HOW DO I ENGAGE MY GLUTES?
I have now understood that engaging those GLUTES is key for the run. I have been doing the "strengthen those GLUTES" exercises and I now need to start working on the mechanics ...... but obviously have no idea how to proceed (other than a couple YouTube videos suggesting I lift and point my ankles towards my behind!!!!!).
Any suggestions in the haus? Videos .... Literature ..... Wisdom ?
tks
Juan
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Great Brenda, thanks.
If by any chance you know of other materials that show how to effectively work on RUN mechanics/drills to engage GLUTES I would also appreciate it.
Jaun -
Tks much Ryan ( I did understand very clearly the grab a couple beers or more and read!!!!! ). Tks again.
I'd do the same with squats too mixing them up every other workout. So a week would look like Monday lunge, Wednesday Squat, Friday Lunge then the following week switch the workout around. Take it easy on yourself as your doing biking and running now too. It doesn't take much.
This is a very subtle, but I find to be effective, thing for form and glute activation. It's very easy to learn forward from the hips - you see lots of people hunched over during a run, especially on longer distances where fatigue is a factor. But you don't want to do a pelvic forward thrust either, otherwise your torso is leaning backwards and being counterproductive. There's a sweet spot - something I learned from Chi Running that I found effective is to engage your lower abs to level your pelvis a bit. If you imagine your pelvis as a bowl, when you stick your butt out (to exaggerate), the front of the bowl dips down, and thats bad. By engaging your abs, you keep your pelvis level. That, in turn, helps isolate and activate the glutes.
BTW - I find that the legs and back routine from P90x is awesome for leg strength and all those core muscles used for running. Only problem is that I can't do the whole routine unless I plan on not running for 4-5 days afterwards, because it makes my hamstrings, outer quads and glutes super-sore.
Let's think about this a little more holistically. Weak or underutilized glutes don't exist in a vacuum. You can't just strengthen them a little, and then be OK. In most people, weak glutes are a part of a problem related to tight hip flexors, weak abs, tight lower back muscles, and weak glutes, also known as lower crossed syndrome (link here). Many (some would say most) of us have some amount of this syndrome simply from sitting in chairs too much.
To address it requires systematically approaching at least three of the four issues.
as well as teaching the body how to most effectively recruit these newly strengthened and stretched muscles. There are examples of how to address these at sites like this and (more simply) this. Some folks like a kettlebell approach like this. There are progressions to follow in a program like this, or others.
Bottom line, there's a lot to it. My work on the topic has included a lot of bridges, planks, lateral walking exercises, clams, single leg squats, and others. And I'm still improving. It's worth it, but requires an integrated approach.
There is also a good article in the september 2012 Running Times magazine.
Practicing this new hip rotation on short uphill runs, or even briskly walking steep uphills during trail runs always provides a great glute workout as well.
To Coach P's point - bridges are a big part of my PT routine. Makes sense since the "power" phase of your stride is pushing the ground away behind you to propel yourself forward. You should use the back of your legs to do that (glutes) when too many of us are using the front of our legs (quads) to pull the ground toward us.Not very efficient.
THe key is to lengthen/stretch your Rectus Femoris/Illiopsoas and Thoraco/Lumbar Extenders. Then to work on strengthening Lower Abs and Gluteus min/med/max.
I recommend this approach to many people in my practice and it's a classic Lower Cross Syndrome.
One of the best ways to do this is to do a bridge. But first focus on lengthening the muscles mentioned above. Over time thoe focus will switch to strengthening the antagonist muscles mentioned. Once this become easy you can progress to lifting 1 leg and doing 1 leg bridges again with same sequence just listed. The next progression moves to bridge with a swiss ball. And the final progression is 1 leg with a swiss ball. Other exercises mentioned in this thread work, but the bridge is one of the best.
You mention focusing on lengthening the rectus femoris/illiopsoas and thoraco/lumber extenders first. Do mean before you work the glutes everytime you work out, or for a duration of weeks first, before you start the strengthening?
If it is stretch only for a durtion - how long a duration (3 times a week x 3 weeks)
What stretches do you like the most. I am a fan of active isolated stretching, as I feel static stretching does nothing for me.
I really like standing exercises for the glute min/med. How about you. I like the hip hike or the leg abduction with stability ball against wall.
What are your thoughts on a single leg deadlifts for glute activation.
THINK SNOW!!!
1) engaging glutes and core during toothbrush time. Standing on one leg, holding the run pose. stay there for a while and keep your balance. Repeat with the other leg. My electric toothbrush has a timer that keeps me doing this for a total two-minute cycle.
2) Include 'vacuums' as part of your core work (just Google it), and eventually start to engage this "pull the bellybutton into the spine" action while running. In particular, I did this late in runs where I knew form was faltering, and it amazed me how automatic the engagement of glutes became when sucking the belly. I'm sure there were a lot of other things that were occuring in the kinetic chain when I did that, but the net result was getting my glutes back into the game after they decided to hit the sidelines.