Besides being aesthetically pleasing, glutes are a very important to the stabilization and balance of the body. Lack of glute strength is a major cause of lower back pain. In addition, sitting for long hours at work is also a major contributor to weak gluteal muscles.
Below, is a sample workout that will help increase your glute activation and in turn protect, even relieve some lower back pain.
In order to get the most out of these exercises you need to exercise your “mind to muscle connect,” meaning, you have to actually THINK about squeezing your glutes during the contraction portion of the exercises. I have made some notes to help you.
Workout: Lower body Glute focus
Need: Dumbbells or 1-2 gallon water jugs, yoga mat
Definitions:
- Tempo: the speed of the exercise. Example: 3:3:1 lunge take 3 seconds to lunge down, hold the down position for 3 sec and take 1 sec to stand back up to complete the movement.
- Reps: How many repetitions you will perform for each exercise
- Set: how many times to repeat the exercise for the prescribed amount of reps
- Rest: how long you rest after each set
- RPE: “Rate of Perceived Exertion”, On a scale from 1-10 with 10 being failure. If the RPE is 9 you should perform the exercise 1 rep short of failure. If the RPE is 8 you should perform the exercises 2 reps short of failure. You can increase the difficulty of the exercise by adding more resistance.
EXERCISE | Tempo | Rest | Sets | REPS | RPE | |
A | Sumo Squats | 2:1:2 | 45 sec | 4 | 20 | 9 |
B1 | Stationary lunge | 3:3:1 | X | 4 | 10/leg | 9 |
B2 | Single leg glut bridge | 2:0:1 | 45 sec | 15-20/leg | 10 | |
C1 | Walking lunges | 1:0:1 | X | 3 | 10/leg | 9 |
C2 | Single leg jack knife (abs) | 2:0:1 | 45 sec | 9 | ||
A. Sumo Squat:
- Stand with feet shoulder width apart
- Toes turned out
- Body Weight is shifted onto your heels
- Take 2 sec to descend, Hold 1 sec, take 2 sec to stand up
- 4 sets of 20 reps
B1. Stationary Lunge
- Stand with feet separated
- Take 3 seconds to lower back knee, hold at the bottom for 3 second, take 1 second to rise
- Squeeze the glute on the back leg
- 10 rep per leg
- Repeat for the next leg then proceed to B2 for the superset
B2. Single Leg Glute Bridge
- Lay flat on the ground
- Prop one ankle onto opposing knee
- Take 1 sec to lift hips, no hold, take 2 seconds to bring hips back down
- Return to B1 for 4 sets
C1. Walking Lunges
- Take a large step forward
- Lower back knee
- 10 reps per leg
- Repeat with other leg
- Then proceed to C2 for the superset
C2. Single Leg jack knife (abs)
- Lay flat on your back with both legs in the air
- Drop 1 leg and both arms
- Then reach back up and SLIGHTLY lift your hips
- 10 reps per leg
- Return to C1 for 4 sets
