What are Glutes?
Gluteus Maximus or the butt muscle is located in your posterior and lower back. It helps with hip extension, which means that it straightens out your leg behind you. The glutes also help to stabilize the pelvis and spine by keeping them from rotating too far forward on one side of the body. This is why strong glutes can often prevent a person from developing low back pain.
Importance Of Glutes In The Body:
Glutes are a misunderstood muscle with an important role in the body. Glutes not only help create and control movement but also improve balance and stability. And while some people may be surprised to learn this, glute muscles can actually burn more calories than any other muscle group. The importance of having stronger glutes cannot be understated when it comes to overall athletic performance as well as injury prevention. Stronger muscles improve range of motion, stability, balance, and power-producing capabilities while reducing risk for injury
How To Train Your Glutes Properly:
What are the best exercises for training your glutes? There are tons of different types of exercises that can be done to work this muscle group. A few examples include deadlift variations, lunges, hip thrusts, and Bulgarian split squats. Here are few exercises that you should incorporate in your next leg workout to put those glutes on fire!
How to Perform Lunges:
- Get into a lunge position with your front foot flat on the ground and your rear knee bent down close to the floor.
- Push off from your back leg heel, letting it lengthen as you step forward to meet your other foot.
- Step so that both knees are at 90 degrees or more and push up through the hips until there is a straight line from your shoulders to the front knee.
- Drive through the heel of the back foot for a powerful push-off and return it to its original position on the ground.
- Push up from that step, keeping a 90-degree angle in both knees as you take another lunge forward with opposite leg now (from rear foot to new front).
How to Perform Barbell Hip Thrust:
- Kneel down on a bench or elevated surface.
- Place barbell at the upper part of your hips.
- Lift one leg off the floor and place toes on edge of the bench, knee bent out to the side (bringing it close to outside) so that your weight is supported by the heel when you lift the other foot up off the floor.
- Lift up onto toes of foot on the bench, hips lifting off the ground as you bend the spine forward and push upper body weight back by pressing shoulders down.
- Keep heel firmly planted to the edge of the bench with your leg that’s lifted extending out in front for balance if needed (the foot should be angled at about 90 degrees).
- Slowly lower your body back to a starting position and switch legs.
- Repeat for the desired number of repetitions.
- Switch sides, swapping the foot that’s on the bench to the up leg on top, and repeat steps above alternating arms each time).
How to Perform Glute Bridges:
- Lay face-up on the floor with your knees bent and feet flat.
- Have a weight in each hand, arms crossed over the chest, or holding hands behind head.
- Lift hips to form a straight line from knees to shoulders as you squeeze glutes firmly together. Do not arch your back too much as it will lead to more usage of lower back muscles rather than the glutes.
- Lower hips to the floor. Repeat for the desired number of repetitions, alternating sides each time.