Glute max strength suggestions
I managed to get a very angry hip and TFL a few weeks ago and spent some time in run jail as a result. I've been working with a PT and doing return to run stuff. That has been going well.
The root cause of the problem seems to be glute max issues. I am looking for advice on glute max strength, specifically right glute max transition to left.
Suggestions appreciated.
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Following. I have a similar issue that is expressing a psoas pain. I am working on posterior chain engagement in general with both biking and running.
My glutes don’t fire, resulting in back pain, hamstring tightness, and piriformis syndrome. My chiro gave me some exercises that have been helping. First was core strength- planks, both traditional front, straight arm front and side. Also lie on back with one knee bent and other straight, put hands in small of back and lift chest straight up about 2 inches for a count of 6-8 x6-10 reps. When get stronger, try picking up elbows
For glutes, bird dogs- get onto hands and knees. Extend right arm straight out and then left leg, pushing backward using glutes. Not a leg lift. It’s a pushing motion- like a donkey kicking. Also for glutes, I call them knee ups. Lie on chest. Flex ankle, lift knee to straighten leg, lift leg about 2 inches using glutes. Have someone feel your butt and back to make sure you are only using glutes, not back muscles. Alternate sides.
These are not exercises to increase strength- they are to increase the firing.
while running, I’ve been practicing good form where I push off using glutes, tilt pelvis forward a bit, and engage abs
back pain is much better. Piriformis and hamstring issues resolved. And my left leg that I could stretch about six inches less than right when I started now stretches all the way.
hope this helps!
i Have been working on this in PT a bit - here's a few exercises, just searching the web.
1-single leg dead lifts, you can do these in the position shown in this video with 3-5lb (or more) dumbbells, suggest you do without at first. PT has me do them with arms stretched out like superman, sort of an arabesque position.
2-single leg glute bridges, alternative is to cross unused leg over leg you are using for bridge.
3-Nordic Hamstring curl - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_TOAv0YGGp4
and this list.. .many out there if you google. Generally speaking the more you do with just body weight, the better. Also go to the gym and do hamstring curls in addition to the nordics above..
I'll try to do a video of a couple of things I do and post over the weekend.
Over the past four years, working with a couple of Physical Therapists and by myself, I've done a number of exercises designed to help with my lower core, which I define as hip flexors, Glutes, posas, and sartorious muscle groups. The whole idea was to add to the strength I already have in Quads, hamstrings, and Glute Max, to eliminate the pains I was having with high hamstring tendonitis and knee osteoarthritis. I also re-committed to weight training beyond the body weight work involved in exercises.
I am glad to say that today, I am finally better/stronger than I have been in the past four years. Here are the exercises I found most effective (in order of effectiveness):
• Single leg bridges. Work should be felt in the upper outer quarter of the butt.
• Something I call the bird dip. Stand on one leg, keep the other mostly straight. Lean forward at the waist, then lean back, extending beyond vertical. Imagine one of those office desk toys where a bird seems to continually dip its beak forward into water and bounces back.
• Single leg squats
• Hip raises: standing on one leg, drop the opposite hip and bring it back up again, using the upper/outer hip muscles of tghe leg you're standing on.
• Leg press in the weight room. Can be squats, leg press sled, whatever. Getting to 2.9 x your body weight is the goal, but be careful not to exceed 90% flexion art the knee.
• Clam shells.
As for getting glutes to "fire", I think the best way to do that is to run fast. Start with strides, and work up to short, hard intervals at better than 5k pace. Jogging along at an "all-day" pace is a sure-fire way to train the glutes they don't have to fire. Making them work will wake them up.
Unless I had an actual broken bone (I guess I would put a torn ligament into that category as well, although it's never happened to me), I have always found that running, weight lifting, and daily body work is the road to healing. "Rest" to me has always meant doing less volume, frequency and/or intensity. Persistence pays.
Thanks all!
Great team effort in providing a solution to what is probably the major barrier to my continued success in long course triathlon. The concept of Anterior Pelvic Tilt is behind (no pun intended) this “inactive glute syndrome.” Dave “The Man” Scott has been talking about this for decades. Sitting on a bike seat making your quads burn and sitting (or slouching) on the couch typing in the EN forums do have something in common! Chronic shortened anterior muscles and hyperextended posterior chain muscles tilt the pelvis anteriorly. (I always thought that my hamstrings were tight because they were overly contracted). After a particularly hard bike weekend, I find that standing for extended periods (10 min) triggers a generalized ache which extends bilaterally from my glutes to my knees... both anterior and posterior. Squatting for ten seconds relieves this relatively uncomfortable pain almost immediately, although looks a little weird in public. Tight quads (hip flexors) are the problem. Interestingly, the same generalized discomfort occurs when I take more than one or two days off training, and is far less common when I am swimming (extension), biking, and running (doing balanced training) regularly. Unloading these muscles at night results in a gradual tightening that disrupts my sleep with restless tossing and turning after about 5 hours. Unfortunately, my “theory/excuse” for not stretching actually did work... for a few decades. Contracting antagonist pairs during different sport movements does provide some active stretching, and helps keep aging triathletes in denial for years. Normal aging results in significant loss in muscle strength, and core muscle weakness with a bio mechanically inefficient pelvic position is my current limiter. Luckily work works. @Al Truscott needs to write a book ;-)
@Janyne Kizer have you seen this? Good suggestions.
https://log.finalsurge.com/Resources.cshtml?key=26ae238d-c288-491c-9f63-7b6670afc79f
I did, @Sheila Leard . It's just not clear to me which of these address the right glute max transition to left?
@Janyne Kizer you said you were going to PT so what did they suggest? The exercises that @Sheila Leard linked are great and you should do all of them - actually we all should. (as a background I am a physical therapist). Finally what @John Culberson describes is called lower crossed syndrome and popular in our sport. Here's a short article and you will notice the correcting exercises are what all the team members @Al Truscott @scott dinhofer @Leslie Knight above have mentioned
I would add deep overhead squats with just a very light bar (I use a hockey stick) as an awesome mobility exercise
@Daniel Ballin , my PT has me doing several PRI correctives (90-90 Resisted Right Glute Max with Weighted Right Serratus Anterior, All Four Resisted R Glute Max, etc.) and when I asked him what to say to @Coach Patrick , he said to talk to my coach about additional exercises to address right glute max transition to left.
@Janyne Kizer you are looking for exercises that will help you transition glute muscles from right to left? Can you get me more clarity on this? Is one not firing after the other one does?
My PT basically aid that my body is having a time pushing of of the right when running. If you have specific questions, I can follow up with him.
FWIW, the problem showed up in my run but only after about eight weeks back on the bike. This was not an issue turning marathon training (although I suppose it could have started then?)
The author of this article (Dr Hamish Osborne)spoke at The Hawaii Ironman Sports medicine conference and felt that this exercise first described in this article, was the best for what he calls G Dom (glute dominant) strengthening. The protocol was 100 reps for each leg for 8 weeks was the best exercise for strengthening. He also said that after 8 weeks these could be stopped because the regained strength would be self replicated during further normal exercise. Unfortunately I do not have any articles that demonstrate that. This article I included just for the pictures of the actual exercise.
Awesome! Thanks so much @Robert Sabo , @Daniel Ballin , @Sheila Leard , @John Culberson and everyone else on the team!
@Janyne Kizer Just an idea to try to identify the causal factor. Check your bike seat height. Even if you think it is perfect try lowering it 1/4 inch or so to see if you get any relief.