Glute Strength – Why It Matters (And How to Start Developing It)

Squats and deadlifts are often claimed to build excellent glute strength. But what if that wasn’t exactly true? What if true glute strength depends on more than these two exercises?

This post will cover the importance of glute strength and what you should start doing today, even if you follow a structured training program.

Let’s dive in.

The Glutes: A Brief Look

Your glutes are three muscles that make up the buttocks region. The Gluteus maximus is the largest and most powerful muscle that produces hip extension and assists the body while walking, running, jumping, and more.

The glute medius and minimus are smaller muscles that assist the gluteus Maximus, promote pelvic alignment, and contribute to hip stability. These two muscles are also necessary for hip abduction (such as raising your leg laterally), thigh rotation, etc.

Why Is Glute Strength So Important?

The glutes comprise a significant portion of the core musculature and are involved in many athletic and everyday activities. Strong glutes aren’t only crucial for deadlifting and squatting a lot of weight. These muscles are necessary for proper pelvic alignment, hip stability, good posture, and injury prevention.

A notable benefit of glute strength is that it protects your spine and can reduce the risk of lower back pain, which plagues millions of people worldwide.

Strong glutes also contribute to your overall stability and balance, making you better at sports, weight training, and everyday activities. Older adults can also benefit from strong glutes because these muscles can reduce the risk of falls.

Some data suggests that strong glutes contribute to better posture due to their ability to extend the body.

How to Start Developing Your Gluteal Strength Today

Given the complex structure and functions of the glutes, relying on a couple of similar exercises like the deadlift and squat won’t be enough. You need to target the area in various ways, train all three muscles evenly, and learn to activate them more effectively.

Strengthening the area starts by learning how to activate the muscles involved. Too many people perform complex glute exercises only to train other muscles.

A good way to start improving glute activation is to incorporate simple movements that target the gluteal region in different ways:

• Clamshells
• Side-lying leg raise
• Standing lateral leg raise
• Glute kicks
• Bird dog
• Glute bridge and single-leg glute bridge

These activities don’t require any equipment and are relatively simple to do. The objective is to perform each repetition slowly and engage your glutes. Doing so is necessary to establish a good mind-muscle connection with the area and achieve better gluteal activation.

Once you gain some experience and can confidently engage your glutes in various activities, add some more advanced gym movements to the equation. The hip thrust is an excellent compound activity that targets the glute area and overloads these muscles with more weight.

Most people don’t give their glutes enough attention, which is a big mistake. These muscles are crucial in hip extension, pelvic alignment, spinal health, and stability.

Incorporating the activities from above will help you take the first steps to strong glutes and all the associated benefits.

Want help to build your glute strength? Apply for coaching with Matt.