Training glutes is hot right now and while for many it may be an aesthetic pursuit (no shame that’s one of my driving factors) there are many benefits to strengthening your glutes beyond looking good.
Many think of the core as your six pack, but did you know your glutes are considered part of your core too?
Your core is the foundation of your body. If you want to move properly it is crucial to have strong glutes. If you have a desk job, you likely sit for much of the day causing our glute muscles to essentially turn off and get weaker and weaker. Keep reading to see my top reasons to train your glutes.
Top reasons to train your glutes
- Improved athletic performance. Your glutes are responsible for accelerating, decelerating, changing directions, and explosive power. Athletes with strong glutes will be faster and more explosive in their movements compared to those with weaker glutes. Wanna decrease your race time or keep up with your son in the basketball court? Get to growing ????
- Prevent injury. Your glutes help control the movement of the pelvis, hips, legs, and torso. They help stabilize your pelvis. Your glutes are used for hip extension( ????????♀️ runners). If your glutes are weak, your body will recruit secondary muscles to help with hip extension, but these secondary muscles are not meant to bare the full burden of hip extension. This could lead to muscle imbalances and injury. If your pelvis is properly aligned your joints will track properly creating a trickle effect of stability and alignment. For instance, if your pelvis is properly aligned your knees will track properly and if you knees move properly your ankles will as well. Same would be true from the pelvis up to the skull. Who knew the glutes were so pivotal to the rest of your body’s wellbeing? ????????♀️
- Improved posture. Your glutes are the main supporters of your lower back. If they are weak, your back muscles – specifically your latissimus dorsi – will over compensate, pulling the shoulder and torso out of alignment. If you hip flexors are stronger than your glutes your pelvis can become unnaturally aligned as well.
- Improve metabolism. Your glutes are the largest muscle your body. Which means we can really pack on some muscle if we train our glutes. Research shows that a pound of muscle will burn three times more calories than a pound of fat. ???? So, the more muscle we have the more calories we burn even at rest for the day.
To train your glutes directly, think hip hinge. If the movement comes from your hips as opposed to your knees than you are likely targeting your glutes.
Movements like hip thrusts and deadlifts are going to be a crucial addition to your workout if you want to strengthen your glutes and should be considered the bread and butter of any booty workout.
You’ll want to play with single leg movements as well. Exercises like single leg deadlifts, bridges and hip thrust will take your glute training to the next level ????
I’m sure you’ve seen the booty band workouts and movements. Banded movements like these are great for glute activation and can be sprinkled in as a warm up or park of your circuit. I love a banded side shuffle. ????
Have questions or want help training your glutes, hit me up ????????
