Weak Glutes? A over diagnosed & lazy term. Saffron walden massage

I'm about to share too much... oh well.

I used to have to bang on the bedroom wall behind me just to get someone to help me out of bed so I could use the toilet.

When I finally managed to get out of bed, I would have to crawl across the landing because the pain was so intense.

Back in bed, I couldn’t even turn over.

I went to see a physio—and I think a sports therapist too. Well-meaning people. They said, "Weak glutes," and one of them added, "Weak glutes and pelvic tilt...", right...

One of them looked at my legs as I lay on the bed and said something along the lines of, "You have weak glutes—you can see from how your feet turn out." Much of this is modern day hocus pocus.

Before all this, I saw a doctor who did what many years of medical training apparently teaches: "Take some anti-inflammatories." (Joking, doctors are amazing)

Even after working on my glutes, I continued to have awful flare-ups and often couldn’t walk.

Eventually, I went back to the doctor, and he finally woke up and decided to actually do doctor stuff—he sent me for an MRI. You know, one of those machines that can tell you what’s going on in a few minutes...

It turned out I had a condition called Ankylosing Spondylitis. NOT weak glutes.

My condition is serious. My spine is literally fusing—it's not good.

Now, I see people every day—over half of them have been told they have weak glutes or glutes that don't fire. If my glutes did not work, I would collapse...they are "firing" just fine.

Bodybuilders who do a leg leg day every week have been told, "Yes, you have weak glutes." When they literally have lower body day which is dedicated to building strong glutes and get judged on the development of their glutes.

Maybe some of them do have weak glutes—but it’s being totally overprescribed. And even if your glutes are weak, that doesn’t automatically mean it’s the cause of your symptoms. Whoever you're seeing does not know 100% that it’s the reason why you're in pain, and weak glutes are chucked around.

Throwing around “weak glutes” is a lazy diagnosis. It's even better when they come out with the biomechanical reason like :“Oh, your glutes are weak because of instability in your neck muscles, which is impacting your biceps, which is directly weakening your toe, and that’s why your glutes are weak.”

What I’m trying to get at is this: take what you’re told with caution. If you can, get a scan to rule out anything more serious. Just because your feet might sit a bit "loose" doesn't mean you're weak.

And if you’re an active person who weight trains regularly, be extra curious when someone tells you that you have weak glutes and that’s why you feel the way you do.

Now., if you sit at a desk most of the day, don’t train, and live a generally inactive lifestyle, then yes, it’s likely your glutes are weak. But even then... is that really the root of your problem? We don't know, so don't take what you are told as gospel.

That said, physios, osteos, and similar professionals are much better at identifying these issues than someone like myself (a sports massage or soft tissue therapist).But still, I’ve seen many clients who have seen those professionals... and yet the diagnosis was still way off.

Many people won't like me for saying this, but let me be a prime example of a victim of a weak glute diagnosis.