Your glutes are the largest muscle group in your body—with arguably some of the greatest potential. Despite that however our glutes are often the most under used muscle group in our body.
If you currently have glute exercises programmed into your workouts, you’re already doing great. But one key thing to keep in mind is type of glute exercises you’re choosing to perform.
Typically most people complete all their glute training via squats, deadlifts, and lunge variations. However it’s important to understand that your glutes are only maximally contracted when you’re doing bent-leg hip extension exercises.
In addition, when it comes to glute training the key is NOT ONLY your exercise choice, but also the amount of effort you put forth to contract the appropriate muscles.
In other words, you have to work for it. ????????
A common problem that a lot of people run into is that they have poor muscle recruitment of their glutes, and/or they don’t consciously focus on activating them –which can lead to a lot of problems down the road.
The nice thing about the 19 exercises in the video below is that they will allow you to focus on activating the right muscle group so that you have little opportunity to compensate.
Meaning, they make it easy for you by ensuring that you’re activating the right muscles. ????
Here are 19 exercise to tone and strength your glutes:
The dominate targeted glute muscle of the exercise selection is the gluteus maximus (see image below).
Below are some additional facts to help you further understand the function of your glute to help you with your training:
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- The lower gluteus maximus is involved in three distinct actions; hip extension, hip hyperextension, and hip abduction (bringing your leg out to the side)
- The upper gluteus maximus is involved in five different distinct actions; hip extension, hip hyperextension, hip abduction, hip abduction, and hip external rotation
- Tight hip flexors can limit or prevent hip extension
- These motions are the most important in sports and include sprinting, leaping, cutting from side to side, and twisting
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If you have any questions about your glute muscles or any of the exercises I’m demonstrating in this video, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me at andrea@balancemotion.com. I’m happy to answer them.
Andrea Lawson
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