This post is a sequel to a blog post that I wrote last year entitled: 19 Exercises to Tone and Strengthen Your Glutes.
Your glutes are the largest, yet often most underused, muscle in your body. To quoteDan John,youare “sitting on a goldmine” and may not even know it.
The inability to contract or activate your glutes has been termed Glute Amnesia by Dr. Stu McGill, who is a professor of Spine Biomechanics and one of the most respected and well-versed back specialists known today. He is also Canadian.
Another consideration, that you mightnotthink about, is how little youmay actually be using your glutes when performingglute-based exercises. This lack of engagement is a deceiving symptomof Glute Amnesia, because you may not know that you’re not using your glutes until thatday your lower back craps out on you, or you can’t figure out why your knees hurt.
There are several reasons why your glutes maynot be firing sufficiently.
The first reason is alack of muscle recruitment.
A common pattern of imbalances that we regularly see at BIM is tightness inthe back extensor and the hip flexor musculature,coupled with deep abdominal and gluteal muscle group weaknesses. This postural issueis commonly referred to as Lower Cross Body Syndrome. A term coined byDr. Vladimir Janda.
According to Dr. Janda, the reason wehave a tendency to adopt this postural imbalance pattern is becausefunctionality muscle can be classified into two different categories: phasic and tonic.
Thetonicsystem consists of your“flexors”, and is phylogenetically older and more dominant. While yourphasicsystem consists of the “extensors”, and emerges shortly after your birth.1
The posture associated with Lower Cross Body Syndromehas also been linked to injuries and daily postural habits. A big culprit that contributes to thispostural dysfunction is thought to be sitting, or more specifically, the amount of time youspend in a seated position.
While the research is still inconclusive to whether prolonged sitting hasa directlink togluteal weakness or atrophy2, we do know that when ina seated position your glutes are “stretched”(while your hamstrings and hip flexors are tightened or flexed) which is believedto cause your body to develop greater tension and muscle availability in your hamstrings and hip flexors, and less inyour glutes.
Some problems linked to weak glutes include:
- Dominant hamstrings
- Chronic tight (and/or restrictive) hip flexors
- Low back pain
- Knee pathologies
Dominant Hamstrings
Dominant hamstrings can be caused by a number of things, in addition to regular prolonged periods of sitting. You can learn more about themHERE.
The problem withdominant hamstringsis that they can interfere with the use and/or recruitment of your glutes – as both your glutes and hamstrings are the primary drivers of any hip extension action, like squats, deadlifts, lunges, step ups, glute bridges, hip thrusts, etc. When you remove yourglutes fromthe equation you end up over-working your hamstrings(due to thelack of adequate load sharing) –which is the reason a lot of people struggle tosee results when working to tone, strengthen and build their glutes.
Butthat’s not the end of your problems…
If your hamstrings are over-innervated (aka “tight” or “short”) they will limit the mobility of your hip joint. One of the most common compensation patterns that we see as a result of this tightness is the toe touch pattern–which is when more movement is forced to come from your lower back (or lumbar flexion) instead of a hip extension, as it should.
How do youcombat dominant hamstrings?
If you have dominant hamstrings when you come to us wewill have you complete some hamstring-lengthening movements before we get you to do any glute activation exercises. This enablesus toincrease the range of motion in yourhips. It also allows us to dampen your hamstrings (in the short-term) so that you can better focus on contracting your glutes when performing hip extension exercises.
In addition, we will sometimes have youstatic stretch of your hamstrings. However, we typically prefer to choose movements that create strength and/or stability in a greater range of motion than you use to or have access to as a result of muscle restrictions.
One such exercise is the Active Leg Lower, which is great for stimulating hamstring length while simultaneously causing you to engage your core to provide better pelvic stability.
Recommended Repetitions: Complete 10-20
Coaching Cues:
- To set up for this exercise make sure that both of your legs can extend fully(e.g. zero,or as little knee bend as possible). This may require you to move back a bit if you have limitations in your hamstring length.
- Keep your top heel at a constant distance, preferably 1-2 inches from the wall as you perform your leg raises with the opposite limb. The less movement you have inthis leg the greater core dissociation you will develop.
- Focus on quality of movement, take a rest as needed, and reset if you deviated from the proper set-up.
