The Clam is an exercise that is meant to target an important stabilizing muscle of the hip and pelvis, namely the Gluteus Medius muscle (a.k.a. G. Med). G. Med is important for handling the forces that travel up the legs from the feet. When properly stabilized, the hips allow forces to evenly enter the back where the spine can then dissipate the loads. However, when weakness is present in the G. Med muscle, the forces from the ground unevenly load the hip and pelvis, thus introducing potentially injurious forces into the hip and pelvis. These harmful loads may create muscle and ligament injuries that present as pain in the buttock, hip, or thigh. Two of the most likely groups to experience symptoms similar to those just described include expectant mothers and individuals with past or present foot or knee injuries.
The Clam Exercise Instructions
- Lie on your side with the knees bent, the feet under your buttocks, and your arm under your head to support the neck. (See Figure 1)
- Then slowly spread the knees apart while keeping the feet together. (See Figure 2)
- Slowly lower the leg back down to the start position.
- Then repeat steps 2 & 3.
Perform 2-3 sets of 10-12 repetitions once or twice daily.
Be sure to keep the feet together throughout.
Do not roll back as you do your reps.
If it is too difficult to finish the set that is OK. Just make sure that every rep you do is perfect and you are not sacrificing quality for quantity. Your strength and endurance will quickly build so be patient.
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