Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.

1 Corinthians 15:58  ( NIV)

I’m long overdue for a fitness blog. I posted about this very subject back in 2022, but it’s time to revisit the stability of our core muscles!

 We all want to stand and move steady and strong. Here’s a body cue (prompt) that will keep our bodies positioned correctly to do just that.

We need to keep our hips in the right position to walk effortlessly AND with stability. This body cue will keep our hips exactly where they’re intended for the most efficient movement.

The title of this blog post (Tuck your tail II) is the body cue I’ve been using for years to keep my body from losing its balance. Most of the time, it actually works!

I always used my class mascot (Susie Murphy, the monkey) to demonstrate how & when to tuck your tail for stability. Unfortunately, Susie fell out of my motorized scooter coming home from class one day. Now her little brother, Ben Murphy has stepped up to the task. Just like Susie, Ben tries to make his core more stable by tucking his long monkey tail between his legs.

We can all do the same! Try it as you read this blog…and feel how strong your core muscles become!

As we do this… our bottom tucks under, our hips push forward and our stomach muscles ignite. Then if we also pull our tail up towards our chest, we will feel our ribcage, our chest and ultimately our head be raised up!

If you’re a regular gym-goer, instead of asking you to Tuck your tail, a fitness trainer may ask you to ACTIVATE YOUR GLUTES.

When I had my traumatic brain injury (TBI) 27 years ago, I have a vivid memory of my brother, John telling me if I wanted better balance, I had to get a stronger butt. That was years before he became my primary care doctor. Even still, I immediately added bridges, squats and dead lifts to my weekly fitness routine.

glute bridges

1. Lie on your back, knees bent and feet flat on the floor.
2. Raise your pelvis so your body forms a line from knee to shoulders.
3. Hold for 30 secs and then lower your pelvis.
4. To add difficulty, try doing it with one leg extended.
5. Start with 10 repetitions.

So today, I do indeed have a stronger bootie. In order to get it working for me, I need to ACTIVATE it. Strong muscles are great…but they need to be FIRED so they can do a job for you.

Squats are a great way to get the muscles in our backside working while IN MOTION and WITH GOOD POSTURE.

• Pretend to sit back in a chair. (Stick your bootie out!)
• Don’t let your knees come out past your toes!
• Keep chest & head up. (Make a long kneck!)
• Fire the muscles in your bottom muscles to come back up to standing.
• This move will tuck your tail between your legs.
• Bottom tucks under as your hip bones push forward.

 Then just like the opening scripture, we will be standing firm and not allowing anything to move our bootie!

Dear Lord,

It seems strange to ask You to keep our bottoms strong. It will allow us to move more efficiently though. Then we’ll be free to do whatever You’re calling us to do.

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