As a Certified Fitness Trainer, Here’s What I Recommend To Strengthen Underused Muscle Groups
Rev up your workout with these tips for buffing up neglected muscles
Published in
In Fitness And In Health Medium
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Photo credit Viktoriya Kabanova — The Muscles of the Back
Sleepy or underused muscles are all too common. Naturally, this depends on your lifestyle and activity level.
In my personal training and yoga practice, I have noticed that people have certain body parts with less awareness. They may notice this when they call on a muscle to support a strong move like Chaturanga. They may also notice when they come into a stretch.
We may also have the habit of using specific muscles for an activity and not using others. I also find that people may feel or be able to activate one part of a muscle but not another part. The same muscle may not perform uniformly; it may act differently in the lower, middle, or upper section.
Generally, the less active muscles tend to be in our back or posterior chain. I like using the term posterior chain for the muscles that link from the top of your back to your heels.
We’re talking trapezius, glutes, and hamstrings. If we sit a lot, and, frankly, who doesn’t, our backsides run dormant. When we get active, our posterior chain can be a powerful mover.
Life is in front of us. Our motion is often forward. This can cause our shoulders to roll in and cause our upper back to round.
We likely have more vanity about our front side as well. We put more lotion on our faces than on our backs. We dream of six-pack abs (rectus abdominis). We want Michelle Obama or Arnold Schwarzenegger's arms.
Fortunately, awareness can be cultivated. Read on to develop goals for your posterior chain.
Lower traps
The Trapezius you are likely familiar with. The wide part of this triangle-shaped muscle hooks over the top of your shoulder. This upper part lifts our shoulders toward our ears.
I call this our flight or fight muscle. We want to use it when we need it. But, what about when you want to bring your shoulders down? For many, this is more challenging.
The lower part of the Traps, the tail of the triangle extending down your upper back to the bottom of your ribs, performs the task of lowering your shoulders. This part tends to be less active for most of us.
The middle traps can also be a tad lazy; they draw the shoulder blades together along with the rhomboids.
Because of where the traps sit, they are involved with our posture as well. If we tend to slump with our shoulders internally rotated forward, we are likely curving the traps throughout much of the day. This will also tend to strengthen the upper portion and weaken the lower portion. The good news? As with any muscle weakness, we can address the tendency and restore strength.
1. Shoulders Front: Lateral Lifts — push up as you lift and notice if you can feel your lower traps turning on. Pull down to return to starting position. Your goal throughout will be to invite your shoulders to stay down or level. 8–12 reps or 30 seconds per direction.
2. Prone Shoulder Raises — Lie down on your belly and raise your arms overhead in a Y shape. Lift off the ground and lower. In this position, your shoulder blades have naturally tipped upward while still remaining flat on your back ribs. Here too, you want to invite your shoulders down away from your ears throughout. 8–12 reps or 30 seconds.
https://youtu.be/yVUtvYYcCPU
3. Trap Shrug Downs — Stand tall. You can have weights in your hands or be weight free. Here we are going to allow the shoulders to come up. Pull your shoulders up to your ears and then lower them down. Feel your lower traps activate as you lower. 8–12 reps or 30 seconds.
https://youtu.be/geCaP04LXNY
Lower gluts
As I mentioned with the trapezius, I find it useful to think of our gluts in two sections: upper and lower.
The glutus maximus is a big enough muscle and if you do some exploring you can tell you have the power to activate different parts of the muscle at will. Our glutes get sleepy because many of us spend most of our day sitting on them. Even if we have a standing desk or stand for our work, we may have a tendency to clinch the top of our glutes and ignore our lower glutes.
This lower area is near our sitz bones and where our hamstrings connect to the glut maximus. With each of the suggested exercises, you want to invite feeling that low ham/glut connection.
In addition to Glut Maximus, on the side of our hips, we have Glut Medius and Glut Minimus. These muscles work together to stabilize our hips as we walk or do alternate leg activities.
1. Bridge Lower Glut — lie down on your back with your knees bent. Bring your feet under your knees. You will push your feet down and float your hips up. See if you can avoid clenching your upper glutes, and, instead, activate your hamstrings and lower glutes. 8–12 times or 30 seconds.
