Glute Amnesia

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I don’t think you can ever do enough glute work. When have you ever heard someone say, “My glutes are too strong.”? They are one, if not the most important muscle group in the body and most people don’t know how to use them. It has been said that americans have glute amnesia, that is, our butts have fallen asleep. Just because your doing squats, deadlifts, or lunges doesn’t mean your glutes are working. They should, but the body will compensate and use whatever muscle is strongest to complete the lift. Many people will only “feel” squats in their quads because they are so quad dominant, and don’t know how to use their backside. Too much sitting, standing, and just lack of movement have contributed to this epidemic. Look at other depictions of glute development around the world. Running, jumping, squatting, is part of their life, and you can clearly see the difference.

So whats the big deal? Because. Your glutes comprise part of the posterior chain (a linkage of muscles in the backside of your body) which plays a huge role is posture, strength, performance, injury prevention of back and knees,  and aesthetics. So no matter who you are, you can benefit. They are also one of the biggest and strongest muscles in the body, making it a prime candidate for strength and fat loss routines. The more muscle you work the greater the oxygen demand, and thus the more calories burned. Because your glutes are a huge muscle, it only makes sense to incorporate specific glute work into your program. However, like i said before most people do not how to “use” them, and it takes a lot of consistant practice to get good at it. For example, when you walk  try to actively use your glutes to do the work. Remember, your hamstrings are not your glutes, so you shouldn’t feel anything in the back of your legs, just your butt! try these exercises to make sure the right muscles are “firing” in the right pattern.

1) bent leg prone hip extension

Start

Finish

Your glutes act to extend your hip. Your hamstrings also assist in this movement, but we do not want much activity if any in the hamstrings. Keep your leg 90 degree bent at all times. When you are lying down try to lift your leg up a few inches with very little hamstring involvement. If you feel like hamstrings are cramping you fail. If your hamstrings “fire” first you fail. Glutes should initiate the movement and hamstrsings assist the movement. Sometimes it helps to get someone to touch your glute to “waken  them up.” That tactile stimulation helps kick in the glute, and hopefully shut down the hamstrings.

2) bent leg supine hip extention (or Cook Lift)

Start

Finish (incomplete hip extension, should be straight line from shoulder to knee!)

This one is a similar exercise except we are putting the opposite leg into flexion, helping to turn off the spinal erectors (your back), and to mimic a more functional sprinting motion. Bent leg helps decrease activity of hamstrings by putting them in a weaker shortened position. Good luck with this one, it is hard for me to do and I practice this stuff! You can use your hands to pull your leg into flexion, or try using a tennis ball and try to pinch the ball between your hip and torso. By using a tennis ball you have to actively flex your hip, if it falls out you fail. If you cannot get your hips all the up you fail. If you feel like your legs are going to cramp, you fail. If you cannot hold the position at the top for a couple seconds you fail.

Mike Boyle, one of the premiere strength coaches in the country, always said that he has the best job, because he goes around all day and gets to touch butts of the Womens Olympic Hockey team. These may seem hard at first but everyone should be able to do this! It is a natural movement pattern that must be re-learned. It is funny because these things are not easy and require A LOT of effort. I was recently reading an article by another trainer and he was talking about how hip lifts/hip bridges were so demanding some of his clients were completely out of breath after a set. Then I remembered some of my clients saying the same thing! The stability ball leg curl was one of the most demanding exercises in the circuit, even though your laying down and it looks easy. Try them out, let me know what you think.