Sitting, standing, walking, climbing stairs: Most of your forward motion is powered by your butt. Strengthening your glute muscles can protect your back and hips, improve your posture and boost your athletic performance.
Being sedentary for long stretches of time is a common cause of weak or underactive glutes. “You’re basically putting your glutes to sleep,” said Kelvin Gary, a personal trainer and gym owner in New York City. Muscle imbalances, poor posture and repetitive motion that doesn’t fully engage your glutes, like running, can also lead to weakness.
Targeted exercises can help you build glute strength, but it’s important to make sure you’re engaging the correct muscles, said Kelcie VanGampleare, a physical therapist in Colorado Springs. Rushing through a workout can reinforce bad habits and poor movement patterns, making those exercises less helpful, said Ms. VanGampleare.
Your glutes are made up of three muscles. Your gluteus maximus, the largest muscle in your body, starts at the back of your pelvis and connects to the back of your thigh bone. In the gym, it’s the primary muscle you use in moves like deadlifts and hip extensions. Your gluteus medius runs across your hip and attaches to the upper part of your thigh bone; your gluteus minimus lies underneath. Together, those muscles help stabilize your pelvis and keep you balanced, and they do most of the work in exercises like lateral lunges and side-plank leg lifts, where your leg moves away from the center of your body.
The workout below, which was designed by Mr. Gary, can help you strengthen all three glute muscles. During each exercise, make sure you can feel them engage with each repetition. If it feels like other muscles — like your quads — are doing most of the work, pause and slow down the movement until you feel it in the correct place.
Overview
Time: Around 40 minutes
Intensity: Medium
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