Do You Have Lazy Glutes?

Happy Monday everyone. It’s another hot day in Boston but we had a beautiful weekend. I hope that you all were productive but had some time to relax. I hit the beach on Saturday, went out for a nice dinner, had a KILLER workout yesterday, and got a little bit of work done after that. A nice mix of relaxation and just enough “stuff” to keep me busy!

Let’s start today off with a bang and I hope that you all have a great week of training!

Did you look at the title of the blog post and ask yourself “what the heck is Callie talking about?” Well, don’t worry, I will explain with a fury. Lazy glutes, I hate ‘em. I see them every single day and it drives me insane so I will refrain from ranting too much and just give you a few things to look for and some tips on how to change the lazy glute syndrome into a powerful, strong, and mighty fine looking backside.

Okay, what are “lazy glutes?”
Many people are very strong and dominant in their quadriceps (thigh muscles) and without even knowing it, those muscles basically “take over” any movement that a person is trying to do. Combine this with sedentary lifestyles (sitting at a computer for work), driving, sitting your butt on the couch…are you seeing a theme here? The posterior chain (essentially your glutes, hamstrings, lower back, upper back) does not get a lot work. The laziest muscle of them all becomes the glutes because that’s what we are actually sitting on.

When we pair excessive sitting with improper training, we have something that is definitely in the top 5 things that Callie hates (I should blog about that sometime).  When I work with any of my personal training clients and small groups, a major focus is on developing proper glute strength and activation in order to effectively perform movements such as squats and lunges, to avoid injury, and to make it look good!

Here are some quick signs that will help you spot lazy glute syndrome:
1. Tight or sore lower back
2. Tight or sore hamstrings
3. Flat as a pancake butt (no definition)
4. Inability to keep your heels down on squats or lunges
5. Inability to perform a single leg squat
6. Knee pain
7. Anterior hip pain

Here are some exercises that will help to improve your glute funtioning before you begin a squatting and lunging program:

Cook Hip Lift

Glute Bridging

The videos illustrate two great warm up movements for glute activation and stimulation. You should perform 2 sets of 10 repetitions, focusing on contracting your butt muscles and pushing your heel(s) into the floor as you lift, avoiding any arch in the lower back.

Here are some great strength movements to develop powerful, strong, healthy, and good looking glutes.

1. Squats- Whether you are performing body weight, barbell, dumbbell, medicine ball, or single leg squats, they are the king of exercises. You must focus on pushing your weight through your heels and pushing the floor away from you. Weight should never shift toward the knees but instead through the hips and straight up to your original starting position.
2. Lunges- Using different implements for lunging is great. You can use barbells, dumbbells, medicine balls, body weight, and lunge in various directions. Glute activation is key for this exercise as well. As you return to your starting position you should push through the heel of your front foot and squeeze your glutes as you come up.

3. Dead Lifts- Dead lifts are one of my favorite exercises. If you do not activate your glutes on this movement, you are basically screwed because your form will be horrible. Barbell or dumbbell dead lifts are great, and positioning the weight in front of you presents a different challenge because if your glutes are weak and lazy, your lower back will take over and it will not be fun. Pushing your weight through the heels just like a squat or lunge is the goal of this movement. Great exercise for strength and overall power!

So if you are looking to improve your posture, strength, overall body composition, and just look great in your favorite jeans…get off your butt, literally, and try some of these exercises. Many people perform squats and lunges but they do them incorrectly which leads to more issues and more dominant quads. This leaves the glutes just as lazy as they were before the exercise.

Nothing lazy about that
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