You’re not alone. Pilates teacher Norah Myers says getting a hamstring cramp throughout glute bridges is a maddeningly widespread downside.
“They do the bridge and immediately they get a hamstring cramp,” Myers says of her college students. “I see it on their face, I see it of their physique. Instantaneously, they arrive down from the bridge, they maintain their leg, they’re like, ‘Ah, my hamstring!’”
It doesn’t should be this fashion, individuals! There’s a easy repair you may make to keep away from the dreaded hamstring cramp throughout glute bridges.
Initially, why is that this even occurring?
The glute bridge is, clearly, purported to work your glutes. But when they’re not able to work, your hamstring may activate impulsively to assist stabilize you. The cramp is your nervous system making an attempt to activate extra muscle fibers.
“Muscle shaking and cramping occurs when muscle tissue that are not meant to be doing a selected train have to come back in and compensate for muscle tissue that are not participating sufficient in that train,” Myers says.
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So what are you able to do about it?
Myers’ recommendation to her purchasers—and one of the simplest ways to forestall hamstring cramps throughout glute bridges—is to get your butt muscle tissue firing earlier than you really raise your hips.
“In case your hamstrings are cramping or shaking if you do a bridge, meaning you are not kicking in your glutes sufficient,” Myers says. “Actually squeeze the glutes earlier than you raise up.”
Squeezing (or activating) your muscle tissue is vital to get essentially the most out of each train, not simply glute strikes. By ensuring your biceps are working throughout a curl, or your core is engaged throughout a plank, for example, you’ll make sure that you’re utilizing the muscle tissue you’re desiring to work, and never relegating the stress of a motion to your joints or one other physique half (equivalent to a swaying decrease again). In the case of constructing muscle, the mind-body connection is highly effective.
Do that full-body activation exercise to work on participating your muscle tissue.
