Are you having trouble getting your butt muscles to work?
The glute medius is super important to help keep the pelvis, hip, knee and foot in alignment when you walk, run, jump or are active. If it’s not working, it can lead to all sorts of problems with your low back, hips, lower limb and even your shoulders and neck due to the poor alignment of your body when you move.
Unfortunately, it can get a little lazy and not work for us. This can be due to a lot of different factors….. the previous injury is a big one. Low back, hip and leg pain can cause your glute to switch off and if you don’t target it won’t switch back on its own. Lifestyle factors and habits can also make your glutes lazy. Prolonged sitting or standing “hitching” on one leg will inhibit the glutes as well.
The exercise below is my new favourite. I’ve had some chronic ankle issues over the years due to some big, poorly managed ankle sprains in my teens and have struggled with some weakness on my right glute which leads to a few problems when I run. This exercise mimics the single-leg weight bearing we do in function to stimulate the glute medius to control the pelvis.