The glutes muscles are made up of 3 muscles: the gluteus minimus, medius and maximus. These are 3 of the largest and strongest muscles in your body. Throughout our life, when working with other muscles, the glutes play a vital role in hip and pelvic function and lower back movement and stability. These joints are amongst the MOST AFFECTED joints during pregnancy, therefore, focusing on their strength must be an essential part of your focus during prenatal care. 

The combination of a growing baby and a cocktail of hormones during pregnancy, causes everything to shift in our body. The pelvis widens, the pelvic floor weakens, the abdominal muscles stretch, hip stability decreases and so on. So what can we do to balance these pregnancy effects out? WE MUST FOCUS ON STRENGTHENING THE GLUTES. This must be done in combination with general body conditioning, including the core and pelvic floor. However, today we will be focusing on these muscles. There are many ways we can strengthen these muscles. As prenatal physiotherapists we love to start with the CLAM exercise since it isolates activation of the glutes while introducing core and pelvic floor activation. 

In short these are some of the many benefits of having strong glutes:

• Supports the lower back, therefore helps to control low back pain
• Improves pelvic floor function
• Reduces pelvic and hip pain
• Improves postural alignment 
• Provides optimal positioning of the pelvis for baby
• Enhances strength and endurance for labour and birth
• And keeps those legs and buns looking good and toned! 

*Always check with your midwife or healthcare provider before beginning a new exercise regime*