By keeping the sacrum in its ideal alignment, the pelvic floor muscles (which attach to the tailbone at the base of the sacrum) will also be optimally aligned and therefore better able to generate force when called upon during a cough or sneeze. Strong glutes contribute to pelvic floor wellness as well. Chances are, no matter how great her jeans are, her low back and butt are flat and her stride is small and a bit rigid because she is gripping her butt cheeks.įilling up a great pair of jeans is not the only benefit of a strong backside though. Next time you see a new mom out for a walk with her babe, look at her bum (from a distance ideally or it might be a bit awkward) and watch her walk. Instead the hip flexors, the muscles at the front of the hips, are used to lift and move the leg forward, which is not how the body is supposed to move. When the glutes are strong they help keep the sacrum, the bone attached to the bottom of the tailbone, in optimal alignment but when the glutes are weak (I call them 'gluteus flateus') they lose their ability to keep the sacrum back and they also lose their ability to generate the force needed to propel the body forward during walking. A lot of what contributes to the tucked tailbone is the condition of the gluteus maximus muscles.

In essence, their body thinks the posture they have maintained throughout pregnancy is the new 'normal' and because the muscles have all adapted to this posture over nine months the body hangs on to the non-optimal posture after pregnancy Most new moms still have forward-leaning hips, a gripped butt and a tucked tailbone. Most women try to counterbalance this shift by thrusting their hips forward, gripping in their posterior pelvic floor – think wedgie – and tucking their tailbone under. It all starts in pregnancy, when a woman's centre of gravity shifts and as a result her posture shifts with it. Yet many women are finding even their expensive designer jeans are nonetheless giving them that dreaded shapeless 'mum bum' look! But it's the booty (or lack thereof), not the jeans that is the real problem. Follow us shuddering at our own moms in their unflattering high-waisted, high-pocket jeans, we swore we'd never be 'that mom' when we had kids.

Health Advisor is a regular column where contributors share their knowledge in fields ranging from fitness to psychology, pediatrics to aging.

Alexa jean fitness pregnancy