Do you sit a lot at work? Do you have underactive gluteal muscles? Find some easy glute exercises you can try at home to get them firing up!
Sitting at the desk for hour after hour, day after day, month after month, year after year means that your glutes ( bottom) become lazy and underactive! This causes the body to adapt allowing it to become far less dependent on the musculature and joints found within the lower body, which ultimately leads to muscle weakness and inhibition. The glutes are vital muscles needed in walking, standing, moving from sitting to standing among many other isolated movements.
Weak/ underactive glutes can lead to tight hip flexors, knee problems, discs damage, back pain, and even poor posture. Even if you don’t suffer from any back pain but do sit for long hours, inhibited glutes can adversely affect your training results, and can render you at a higher risk of injury.
The glutes are the largest muscle in the body, they consist of three separate muscles: Gluteus Maximus, Gluteus Medius and Gluteus Minimus. Strong glutes help you run faster, jump higher, or lift heavier; these are all functions which help us to go about our daily business without having to think or worry about it.
If your glutes have become underactive, it can become quite difficult to ‘fire’ them up. When the glutes have been asleep for so long, making a connection and firing them up can be harder than it sounds.
If you’re having trouble engaging your glutes, give the following exercises a go, and consider including them in your routine. Whilst we all know that deadlifts and squats are fabulous for targeting glutes, they are big compound movements and are best completed when the glutes are actively firing. Some simpler exercises to help the glutes to fire are:
Single leg deadlift (no weight)
- Start by standing, balancing on one leg, keeping it slightly bent.
- Pivoting from the hip, bend the knee behind you and start lowering your upper body towards the floor. Make sure to keep your spine neutral and to engage your abs. This is a similar slowed down movement to a golfer’s lift.
- Slowly return to the starting position.
Hip thrusters (with or without weight)
- Start by sitting on the ground with your back against the bench.
- Place a barbell directly above your hips. You may want to use a barbell pad to reduce any discomfort you might feel from the bar.
- Starts by pushing up through your feet and then extend your hips vertically through the bar.
- The weight should be supported through your shoulders and toes. Squeeze your glutes at the top. Then slowly return to starting position.
One leg raise
- Start by lying on the floor with bent knees. Make sure you don’t arch your back and instead push your lower back into the mat.
- Raise one leg off of the ground, pushing down through the other foot.
- When you have extended as far as possible, pause and slowly return to starting position. Either let your leg touch the floor or not.
Side-lying leg raise
- Start by lying on your side on the floor. Rest you arm on the floor. 2. With bent or straight legs raise the top leg up as far as they can go and then return to starting position.
Rear leg raises
- Start by kneeling on all fours with your hands positioned directly underneath your shoulders, ensuring not to lock out your elbows, and keeping your knees in line with your hips.
- Make sure to pull your stomach to your spine, engaging your abs, maintaining a neutral spine
- Now straighten your left leg and raise it as high as you can. Hold at the end, squeeze your glutes,
If you have found this blog helpful and would like to read more by me, why not check out my other posts here on www.backblog.co.uk or find my individual chiropractic site www.clearlychiropractic.co.uk for more information.
Caroline
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