Gluteus Medius Activation Exercises
Hello #StrengthFam,
Yesterday I posted a tweet:
Tight adductors can inhibit gluteus medius. So, it’s important to perform glute activation exercises regularly! DM for exercise suggestions!
— The Weight Room (@WeightRoom) January 30, 2013
We received numerous DM’s regarding exercises for the glute medius in order to help relieve low back pain and tight adductor muscles. I thought, instead of answering each DM individually with the same info, it might just be easier to write a quick blog post addressing the issue.
What is Reciprocal Inhibition?
Reciprical inhibition is a process used by the body to control movement. All of our actions are controlled by opposing sets of muscles. We have agonist (prime movers), synergist (stabilizer muscles), and antagonists (prime mover opposition). We’ll use a standing supinated dumbbell curl as an example:
During a standing supinated dumbbell curl, the biceps brachii is the prime mover and is being contracted in order to lift the weight concentrically. The main stabilizer muscles activated throughout the movement are the brachialis and the brachioradialis. The antagonist would be the triceps brachii.
As the biceps and synergists contract, our nervous system must relax the triceps in order to perform the movement due to reciprocal inhibition.
Think of the scenario above as a game of tug-o-war. We have a blue team (biceps) and a red team (triceps) pulling against each other to move the flag (weight) in the middle towards their goal-line. Now, imagine both teams exerted the same amount of opposing force against each other; the flag (weight) would be at a stand still, right? Now, if the red team (triceps) decided to relax, while the blue team (biceps) exerted their full force, then the flag (weight) would be able to move towards the blue team’s goal-line. Muscles, in a sense are no different because they are only designed to contract, relax, and pull.
So, what’s the problem?
Muscles need to have a balanced relationship or ratio with each other (we’ll get into structural balance ratios in a different post). So, if one muscle becomes too activated or stimulated, and the opposing muscle is constantly relaxed, we will start to have an imbalance or weakness, which can cause tight muscles, poor posture, and even injury.
The Answer!
The key to balance is to strengthen the weak, inhibited muscle, and inhibit the tight, over-activated muscle. So, if you have tight adductors ( I believe most people do), then we need to strengthen and activate the adductor’s main antagonist, the gluteus medius. The gluteus medius abducts and medially rotates the hip.
Activation Exercises:
These activation exercises, I believe, are the simplest glute medeus exercises you can do. We could go into crazy detail and perform more complex movements, but I believe in keeping things simple, while following a smart progression. I believe the glute medeus is an extremely under utilized muscle, so we need to introduce the movement at it’s most simplest form.
Phase1:
A1) Foam Roll Adductors: 3 Sets
A2) Adductor Stretch: 30 Seconds Static
A3) Side-Lying Clam: 3 Sets, 12-15 Reps. 2-5 Second Pause at top range of movement.
Try to keep hips as stable as possible and utilize the glute medeus for the movement. I recommend buying short bands, so you can continually progress and strengthen the glute medeus throughout the phase.
Super set these two exercises. Foam Roll Both Adductors, stretch, then activate glutes; repeat for 3 sets of each.
Phase 2:
A1) Adductor Foam Roll: 3 Sets
A2) Adductor Stretch: 30 Seconds Static
A3) Side-Lying Clam with lift: 3 Sets; 10-12 Reps
Phase 3:
A1) Adductor Foam Roll: 3 Sets
A2) Adductor Stretch: 30 Seconds Static
A3) Lying Hip Abduction: 3 Sets: 8-10 Reps
When to do these exercises?
I’d recommend performing these exercises on your rest days or off days. This way, you can get a small workout in without compromising recovery. Plus, I personally love to use rest days to strengthen weaknesses, like the glute medius, external rotator, grip, trap 3, and core. I recommend you do a phase for roughly 4 weeks, then move on to the next phase.
After performing these exercises. you should notice more relaxed adductor muscles, along with better posture, and a more firm and full butt. Overall lower body strength should dramatically improve because our weaknesses are limiting factors in our overall strength!
I’ve done these, now what?
After you have completed these simple exercises, you can then move onto more advanced glute activation and strengthening exercises, such as the glute bridge, bird dog, hip thrust, etc.
What else will help?
Try stretching the piriformis. When the glute medius is weak, the piriformis often compensate and become tight, as well.
For more articles on the subject, and more in depth detail, check out the following links!
T-Nation: “Dispelling the Glute Myth” by Bret Contreras
Perform Better: “Glute Activation: Optimizing the Fuction of the Posterior Power Center” by Fraser Quelch
Thank you for reading The Weight Room’s blog. As always, feel free to comment, write your own success stories, ask questions, or point out any errors you feel are associated with these blog post! We are always open to criticism and learning more about our craft!
Sincerely,
The Weight Room
Always Improve. Every Rep. Every Set. Every Time.