September Fitness Challenge!

Series of 6! 

Core, Baby! It’s all about the core, bout the core, bout the core… The challenge for September is the Series of 6. Most of you know it, and LOVE it : ) Series of 6 is a series of moves to help challenge your core in a variety of ways.

Your challenge is to start where you are at and build on that. Take the month of September to do series of 6 at least 3 times/ week and see how many you can work up to. Check out the video at the bottom of this post. This should help you with the form and technique when you are on your own.

“Series of 6” targets the gluteus medius to help stablize and support your hips. Hip stability is essential for good balance.

This is especially important for single leg activities. Gluteus medius is a critical muscle for walking and running because these are single leg weight-bearing activities. We need to be able to maintain a single-leg stance in order to have good balance while walking and running. When one leg is lifted off the ground the pelvis on the opposite side will tend to drop. Gluteus medius works to maintain the side of the pelvis that drops therefore allowing the other limb to swing forward for the next step. 80% of walking and 100% of running is single legged, so we really need to have strong glute medius.

Gluteus medius also supports the pelvis while walking by producing rotation of the hip with assitance from the gluteus minimus and the TFL (tensor fascia latae.) No, it’s not a coffee drink : )

When walking or running, weakness of the right gluteus medius will cause the left hip to drop when standing on the right limb. When the hip falls the body will take action to stabilize the head. This means that your lower back muscles such as your Quadratus Lumborum will try to stabilise. All of this leads to bigger issues.

The bottom line is, the gluteus medius is a key player in hip stability. It supports us during single leg activities and therefore is very important for a strong walking and running gait. Series of 6 is a great way to improve our hip stability so that we can do all the other fun activities that we love such as hiking, walking and running.

Use it or lose it : )