Sitting all day at your desk or driving for hours in a car may make you feel stiff and really isn’t the best way to treat your lower back and hip flexors. But prolonged sitting can also cause dead butt syndrome. That’s the common name for a potentially debilitating condition called gluteal amnesia.

Your gluteus maximus is the strongest muscle in your body, but when you ignore its well-being this can trigger hamstring tears, sciatica, shin splints and arthritis in the knees, says Dr. Jane Konidis, a specialist in rehabilitation medicine at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota.

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“Our bodies aren’t designed to be seated for long periods of time,” says physical therapist Kristen Schuyten at Michigan Medicine. “So, when you’re on your butt for hours a day, it’s going to lead to issues.”

According to The New York Times, when the muscles in your bottom become weak from inactivity they forget how to function properly. It doesn’t mean they are literally dead, it’s more that they’re not activating efficiently, explains Schuyten. Even elite athletes like ballet dancers and scratch golfers can be affected by dead butt syndrome.

This forces other muscles and joints nearby to pick up the slack, resulting in pain, especially during physical activity. But learning how to fire up your glutes can prevent dead butt syndrome, says Konidis.

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A simple test can determine if you have this condition. Stand on one leg and let the other dangle so that the glutes are soft. Now transfer the weight to the dangling leg and squeeze the cheek. You should feel your glute muscles firm.

To prevent dead butt syndrome, keep moving every 30 to 50 minutes during the day. Try marching in place or do hip circles or squats. Keeping your glutes activated and strong is especially important for athletes. Simple exercises likes single-leg glute bridges, side planks or split squats don’t require any equipment and can be done daily or every other day to keep your glutes alive and well.  

If adding these exercises doesn’t seem to exhaust your glutes and you still feel pain when performing everyday activities, such as walking or running, get help from a physical therapist or sports medicine doctor, says Konidis.

“When one link in the chain is weak, the whole fence collapses,” she notes. “And the glutes should be the strongest link.”