Do you have a lazy bum? It's a serious question!

You’re right, it’s a medical diagnosis – a lazy bum. We see many clients coming through our doors and after their 1 hour full body assessment, we often tell them that they have a ‘lazy bum’.

A ‘lazy bum’ may seem funny and it is not aimed at insulting you or anyone for that matter.

It simply means that your major buttock muscles, in particular your “gluteus maximus” muscles either don’t fire up when needed or are just not strong enough for your everyday tasks.

Your buttocks are such an important muscle and it’s located strategically just where our spine ends. We need our glutes to activate and take the heavy load when lifting, walking, getting up from a chair or a car seat, basically most activities in life.

Strong glutes mean:

Good pelvic stability.
A good major power muscle to assist the core stabilisers in protecting the spine.
A strong, major propulsion muscle when you walk, run, go up and down the stairs as well as walking up and downhill.
A strong support for the back to assist with lifting.

If this muscle is not active or in other words ‘lazy’, it puts more load on the spine increasing the risk of back injury.

So for those of you who have a ‘lazy bum’, I have three easy exercises to wake up those powerful muscles.

You can do these on your lounge room floor perhaps next to your couch to help you get up and down from the floor.

A good way to start practicing activating your glutes it to start squeezing your bottom whenever you remember such as when you’re driving your car and waiting for traffic lights to go green.

Do you have any good tips to avoid a ‘lazy bum’? Please SHARE in the comments below.

Image courtesy of Shutterstock.com

20 Comments

- - meedee said
  - 20 Oct 2021
    11:34 am
The traffic light trick is a good tip. Good time to do pelvic floor exercises also.

- - mom101628 said
  - 02 Jan 2017
    11:42 pm
Wish I did have an answer to only one side of your buttocks not working as well as the other. So hard to only exercise one side – any tips?

- - momof4:) said
  - 19 Feb 2016
    9:19 pm
Am definitely going to try these exercises, might ax plain some of my back pain and four four kids I can do with the extra muscle toning.

- - youngoldlady said
  - 13 Feb 2016
    2:36 am
Never thought of a “lazy bum” , just wish I could follow the exercises shown. Unable to get down that far , maybe a stable surface up higher might help. Now need to go and find out what I can do with these bad knees.

- - welshmummy said
  - 02 Feb 2016
    11:03 am
Going to try out these exercises. Never thought about exercising my bum before but he does seem to have made some good points.

- - ella12 said
  - 27 Jan 2016
    11:23 am
Great exercises, thanks so much for that.

- - cherz said
  - 22 Jan 2016
    6:26 pm
Would have liked to have seen an explanation with the pics ..a bit hard to follow, I have a lazy brain as well as a lazy bum.

- - aprilb1 said
  - 22 Jan 2016
    1:18 pm
He has a point, i wonder if bike riding helps at all

- - BellaB said
  - 21 Jan 2016
    7:02 pm
Not sure I can follow those photos… Might ask my physio.

- - rovermum said
  - 21 Jan 2016
    9:36 am
Hmm, I’ve no doubt I have a lazy bum. Thanks for the article. I’m squeezing my bum muscles now as I sit at my desk!

- - mom134803 said
  - 21 Jan 2016
    6:25 am
Mmm, I might be in need of some bum exercises, lol !

- - mom101628 said
  - 20 Jan 2016
    9:31 pm
Having just had a hip operation, I can assure you that the exercises that must be done after this certainly eliminates all lazy muscles, especially the ‘bum’!

- - robyn_smithwick said
  - 20 Jan 2016
    8:27 pm
Contract and relax your glutes 5-6 times when sitting at traffic lights or while driving

- - Mummytoabeautifulprincess said
  - 20 Jan 2016
    3:10 pm
hehe who would have thought!

- - mom94125 said
  - 19 Jan 2016
    8:42 pm
lol i have to stop laughing while reading this article.

- - coastalkaryn said
  - 19 Jan 2016
    6:45 pm
oh jeepers I am not sure! something else to worry about

- - mom165081 said
  - 19 Jan 2016
    9:58 am
Interesting expression with serious undertones.

- - mum888 said
  - 19 Jan 2016
    7:58 am
It is very easy to get a lazy bottom especially when you work in the office most of the week or anywhere sitting down . I notice with my brother’s especially one who is an accountant and one a engineer their beer guts growing a bit too , so exercise and a healthy eating seems neccesary

- - mom93821 said
  - 19 Jan 2016
    7:13 am
No lazy bum here! have always worked hard to keep this area strong.

- - mum4107 said
  - 19 Jan 2016
    6:57 am
Very interesting. I’m going to try those exercises, thank you