Best Glute Exercises to Beat Pain
Glute exercises when done properly can significantly reduce your back pain. Truth is most of us sit on our behinds all day long. That is terrible for proper functioning glute musculature.
What happens when we sit for long periods of time day after day? Our brain perceives our glutes as not needed. Therefore, our brain shuts the signal off to the glutes and it tells other muscles to work harder.
The muscles picking up the slack are the muscles of the lower back. Another thing that happens is the hip joint fails to hinge properly so we start hinging at the lumbar spine. This produces strenuous overuse of the lumbar spine and surrounding musculature. Are you seeing the pain pattern?
Most people think of the glutes as strictly cosmetic. I’m here to tell you that they can be a significant pain reducer. These exercises can be done for a better looking backside but for the purpose of this webpage we'll stick with pain reduction. Our goal is to wake the glutes up then get full activation and beyond.
To fully understand how to properly use our glutes we must first understand the anatomy involved as far as muscles and joints.
Anatomy
The major joint in question here is the hip joint. The hip joint is a very important part of the kinetic chain. A poor functioning hip can cause pain all the way up into the neck and all the way down into the toe. Activating the glutes is the first step to properly function hip joints.
The muscles that make up the glute complex are gluteus maximus, gluteus medius, gluteus minimus, and iliotibial band.
The muscles acting on the hip joint are the glutes to extend the joint, the iliotibial band to flex and laterally rotate the hip, and the psoas muscle to flex the hip.
Exercise
Side note: If you are totally new to exercise the very best way to start is a walking program. A walking program starts the process of getting into a routine while working the heart and lungs. Walking actually really works the glutes as well.
Glute Exercises
Body Weight Squats
Weight Squats
Swiss Ball Squats
Glute Squeeze
Glute Bridge
Glute Bridge with Theraband
Basic Lunge
Tri-Planar Lunge
Tri-Planar Lunge with Reach
Clam Shells
Standing Kickbacks
Quadruped Kickbacks
Balance Kickbacks
Click Here For a Specific Glute Workout
Exercise explanations, pictures, and videos coming soon!
Return From Glute Exercises to Chiropractor Today