photo credit: muscleandstrength.com
First impressions are kind of a big deal. You can determine a lot about someone within the first couple minutes of meeting them. There are usually a few things that stand out like a nice watch, big smile, eye contact, or shoes. From a physical standpoint, you can usually tell when someone takes care of themselves. As a fitness professional I can appreciate things like good posture and muscular development. Among other attributes, I think many of us can appreciate a set of well developed glutes.
What, you thought Kim Kardashian was famous for her talent?
Aside from the obvious aesthetic appeal of a well developed backside, proper glute function is essential for injury prevention and athletic performance. There have been numerous studies done on how better glute function translates to knee, hip, and low back health in addition to contributing to better performance.
Basically, a better butt is almost as awesome as Arnold Schwarzenegger riding a unicorn while drinking Wild Turkey and slaying communists. All while AC/DC is playing in the background.
So sad I couldn't find a picture of that...but I digress.
Unfortunately, many have what Dr. Stuart McGill calls "gluteal amnesia". Due to the sedentary nature of our society, we spend more time sitting on our glutes than we do using them. Most people have no idea what ideal hip extension looks or feels like. As a result we have more marshmallow asses and low back pain than buns of steel and bulletproof spines.
Here are a few things you can use to wake up those glutes.
1. Know What Proper Hip Extension Looks Like
You might think I would start with a long list of stretching and corrective exercises, but before you go down that road you need to know what proper hip extension looks like. Many are quick to jump into a corrective strategy without addressing whether motor control is the real issue first. A little bit of coaching can go a long way.
There are several different hip extension exercises out there, but I find the easiest way to teach it is with a simple glute bridge. Lie on your back, bend the knees, brace your abs and drive the heels into the floor to lift the hips as high as possible. Give your glutes a good squeeze at the top.
photo credit: motherfitness.com
Notice in the image above how there is a straight line from the knees, through the hips, and all the way to the shoulders. This is the position the hips should be in at the top of every rep of squats, deadlifts, kettlebell swings, and most other lower body exercises that are performed. If you can achieve this position AND feel a good contraction in the glutes, you may be ready to progress to more advanced variations.
Conversely, if you feel your hamstrings light up like a Christmas tree your glutes probably aren't firing properly. If this is the case you need to address a few other things first.
2. Learn How to Breathe Properly
I have covered breathing at length before, so I won't belabor the point here.
Proper pelvic alignment is essential to proper glute function. If you don't know how to breathe properly, chances are the pelvis is already out of alignment due to an accessory breathing strategy. If the diaphragm isn't doing its job, the hip flexors and paraspinals will most likely be picking up the slack and contributing to more anterior pelvic tilt.
Try some crocodile or 3 month breathing to get yourself right. Get on the floor and knock out 10-15 deep diaphragmatic breaths with a full exhale.
3. Stretch the Hip Flexors
Piggybacking on my last point, stiff hip flexors can pull the pelvis into an anterior tilt, thus limiting the glutes' ability to extend the hip.
There are several reasons for short and stiff hip flexors that I will not get into here. It is sufficient to say some extra stretching for this area can help. There are many examples of effective hip flexor stretches out there on the interwebz, so I'll let you do the homework.
4. Train Anti-Extension
After you have loosened things up a bit, you need to cement that new mobility with some stability work. Training the anterior core to resist lumbar extension is essential because it allows the hips to fully extend without extra spinal motion.
In layman's terms, the spine should stay still so the glutes can do their job.
My favorites are ground based core exercises like dead bugs, pullovers, plank variations, and ab wheel rollouts.
5. Train the Glutes Directly
Now that you have addressed potential weak links, its time to get into some direct glute work.
I didn't used to be a huge fan of glute bridges and hip thrusts, but after incorporating some of them into my own training and programming I have changed my tune. These are also a great way to train hip extension for individuals that don't tolerate spinal loading well (ie. back pain).
SL Hip Thrust
Barbell Glute Bridge
There are a few different options here and different ways to load each. Just make sure you brace your abs, drive the heel into the floor with each rep, and get a full contraction in the glutes at the top. I actually just came across a post on Greg Robins' site that went up today on hip thrust variations. Check it out here.
Give these a try and enjoy the soreness.
Summary
Whether your goal is to sculpt a more aesthetically pleasing backside, reduce pain, or to improve your performance, the glutes merit some direct attention in any training program.
Keep in mind you can do all the hip thrusting and stretching in the world to make your butt look better, but if your nutrition sucks nobody will take notice.
Put the above points into action and you should be happy with the result.
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