How to Improve Glute Strength

Glute training is often part of rehab, prehab, and strength programs, designed to help you overcome injuries, stay healthy and become more functional. 

In today’s post, we’ll discuss the importance of glute strength and the first steps you can take to building buns of steel.

Let’s dive in.

The Practical Benefits of Glute Strength

Learning how to activate your glutes and developing them are two of the most beneficial things you can do for good health, functionality, and injury prevention. 

The glutes are part of the core musculature, and their primary function is hip extension (driving your hips forward). But, aside from that dynamic function, the glutes also influence the pelvic position and spinal alignment. The muscle group also contributes to walking, running, jumping, picking something off the floor, etc. 

A notable benefit of strengthening your glutes is the lower risk of lower back pain. Since the glutes influence spinal alignment and contribute to stability at the pelvis, strengthening them allows you to protect your spine while playing sports, lifting weights, and doing everyday tasks.

Another benefit of strong glutes is improved balance and stability, contributing to functionality and reducing the risk of falling. The latter is essential for older individuals who are more likely to fall and experience debilitating injuries, such as hip fractures.

The third massive benefit of strong glutes is their positive impact on posture. While most people fixate on their upper back and neck as sources of poor posture, such issues often originate from a lower position: the buttocks region. Weak glutes fail to extend your body, causing your posture to worsen over time.

How to Strengthen Your Glutes

Strengthening the glutes starts by learning proper activation. Too many people rush into the training process and do complex glute exercises, only to train other muscles instead of the buttocks. 

The best way to improve your glute mind-muscle connection and start strengthening the area is through simple activities, such as:

• Glute bridge
• Clamshells
• Bird dog
• Banded lateral leg raises
• Glute kicks

Each of these is excellent for activating your glutes, but you must perform repetitions slowly and mindfully. Move an inch or two at a time, consciously engaging your glutes and forcing them to do all the work. Despite being relatively simple, each activity should light your glutes on fire by the time you’re done. 

Once you’ve gained some experience and can more effectively engage your glutes, consider introducing more traditional gym exercises to strengthen the area further. One of the best exercises for the job is the barbell hip thrust––a movement similar to glute bridges. Other suitable activities include deadlifts, Romanian deadlifts, lunges, and Bulgarian split squats.

Training the glutes more frequently is ideal for strengthening them quicker and reaping the associated benefits. For example, train your glutes on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, giving the muscle group at least a day of recovery between workouts.

Conclusion

Most people don’t consider the glutes important and prefer focusing on other muscle groups, such as the chest and biceps. But, as you can see, strengthening your glutes is essential not just for athletes but for everyone interested in being more functional and staying healthy in the long run.