas runs from above to below that joint—this span makes it a key hip flexor. Other anterior chain tissues, including the quadriceps muscle and iliotibial band, may also become chronically tight if they are compensating for weak glutes. This can cause compression, wear and tear, or inflammation at various points between the hip and lower knee.

What about SI joint and pelvic instability?

While there are many factors involved in lower back pain and the instability and spasms that can affect this area, the vast majority of students who come to us suffering in this way see improvements. The pelvis and spine are stabilized by the inner corset and the glutes, as they learn to work in harmony.

Sciatic pain from piriformis syndrome

Your piriformis muscles lie deep under the buttocks running from the sacrum to the hips. If the glutes are weak, the piriformis will try to step up to do their job—often resulting in chronic contraction. In this state, the piriformis can press on the sciatic nerve, which passes alongside or, in some people, through it. A “knotty” piriformis is that sore spot that a massage therapist may dig into with their elbow to release—but the lasting solution is to recondition the glutes.

Weak glutes can cause deeper muscles alongside the sciatic nerve to become hypertonic and impinge on the nerve. Image from Thinkstock

Power up your glutes, be kind to your feet

A weak and poorly well-coordinated glute pack is unlikely to be able to maintain the pelvis and legs in the right position, and so walking becomes a series of thuds on the ground. Harsh landings may well result in jarring and damage all the way through to the neck; but your feet are first in line and most prone to suffer, with issues like plantar fasciitis, heel spurs, and tendonitis.

Introduce your glutes to glidewalking

To remedy, or even better, prevent these problems, we love to introduce our students to glorious glutes and the pleasures of glidewalking. Glidewalking describes the strong but smooth natural gait pattern which emerges as the glutes learn to contract and release powerfully and rhythmically.

Students find their glutes respond well to hands-on cues—both from a teacher, and from what they can learn to do for themselves.

Join us for our special Spring into Action free online workshops for newcomers

We encourage newcomers to enjoy Esther’s special, free, Put a Spring in Your Step: Glidewalk your Way to Healthy, Pain-Free Movement Gokhale Method beginner workshop, this Saturday, April 26, 11:00 a.m.–12:00 p.m. (PST). Esther will be teaching glidewalking techniques you can start practicing straight away. The workshop will also launch a special, free 5-Day Glidewalking challenge to help you develop your walking power! Find out more, and sign up here.

Best next action steps 

If you would like help boosting your glutes through healthy posture, get started by booking a Gokhale Consultation, online or in person, with one of our teachers.

You can sign up below to join any one of our upcoming FREE Online Workshops…

I developed excruciating lower back pain in 2001. I was a tennis player, downhill skier, and a marathon runner. I was also under a lot of financial pressure in a stressful job as a consumer class action lawyer with my own firm. 

Excruciating back pain challenged my ability to continue working. Forthepeople.com

My doctor diagnosed me with a herniated disc at L4-L5. He said that a piece of my disc was sitting on the spinal nerve. I tried everything to stop my pain but nothing worked. In January 2002 I underwent a laminectomy which removed the piece of disc and some of the vertebral bone next to the herniation to make room for the nerve root.

A laminectomy is a common lumbar surgery to remove some or all of the lamina (a part of the vertebra) to relieve pressure on nerves trapped by herniated discs or stenosis (narrowing of the nerve canals). Wikipedia

After the surgery, my back pain was more intense than before. It was very difficult to get out of bed in the morning. My five-year-old daughter imitated me doing a sort of downward dog yoga pose, with a lot of groaning, just to get out of bed in the morning. I could not move comfortably, nor could I stay still. I remember business meetings in restaurants—just looking at the chairs there I would feel pain.

Few modern chairs help us to sit well. Most chairs either encourage a swayback (left) or a tucked pelvis (right). Wikipedia

I also tried acupuncture treatment, but it was too painful to lie down. It hurt. Hurt to stand. Hurt to sit. Hurt to walk. Hurt to sleep. Everything hurt. 

I received cortisone injections from a pain specialist. I was ecstatic to get a needle in my spine because it gave me temporary relief from the agonizing pain that radiated all the way from my lumbar spine down my leg. Unfortunately, the relief didn’t last. 

Pain from pressure on the sciatic nerve can radiate from the origins of the nerve in the lumbar spine all the way to the foot. Wikipedia

I seriously considered a spinal cord stimulator. It was like an implanted super transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) machine, but I am very glad that I changed my mind as it required subsequent surgeries and I really did not want something implanted in my body. I was prescribed multiple pain relieving medications. 

I participated in a number of lengthy courses, including some pilates and Bikram yoga, that focused on cultivating more strength and flexibility to relieve my back pain. Yoga gave me some temporary relief but nothing permanent. I also used a pilates reformer once a week for several months but it didn’t help. It started to remind me of a medieval torture device. 

Using specialized equipment without knowledge of primal architecture can hurt rather than help. Wikipedia

I also went to a physical therapist and my pain was still not relieved.

Massage from a skilled practitioner can help alleviate soft tissue tension and back pain. Ideally, it would be combined with posture training to get to the root of the problem. Pixabay

In an attempt to relieve my pain on the way to court, I would slouch in my car almost horizontally, with both an ice pack down the back of my pants and the seat warmer on. I remember the pain forcing me to lie down on the floor at an arbitration where I represented a class of homeowners in a case worth tens of millions of dollars. Other lawyers stared at me as if I were a defective space alien. 

Despairing, I thought I would never get better. I knew people with similar levels of pain who had retired. Because of my love of being a consumer protection lawyer and my financial responsibilities, this was not an option. The stress caused me to tighten up even more, worsening the pain. I felt like I was trapped in a downward spiral.

I explored the principle of mind over matter. I meditated daily and continue to do so. I read Dr. John Sarno’s books. Dr. Sarno would say first eliminate any physical cause, then heal back pain by dealing with any repressed anger or other negative emotion. But my pain persisted.

Eventually I came across  Esther Gokhale's book, 8 Steps to a Pain Free-Back, and subsequently took the Foundations Course in 2011 with a Gokhale Method teacher in San Francisco. As I have said many times, Esther Gokhale is my hero! I have given her book to numerous family members and friends. They don’t believe me that there are 21 pages about how to sit in a car—or a restaurant chair—but every one of those pages is precious to me as they have saved me hours of agony. The Stretchsit® Cushion and Esther’s instructions allowed me to drive without pain. The Gokhale Pain-Free™Chair is still my favorite office chair. I still use the stretchlying technique that I learned in detail there, gently introducing traction to one segment of my spine at a time.

This healthy neck stretch is from a recent 1-2-3 Move class for our Alumni.

I now have zero back pain. Because of the Gokhale Method I can finally lie comfortably in bed, sit, stand, walk, bend, and live my life. I returned to running six mile runs along California beaches and trails all over King's Mountain. Due to wear and tear on my knees over the years, I am now an active swimmer, hiker, and biker. 

Out on my bike, I enjoy being physically active again, with the occasional wipeout.

My back has tolerated a recent move into a home with 41 steps. I carry furniture, groceries, etc. up and down those steps with no back problems. I am once again enjoying being the pain-free, calm, and happy person that I used to be.

Out hiking with my wife, Susie.