The Gripping Truth

Here's how to avoid tightening the buttocks in backbends, which can lead to compression and pain in the lower back.

By Julie Gudmestad

The problem with this gripping action is that strong external rotation actually limits the ability of the pelvis to move into the posterior tilt desirable for backbends; it locks the pelvis in a position of anterior tilt and sets the stage for compression and discomfort in the lower back. To avoid this, it's ideal to create hip extension without external rotation, and the help of the hamstrings is essential.

The hamstrings are actually a group of three muscles. As a group, they help extend the hip and flex the knee. Individually, however, they perform different rotations: The biceps femoris on the outer back thigh helps with external rotation, while the semitendinosis and semimembranosis on the inner back thigh help with internal rotation.

To keep a balanced leg position in backbends, you need the gluteus maximus and the hamstrings working together to extend the hip, plus the inner hamstrings' action of internal rotation to cancel out the external rotation of the gluteus maximus. To feel this for yourself, lie again on your stomach with your left hand on the left buttock. Keep your left leg neutral, without external rotation, so that your kneecap points straight to the floor and your little toe is just as close to the floor as your big toe. Now lift your left leg off the floor, keeping your knee straight. With your hand you should feel that the gluteus maximus is firm, helping to lift the weight of the leg but not gripping the tailbone. If you press in with your fingers on the back of the upper thigh near your sitting bone, you should also be able to feel the contracting upper hamstring and its tendon. This is the optimal position for Salabhasana (Locust Pose), an excellent pose for training the hamstrings and gluteus maximus to work in a balanced way.

Why doesn't this balanced action come more naturally? Usually the most significant of many possible reasons are two problems that reinforce each other: tight external hip rotators and weak hamstrings. The external rotators include potentially very strong muscles: the gluteus maximus; the outer hamstring; the deep hip rotators (including the piriformis) underneath the gluteus maximus; and the iliopsoas, an external rotator in addition to its better-known role as a hip flexor. All of these can easily become chronically tight, especially if the opposing muscles (the two inner hamstrings and, in some positions, the adductors of the inner thigh) are not strong enough to hold the legs in neutral rotation. The second reason for the struggle with hip alignment in backbends—weak hamstrings—is actually fairly common among yoga practitioners. After all, a typical yoga routine contains hamstring stretches but often no hamstring strengthening.

Building Hamstring Strength
What poses should you use to help build hamstring strength and endurance? Ironically, the supine backbends, which can so easily cause lower back discomfort, are excellent hamstring strengtheners if practiced with proper hip alignment. To explore this, come into Setu Bandha Sarvangasana. As you lift your pelvis off the floor, the first clue about hip rotation is the balance of weight on your feet. If weight has shifted to the outer aspect of your feet, your legs are externally rotating. Directing weight into the inner heel and base of the big toe will put your hips and legs in a more neutral position—so will keeping your thighs parallel. If your feet and knees are turning out, your legs are externally rotating; knee pain in supine backbends is often due to overworking the external rotators, including the outer hamstring (biceps femoris). Holding a block between your knees in Bridge Pose can keep the thighs parallel, engaging the inner hamstrings and adductors to balance the action of the external rotators.

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