The Perils of the “Yoga Butt”

I had been teaching yoga for about two years when I first heard the term “yoga butt”. Having mistaken it for an eye-roll worthy comment regarding a shapely backside, my friend and co-teacher Megan, corrected me. “It’s when you’ve done Pigeon so many times that your glutes (butt muscles) become weak and overstretched”

I accepted the validity of that view, so it took some time before I embraced the importance of strengthening my glutes as a valuable addition to my yoga practice and teaching. Since the beginning of my yoga practice, I’ve heard countless teachers cue their students to deactivate their glute muscles. The claim is that tight butt muscles result in pain in the hips and lower back, and that soft, squishy glutes are the key to a mobile, flexible body. “Nobody wants a tense, tight ass!” One of my yoga teachers would routinely exclaim to a roomful of delighted students. The relief was palpable. We were finally off the hook for not wanting to do squats and leg lifts!

My teacher was somewhat correct. You don’t want glute muscles (or any muscles) that are loaded with tension or are overly tight. But it’s inaccurate to equate tightness with strength. Like every other muscle group, glutes should contract and release appropriately during movement. Yoga certainly qualifies as movement, so why all of the misinformation?

There are a few reasons why. One could actually be cultural. When I began practicing in 2007, yoga was a certain type of “anti-workout”. Plenty of practitioners (including me) embraced yoga after years of joyless exercise programs that included tedious glute and hip exercises. To engage in a sweaty, breath-centered practice that didn’t include sculpting the rear end was beyond refreshing.

Another reason glute strength was discouraged could ultimately be in the service of the poses, even if the poses don’t serve the practitioner. Certain Pigeon variations and “advanced” hip stretches are so extreme, that only the hyper-mobile can achieve them. A person would have to have profoundly overstretched glutes in order to put their foot behind their head. These “hip openers” can feel great in the short term, but over time, glute muscles lose their functionality. The result can include pelvic instability and pain.

When the glute muscles are weakened, an inevitable lack of balance develops in movement. A variety of compensations can spring from underachieving glutes. Hip extension can become limited and hip flexors are taxed. Hamstrings frequently take over where the glute muscles fall short, and they become even tighter as a result. The femoral head can lose its centration (neutral position) and slip laterally, often resulting in a sore outer hip. The lower back can ache due to glutes that fail to anchor the back of the pelvis down. Regardless of the symptom, weak glutes can inhibit functional movement and limit the benefits of a yoga practice.

I’ve made a few key adjustments to my yoga practice since learning more about biomechanics and butt muscle function. In addition to daily glute exercises (see below), I’ve deliberately activated my glute muscles in Bridge pose and in Prone Backbends. I still practice Lotus and Pigeon poses, but I no longer include Compass pose or any Bound postures that tug at the glute muscles to the extent that the hip hikes up or moves laterally. I frequently practice Warrior 3 with the support of blocks so that I can access my glutes within my practice. As a result, my lower back has regained its length and my pelvis feels symmetrical and stable.

Yoga is a personal practice with a variety of techniques for each individual practitioner. There is no single solution for all bodies, but if you relate to any of the symptoms of “yoga butt”, it might be time to bring glute strength into your practice. Try the exercises below as a warm up before your favorite yoga class or home practice. Explore balancing your hip opening routine with some stabilization work and enjoy the results!

Strength & Stabilization Exercises:

 

Supine Buttock Contractions

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Butt Blasters

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Clamshell

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Reverse Clamshell

3 comments

  1. Thank you for describing this! For about 7 years now I’ve been wondering why I have the aches and pains in my butt and hips particularly after periods of yoga. I had been thinking it was sciatica, and more pigeon-like stretches were prescribed despite my being very flexible in the hips (year of ballet back in the day). These stretches only made it worse of course. When i came across your article, it described all the symptoms I’ve been having (I just attributed the weak glutes and hip flexors to too many years away from ballet and not enough working out, but they have been really surpringly weak lately and I never made this connection). So now…. what can I do beyond my own exercises… is there someone I can see maybe? Some help? A physical therapist? an orthopedist? Do they know about this? I feel like nobody would even take this seriously. Thoughts or ideas? This is totally interfering with any type of workout I try to do!

    1. HI, Robin:

      Sorry for the delay in responding to your post. Would you like to follow through on your thoughts about “what can I do beyond my own exercises, etc? Are you in New York or close by? If you are, then you should see the therapist who wrote the article. Elaine is terrific and she’s a great yoga instructor as well as being a well-trained BodyFix Method™ therapist. An orthopedist will recommend surgery or if you’re lucky, a physical therapist, who also won’t know what we know.

      Please get back to me. We’ll figure something out.

      Bill

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