What has helped you w/ Post. Chain, muscle imbalances...firing glutes

[Sophie]

I love kettlebells and continue to use them, but if you have issues with muscle inactivity and glutes not firing, it's likely you will need to supplement them with some of the exercises others have mentioned. In my case, it was too easy for the strong muscles to keep working and the lazy ones to, as Castella put it, be as lazy as cats in a sun coma. It's possible for some muscles to overwork since they're not being helped out, so I guess that could contribute to the pain you mentioned, Kelly.

I made a lot of progress this spring with improved recruitment and it made a huge difference. But I kind of took August off and am hope those muscles didn't unlearn what they learned.

[Pratima]

When I did R&D for Lindsay Brin's Pretty Fierce, I was surprised that the Muscle Split workouts in the Weight Loss set helped me build up that strength. I think it was the unilateral moves--they worked the core, glutes, etc. A lot of the moves were similar to what my PT had me do when I was having knee problems. V-core has some similar moves, but not quite so focused on the posterior chain.

After doing R&D, I was able to start running and didn't have any of the soreness in my core that I normally have when restarting running (after each of my 3 babies). That soreness usually has to do with my weak core and hamstrings.

A few specific exercises that seem to help are:
Penny pick up (one-legged squat where you try to touch the floor)
Curtsy lunges
Dip with sliders (foot on slider moves back, keeping leg straight, other leg goes up and down, keeping knee bent)
Dip lifting moving leg (keep front leg static, back leg stays straight and goes up and down, rather than forward and backward)

I think you get the idea. Strong Stride is another one that helped me build strength, in my hips, hamstrings, and entire core. I can really feel that I need to start doing these again--I rode my bike yesterday and my hips and obliques were really feeling the weakness.

[Sophie]

Originally Posted by Pratima

A few specific exercises that seem to help are:
Penny pick up (one-legged squat where you try to touch the floor)
Curtsy lunges
Dip with sliders (foot on slider moves back, keeping leg straight, other leg goes up and down, keeping knee bent)
Dip lifting moving leg (keep front leg static, back leg stays straight and goes up and down, rather than forward and backward)

It just occurred to me that Dream Body has a lot of this type of thing....I'm trying to remember which one though. Going to check out Lindsay Brin now!

[yogapam]

Do you stretch after you workout? Spending 15 - 20 min is all you need and I think it really helps balance your body in general. IMO, most workout videos don't have adequate stretching segments at the end.

[Sophie]

Originally Posted by yogapam

Do you stretch after you workout? Spending 15 - 20 min is all you need and I think it really helps balance your body in general. IMO, most workout videos don't have adequate stretching segments at the end.

So very true. I don't think I've seen a really good stretching segment since Firm 1! Kidding. There must have been some since then. But I always end up supplementing with my own stretches (or even better, brief Classical Stretch or yoga) afterwards.