Afteryour Active Leg Lowers, follow up (or pair them)with a set of basic Glute Bridges. Your focus should be on consciously activating your glutes while keeping hamstrings relaxed.
PRO TIP: Adding a wall push (refer to the picture below) can help engage your deep abdominal muscles, which will help to facilitate pelvic stability. We also find that this reduces hamstring compensations while promotingbetter recruitment of yourglutes.
Performingthis combination of exercises, or a similar combo, will allow you to develop moremuscle recruitment and strength inyour gluteal region, while also helping to train these muscles to activate during a hip extension – which is what you want.
TightHip Flexors
The problem with tight hip flexors is that they robyou ofyour ability to fully extend your hips and capitalize on full gluteal activation.
The picture below should give you a better idea of what I am referring to here.
The moment arm, or the amount of force potential of thegluteus maximus for hip extension, indicates two things:
- It is a key hip extensor
- It decreases with increased hip flexion angle
These two thingsultimately tell us that the gluteus maximusis themosteffective when yourhip isnearfull extension.3
Studies have also shown that improving your hip extension range of motion is important because it dramatically improvesgluteus maximus activation (measured in EMGamplitude) during resistance training.4
If a lack of glute activation doesn’t bother you, then you should knowthat normal walking requires youto move yourhips 10 to 15 degrees beyonda neutral extension(which is normal upright standing) in order for you to drive/push forward with yourleg and foot. Thismeans that the muscles crossing the front of yourhip joint(also known as yourflexors) must be of adequate length to give youenough hip extension to walk regularly. If either of these muscle groups aren’t functioning properly there will be a muscle imbalance, and as a result, your gait pattern will be compromised.
But the problems don’t end there…
When hip extension is not available yourtendency to substitute it withlumbar hyperextension(when your spineextends back beyond your pelvis) increases, which is when we typically see a lot of spinal complications. Low back pain also tends to emerge at this time.
Lumbar hyperextension is something that you need tokeep in mind when performingexercises that finish with hip extension under load– which is pretty muchevery lower body exercise. Beforeexecuting these typesof exercises it isimperative that you address your hyperextension. If you don’t, you run the high risk of putting regular stress on thelumbar region of your back at the top of your deadlifts, squats, lunges, hip thrustsand step ups. You also risk of hurting yourself when performing commonmovements like, standing up from a seated position, oreven walking.
How do youcombat tight hip flexors?
First you need to identify which hip flexor muscle isrestricting your hip extension. We do this by administering the Thomas Test.
Hereis a video that demonstrateshow to assess hip flexor length using the ThomasTest.
If after undergoing this test you learn that your rectus femoris and/or TFL are to blame for yourproblems, I recommend regularly performing thisSelf-Contract-Relax Hip Flexor Stretch.We like this stretch at BIM because it effectively targets yourrectus femoris and tensor facia latte, which is a glute muscle that plays a significant role inhip flexion.
If you are more restricted through the psoas group, we like the Band-Assisted ½ Kneeling Hip Flexor Stretch demonstrated in the video below.
Following either one of these stretchesI recommend that you perform a Glute Bridge(with yourfeet slightly elevated) to give your rectus femoris muscle some slack so that it won’t become a limiting factor.
Recommended Repetitions:Higher reps of 12-15 areideal
Coaching Cues:
- The height elevation of yourfeet will be based on your rectus femoris length
- Make sure that your knee angle is a maximum 90 degrees to avoid hamstring activation
- Engage core and maintain pelvic stability throughout the movement
- Consciously press into your heels and “squeeze” your glutes as you lift your hips
- Hold each rep at the top for 2-5 seconds (depending on the strength endurance of your glutes)
LowBack Pain
Your back and butt are connected(a fact I’m sure that you already). But I want to shed some light on something that might be a little less obvious to you.
So far I havetalked about how/why you are at risk of over-utilizing lumbar flexion during movements that require greater amounts of hip flexion (like touching your toes) if you have limited hamstring flexibility.
I have also touched on how limitations inyourhip extension (due to a restriction in yourhip flexor musculature) can lead to lumbar extension and/or hyperextension.
By now you should also understand that your glutes are a primary hip extensor.
But what you may not know, that is also worth mentioning, is that yourgluteus maximus and hamstrings work together to extend yourtrunk from a flexed position by pulling yourpelvis backwards.
