It's All in the Hips...Part 1

Human movement should be hip dominant.  The hip is our center of gravity, and the muscles around it are incredibly strong, powerful, and resilient.  A great athlete learns to stiffen their core while mobilizing the hip musculature in highly coordinated patterns.  Somewhere in the middle of our high tech shoes and sedentary lifestyle, Americans have suffered from poor gluteal development and activation.  This "syndrome" has created symptoms of low back, knee, and foot pain, while reinforcing improper gait mechanics and weak core strength. 

When we squat and walk/run barefoot, the hip musculature develops and gets stronger, which creates better stability of the pelvis and core.  Since most of us don't squat or walk around in bare feet often, we need extra help in activating the gluteal muscles, especially the deeper postural gluteals, like the gluteus medius and piriformis.  This seated band hip abduction is a good place to start for you to begin recruiting and activating the deeper gluteal muscles, so they in turn, can properly stabilize and control the hip during your squatting, walking, and kettlebell swinging!