2. Single Leg Deadlift — This is similar to Warrior III. In fitness, we add a kettlebell or dumbbell to add load. We stand tall. Lift one leg back in extension as we allow our head and torso to hinge forward. It works best if you keep the weight on the same side as the lifted leg. It can be done with the opposite hold as well. 8–12 times per side or 30 seconds.
3. Pilates Side Circles — Lie on your side. Hips, shoulders, knees, and ankles are stacked. Lift the top leg up. The higher you lift the more challenging the exercise. Make 8 circles one way and 8 circles the other way.
Multifidus/Psoas/QL
I’ll write about this trio together as they serve as key pillars of support for our spine. If you think about it, our upper back gets more bone support than our lower back.
The twelve vertebrae of the thoracic spine are surrounded by our rib cage and topped by our shoulder joints. The five vertebrae of our lumber spine float free between our ribs and our hips supported exclusively by our core muscles. Yes, our abs help. But, these three in the back are important.
These three are deep and subtle. In yoga, we refer to them as mindfulness muscles. We will feel them if we have tight hip flexors or a sore lower back. But we are not likely to feel muscle soreness even if we do the suggested exercises. We will get strong, nonetheless, if we do.
Multifidus is a group of small, triangular-shaped muscles running along the spinal column. It is a collection of several small muscles that are part of the erector spinae muscle group allowing us to maintain the upright posture of the spine. This group of muscles can get strained if posture is poor or if you pick up a heavy box without bending your knees.
Nicknamed QL, Quadratus Lumborum is a pair of muscles that run on each side of the spine from the 12th rib to the top of the hip bone connecting to the lumbar vertebrae along the way.
It pairs with Glut Medius to stabilize the pelvis and lower back during walking and running. The QL contributes to bending side to side, bending backward, and stabilization of the lumbar spine.
In a minor role, Quadratus Lumborum also assists respiration by helping to elevate the lower ribs during inhalation increasing the volume of the chest cavity. This muscle can get strained or tight from poor posture, overuse, or injury.
The Psoas is the muscle that links the upper and lower body. Starting at T-12, the paired muscle travels down the spine, crosses internal organs, and converges with the iliacus becoming the iliopsoas muscles where it inserts into the lesser trochanter of the femur.
The psoas is our prime hip flexor that also contributes to the external rotation of the hip and lateral movement of the trunk. This linking muscle stabilizes the lumbar spine and pelvis during standing and walking/running.
The psoas can get cranky from prolonged sitting and poor posture. When we sit, we keep the muscle in its shortened position. Picture keeping your arm constantly bent in a bicep curl. It is useful to invite a stretch to return to the lengthened position.
1. Bird Dog — come into a tabletop or All 4s position. Draw your pelvis up into an anterior tilt and then down into a posterior tilt. Keep tilting until you can feel where your tailbone feels the longest and your spine feels in a line.
Bring your head in line with your spine, so look straight down. Your shoulders and hips are square to the floor. Hands under shoulders. Knees under hips.
If you have trouble with your wrists, you can come onto two fists. Feel strong here.
Breathe to engage your core muscles. Invite stillness into your torso. Inhale and reach your right arm and left leg. Exhale and return to starting position. Continue with the opposite arm and leg. Repeat 8–12 times per side or 30 seconds.
Your goal is to move your limbs smoothly while keeping the rest of your body perfectly still. Excellent for multifidus, QL, and psoas. Benefits gluts and traps as well.
2. QL Side — Lie on your side with hips and shoulders stacked. Bend your bottom leg 90 degrees behind you. Lift your top leg to hip height.
Draw your knee toward your face and then return to starting position. Move with deliberation rather than speed.
If you want to palpate, you can reach your top arm around and place your hand on your lower back to feel the muscle respond. 8–12 times per side or 30 seconds.
3. Frankenstein Walk — This comes from Monty Python Ministry of Silly Walks. You will stand upright.
Engaging the hip flexion talent of your psoas, you will lift your right leg up as high as you can. This will vary from person to person from 40 degrees to more than 90 degrees.
Try to touch your right toes with your left hand. Repeat lifting the left leg. You can do it in place or walking forward. 8–12 steps per side or 30 seconds.
Send any questions or points of discussion my way. I enjoy being in conversation with readers.