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You’ve heard of selective amnesia—but did you know that could apply to your legs? Thanks to a culture of sitting, which causes tight hip flexors, it’s common for runners and other athletes to overuse their quad muscles and underuse the posterior chain. Physical therapists and trainers refer to this as “gluteal amnesia” (or, more charmingly, “dead butt”), because what’s happening is our brain forgets to tell our glutes to switch on.
The result? The natural push-pull equilibrium of your body in motion (quads pushing your legs forward, while glutes and hamstrings pull them back) is thrown off. In short: By turning off our glutes, we put ourselves at a higher risk of injury. If you’ve experienced shin splints or runner’s knee, the culprit might be right behind you. In order to counteract…