Essentially what happens when you return to an upright position (after bending forward) is your hip extensors (aka your glute maximus and hamstrings) rotate yourpelvis posteriorly, after which yourback extensors extend yourspine– beginning at the lumbar region and working their way upward.
Trunk extension and hip extension are one inthe same (in a sense) – as they both assist to bring your body into an upright position.However, you can improve your movement mechanics to help take the strain off your back extensors (which are typically in a state of chronic tension from overuse) whengetting into an upright position with some attention to detail and practice.
With this concept in mind, the biggest game changer for you will beactively engaging your glutes at the “lock” or moment when your hips and torso are anatomically in full extension. Actively engaging your glutes will ensure that you avoid hyperextension, and increase the neutral drive to your glutes during this movement.
Howdo you actively engage your glutes?
Think about coming into an upright position via hip extension (straightening yourlegs) and squeezing your glutes rather than just lifting your torso up. At BIM wehave found this to be helpful forthose recovering from low back pain. However, it will also improve your lockout strength during a deadlift, squat, hip thrust, orany Glute Bridge variation.
Here is a video to help you better understand what I am talking about.
Here are a couple exercises that will also help improve your hip extension patterns with a glute emphasis:
KneePain
Most knee pain is a result of poorly functioning hip mechanics and/or stabilization. However, itis worth mentioning that ankle issues can also contribute to knee dysfunction.
In general, when you have poorglute/hip strength (gluteus minimus, glute medius, gluteus maximus, hip external rotators) it prevents proper stabilization of yourpelvis and femur.5+6
During lower body movements, your hips often have a tendency to move into adduction and internal rotation. When youradductors are overactive (in comparison to yourgluteand hip external rotators) yourkneesare pulled inward, which is often referred to as a valgus collapse.
The picture below provides a visual of what I am referring to here.
From a practical stand point, if you consider all of the issues I have talked about, and think abouthow your body may start to compensate when your hip movement is restricted and your crucial muscles are weakened (e.g. your glutes), it should come as no surprise that your knees will also be affected.
In other words, if you have cranky knees, I highly recommend that you find someone to assess your hip stability and function. If you would like to book in and have one of our Kinesiologists perform that test, CLICK HERE to send me a message. I will happily get you booked in.
Closing Thoughts
Mygoal withthis post was to educate (and hopefully not overwhelm) you on the importance of proper gluteal function. I appreciate that everyone wants a better butt. Howeverglute dysfunction is something that I see over and over again, soI believe that it is imperative that you understand the role your glutes play, and how to recognize if you have any restrictionsthat could be keeping you from achieving your ideal butt.
Implementingthe corrective strategies thatI have outlined in this post will not only help you build and tone your body’s biggest asset, they will also have a huge impact on the recovery of low back painand knee injuries.
If you’re not sure if your glutes are firing properly (or would like help improving your glute activation)schedule a a free fitness assessment with us.
References
Umphred DA.: Neurological Rehabilitation. Mosby: St. Louis, 2001, pp 56–134
Sonenblum, S. E., Sprigle, S. H., Cathcart, J. M., & Winder, R. J. (2015). 3D anatomy and deformation of the seated buttocks. Journal of tissue viability.[PubMed]
Worrell, T. W., Karst, G., Adamczyk, D., Moore, R., Stanley, C., Steimel, B., & Steimel, S. (2001). Influence of joint position on electromyographic and torque generation during maximal voluntary isometric contractions of the hamstrings and gluteus maximus muscles. The Journal of orthopaedic and sports physical therapy, 31(12), 730.[PubMed]
Mills, M., Frank, B., Goto, S., Blackburn, T., Cates, S., Clark, M., & Padua, D. (2015).Effect of restricted hip flexor muscle length on hip extensor muscle activity and lower extremity biomechanics in college‐aged female soccer players. International journal of sports physical therapy, 10(7), 946.[PubMed]
Ireland, M.L., et al.,Hip strength in females with and without patellofemoral pain.J Orthop Sports Phys Ther, 2003.33(11): p. 671-6.
Prins, M.R. and P. van der Wurff,Females with patellofemoral pain syndrome have weak hip muscles: a systematic review.Aust J Physiother, 2009.55(1): p. 9-15.
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