This does not look like a dead butt to me. Photo by Oleg Melevych on Pexels.com
I recently learned there’s such a thing as “gluteal amnesia.” Have you ever heard of that? I hadn’t.
It’s a condition caused by our society’s sedentary lifestyle – literally by sitting on your butt too much. Also known as “dead butt syndrome,” gluteal amnesia happens when your gluteus maximus muscles (the major muscles that make up your butt) lose their ability to contract naturally. There are different theories about why being sedentary causes this to happen, but it does seem to happen to some unfortunate individuals.
Having a dead butt can cause lower back problems and sometimes pain that resembles sciatica. Also, it can give you a saggy butt. Oh no!
To compensate, a person can do exercises, among them squats, hip thrusts, and bridges. Experts say that with proper treatment and exercise, there is hope for resurrecting dead butts.
According to Self Magazine and Healthline, the condition can even impact people who exercise regularly if they sit a lot when they don’t exercise. Suggestions for preventing it include breaking up time sitting with walks and stair climbing.
Rest assured, my butt is just fine, thank you, especially since I began kick boxing workouts. But now you can say you learned something today.
A news reporter wearing colors that Marie approves of. Although they do clash a bit with the news van. Photo by cottonbro studio on Pexels.com.
As I walked down a long hallway in my local medical clinic, I analyzed the gaits of my fellow patients walking before me. “That person is walking on their instep. They need arch supports,” I thought. “That person is knock-kneed. I don’t know what they need, but they need something, or they will be facing problems later.”
Sometimes, I suspect I should have been a podiatrist or a psychiatrist in another life. I seem to have this talent for gait analysis and knowing what might help. But I am a science writer/podcaster/photographer by day and a novelist blogger by night. What do I know?
My other secret talent is as a fashion consultant to local television reporters. As I watch the local TV news almost every night, I think, “Why is that person wearing such dull colors, they’re obviously a “winter” in the color scheme! They need jewel tones. Look at that man’s suit sleeves! His arms have grown about four inches and he needs a new suit!”
These talents are a both a blessing and a curse. They’re not the kind of things one can just go and approach people about, unbidden. I would be laughed at, or worse, for offering such medical and fashion advice.
I guess I’ll just need to keep my thoughts to myself or risk another person’s ire. If I had my life to do over, perhaps I’d go to medical school or become a media fashion consultant.
The Rouchleau Mine Pit as seen from Minnesota’s tallest bridge.
Russ and I explored a new (to us) section of the Mesabi Bike Trail in Minnesota’s Iron Range this weekend. The section we targeted took us across the state’s tallest bridge, the Thomas Rukavina Memorial Bridge, near Virginia, Minnesota. We driven over the 204-foot-tall structure plenty of times but always looked longingly at the walking/biking/ATV trails right next to the freeway, and today was the day to make our dream come true!
The Thomas Rukavina Memorial Bridge outside of Virginia, Minnesota.
We meandered to bike trailhead in the town of Gilbert at the Sherwood Forest Campground. Biking toward Virginia, we promptly lost the paved trail as it merged into the city roads for several blocks. I think in the past, trail directions had been painted on the road, but those have been lost to the weathering of snow and traffic.
A veterans’ memorial mural we biked past in Virginia.
We had a general idea of where to go, however. We just followed our noses for a few blocks and the trail reappeared, taking us past a restaurant and across Highway 37. Then we headed into the woods. I love these forested sections of trail with their lines of aspen and birch. Pink fireweed is beginning to bloom, which added pops of color to the route. One impressive stretch took us on a skinny peninsula high above a gravel pit and a wetlands area.
What the bike trail looks like across the bridge.
The topography is gradual and unchallenging. The only part my legs complained about was the gradual incline once we returned from the bridge, but I get ahead of myself.
Eventually, we reached the bridge. One side of the trail is for walkers and bikers. The other side of the painted line is for ATVs. A low concrete barrier separates the trails from the freeway. A high railing on the outside provides protection from dropping 200 feet but still provides a view of the Rouchleau Mine Pit below. This mini Grand Canyon was created by iron ore mining activities and now provides drinking water for the city of Virginia.
Wind likes to whip around the bridge, but the weather was fair for us. The bridge was built because mining companies wanted to dig where Highway 53 used to be. They gave the transportation dept. plenty of notice, but, as you can imagine, moving a highway is no small feat. This was the most economical route. Even so, the project cost $220 million! And the bridge was constructed as part of it.
The Oldtown-Finntown Overlook.
Thomas Rukavina, its namesake, was an Iron Range lawmaker born in Virginia. He was a staunch advocate for the Iron Range and its people. He’s also memorialized in a park about a half-mile farther down the trail from the bridge. Bridge View Park offers a good vista of the structure and some interpretive signs and benches.
Once we biked to the outskirts of Virginia, we stopped to investigate a rather overgrown overlook of the mine pit that features a 50-foot caged safety bridge out to the pit’s edge. It’s named the Oldtown-Finntown Overlook.
From there, we passed the historic downtown district with its quaint old streetlights and American flags flying. The trail took us to Lake Virginia. We decided this would be a good turnaround spot. We biked around the small lake, disturbing a gaggle of Canada geese, which hissed at us, and then headed back to Gilbert.
The total trip was 13.5 miles. Although the bridge was our main goal, it was fun seeing the other, unexpected attractions along the way and becoming familiar with a new route.
Marie's Meanderings 