Guest Blog: Soccer Butts - why the glutes are vital to a footballer and any other athlete

YOU'D PERHAPS be surprised to learn the identity of the body's most powerful muscle group, which drives good function on the footy pitch.

'I know the title of this article is a little tongue in cheek (excuse the pun) but I thought: What better time is there to talk about the most powerful muscle groups in the body and the powerhouses that drive good function and football performance.

'As you probably have guessed, the term "soccer butts" refers to the large and powerful muscles that make up the glutes (gluteus maximus, gluteus medius, piriformis and the hamstrings) or as we like to call them"The Back Butt".

'The Back Butt I hear you say? Surely we only have one butt. Right? Well maybe not. As a very general rule if we can think of the muscles in the back butt as the ones that control hip flexion, it would make sense to also have a "Front Butt" made up of the muscles that look after hip extension(hip flexors, hip adductors, TFL, quads).

'I think I have mentioned this in some of my previous articles, but when we look at the function of the human body it is made up of bullies and the bullied.

'What I mean by this is that there are areas of the body that commonly display poor functional movement but rarely get injured themselves or display pain symptoms as a result.

'We call these the bully areas or bullies and predominantly they are the feet, the hips and the thoracic spine. Many of you reading this are probably thinking I know loads of people who have hip pain or foot pain, but I bet you know way more people that have or have experienced lower back pain (lumbar pain), shoulder pain, knee pain or shin splints.

'These are the bullied areas of the body that often pick up the slack and develop pain symptoms because of the poor function of one or more of the bully zones.

The hips are certainly one of  the most prevalent causes of pain and dysfunction in the human body. 'They yield a massive amount of power and directly influence how effective your abdominal muscles are, what goes on at the knee joint, at your feet and even what happens in the shoulder.

'The relationship between the muscles of the front and back butts and the rest of the body is a very complex one. Maybe a little too complex to go into here, but rest assured that training your butts in the correct way for football and other sports will not only improve your speed, power, balance, agility and strength, but also vastly limit the amount of injuries you will pick up during a season.

'For fans of Adam Sandler movies like me, you will probably be familiar the film Happy Gilmore and the favourite saying of his golf coach in the movie Chubbs (Apollo Creed) "It's all in the hips".

'In terms of human movement, no truer word has ever been spoken, take a look at the video below and enjoy trying out the exercises. They are designed to target successful hip motion and stability for better sporting function. Hopefully you can persuade your coaches and trainers to include them in your pre-season fitness regimes and warm ups.

Look out for part two in the Football Butts series where I will share some of the more intense techniques that will help you become faster fitter and stronger for next season. You never know, it could help you win the league next year.

As usual, I would love to answer any questions you may have or even just hear your thoughts on the article so please feel free to drop me an email:
darren@synergyhealthstudios.co.uk

Or simply leave a comment blow and I will get back to you as soon as I can

I am as always looking forward to hearing your thoughts.

Yours in better function, Darren