Wednesday Q&A: Glute Activation, Long Thoracic Nerve Palsy, & Whole-Food Diet

Welcome to Wednesday Q&A, where you ask questions and we answer them!

In this Wednesday Q&A, we answer your questions about glute activation in movements, whether Bikram yoga is advisable when you have long thoracic nerve palsy, and the meaning of a whole-food diet. 

Your questions:

• From Conor Harris on Instagram: When I hear that squeezing your glutes will help them grow or activate more... Hold up! One of the biggest myths in the fitness industry is that more sensation equals more and better activation of the muscles, so what you should feel after Taco Bell and not every hip-dominant exercise. So the problem with actively squeezing your glutes throughout an exercise is that you are going to keep them in a shortened position throughout the entire movement. Take a hip thrust, for example… the bottom position of the hip thrust is one of hip internal rotation where the back of the pelvis opens up and the glutes stretch. The push shortens the glutes as they close off the back of the pelvis and create hip extension and external rotation. This stretch to contract is a huge driver of mechanical tension and muscle damage needed for hypertrophy. Because the glutes wrap around the pelvis and attach on the femur, opening the outlet for the stretch is key. This applies to many different exercises such as squats, deadlifts, and even more basic glute bridges.
• So what he's saying is muscles should activate and contract because they are moving to create a necessary joint position. Keeping the muscle in a shortened position will not only throw off the mechanics of the joint, but limit your gains around it. So he's going to say that's why you shouldn't keep a band around your legs while you're going it like holding it there while doing bridges. You shouldn't be doing the sidestepping, keeping that tension because you're keeping the muscles in a shortened position. What are your last thoughts about this?
• Do you think Bikram is good to do when I have a long thoracic nerve palsy? I've had it many, many, many years ago and it seems like it just acted up again. 
• Do you have an explanation of what it means to eat a whole-food diet? I think a lot of people don't understand what that means and why it makes a difference in your body. 

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