Everyone wants great glutes, but truth be told, there is more value in having a strong backside than an attractive one. The good news is that in training for strength and function, you’ll also effectively train for shape and silhouette.
Your glutes power hip extension and are used in all manner of sports and activities. The more powerful your glutes, the better you’ll be at running, jumping, squatting, leaping and lunging. Proper glute training also can help prevent injury. “When the glutes are weak, your hips become misaligned, which can change your gait, lead to pain in your lower back or even cause knee valgus where the knees track inward,” says Hannah Davis, CPT, CSCS, founder of Body by Hannah.
The following 18 moves have been broken into groups of three based on their similarity in hip/gluteal action and muscular activation, and each group contains an A, a B and a C move.
A: Activate
Think of these moves as a sort of preworkout primer: A study published in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research found that beginning a workout with low-load glute activation exercises improved explosive power output in a subsequent workout. “It also creates a noticeable difference in your ability to ‘feel’ the glutes firing,” Davis says.
Perform these moves with little to no weight and focus primarily on form. Use them as part of your accessory work/warm-up before heavy training, or place them at the beginning of a leg workout to get all pistons firing.
B: Build
These bread-and-butter moves are those that add quality muscle to your glutes, as well as strength and endurance in all manner of sports. Perform them using moderate weight and work in an eight- to 15-rep range for hypertrophy (building), or use heavy weight and work in the five-to eight-rep range for strength and power, Davis advises. Mix them into your regular lower-body rotation, or program them into a metcon or another high-intensity training style such as an AMRAP (as many reps/rounds as possible) or circuit for variety.
C: Crush
These moves are explosive, intense and powerful, and adding them to your training will better enable you to crush any athletic goal imaginable. Perform these exercises with little to no weight, and execute each rep with all-out effort. Limit your sets to between one and three (depending on your ability), and keep your reps between five and 10. And because recovery from a plyometric/explosive workout can take up to 72 hours, perform these C moves no more than once or twice a week.
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