The Benefits of Getting Your Glutes Massaged
Have you ever thought about having your glutes worked on as part of your massage therapy? You may not know this, but the glutes are a hugely important muscle group and to leave them out during a massage is rather pointless. However to a professional massage therapist your glutes are just like your calves, quads, trapezium or deltoids, muscle that needs to be worked on.
The gluteals are a group of muscles that sit on the posterior hip. They include the gluteus maximus, gluteus Medius, and gluteus minimus. You should think of this muscle as the connection between your upper and lower body, because your glutes help to support your body when you stand, help you push off the ground, and gives you a better balance in general. When your glutes are strong, every activity you do, from running to walking, is positively impacted and for this reason, some massage therapists think glutes are the most important part of your massage.
Did you know, your glues perform the action of extending the hip, when taking the leg behind you. Your gluteals are at work all day and every day! When your gluteals are tight they may cause lower back pain, the hips that feel stiff or you’ll experience uncomfortable sleeping positions, pain going down the back or side of the thigh and down to the ankle. Sore hips in the latter months of pregnancy may be relieved when massage is done in this area.
The gluteals are a very dense muscle group so there are certain ways to massage them for you to get maximum benefit. For example, I will start by warming up the area with firm effleurage strokes, after the area is warmed up I’ll relax the deeper layers of this muscle group by applying thumb pressure to keep contact with the muscles and feel their response (like all deep tissue massages) I will also use my forearms and elbows as a tools to manipulate your muscles.
As previously mentioned, there are three layers of muscle in the buttocks when the gluteus maximus releases, your therapist can move to the gluteus medius and then gluteus minimus and then down to the deepest external rotators, where the piriformis lies, and this muscle is often the cause of sciatica pain.
No matter what kind of massage you’ll have with me you will always be professionally draped (covered with a sheet so only the area being worked on is uncovered). Glute massage can be done as an extension of your back work or leg work. Most commonly, I’ll work the glutes as I’m doing the back of the leg with the leg uncovered all the way to the top of the hip. The best way to get the most from your massage is to ensure I can access the skin over the muscles and the fewer clothing obstructions there are the better.
To achieve the benefits from leg, lower back, or gluteal massage I would suggest wearing pants, speedos or at least a pair of loose shorts so I can get to as much of the muscle as possible.
After receiving this type of massage your hips will feel freer, your legs swing easier, pain may be gone, or you may feel like you’re floating as you walk. You may come to love gluteal massage. It not only feels good but should be a necessity of every massage that you get.
Reference
Benefits of Getting Your Glutes Massaged. Wright, M(2018) cited in
