Every athlete and fitness junkie spends their life searching for the magic bullet in training.
It’s like walking to the end of the rainbow in search of the pot of gold. Deep down you know you’re never going to find it, and never be 100% satisfied with progress but nevertheless, the journey goes on.
However, you probably have more chance of hooking up with a little green man guarding the untold riches at the end of the rainbow than of finding someone who spends enough time working on their glutes.
Call them what you want, the butt muscles are without doubt the single most important muscles for pretty much every human especially those engaged in sports which involve full body movements requiring any kind of strength or power.
Unfortunately, most athletes still have a preoccupation with their quads.
Whilst most compound movements involving the legs will strengthen the glutes as well to a certain degree, the focus is usually on what training effect it is having on the legs.
Before we look at how to improve glute function, we need to figure out what the posterior chain is and why the glutes so important.
The posterior chain can be simplified as the hamstrings, glutes and back muscles. Dysfunction in, or dominance of, one group of muscle will affect the function of the others.
Because modern society spends far too much time sitting down leading to tight hip flexors and hamstrings, it is usually the glutes which ‘switch off’ leading to overactive lower back muscles and ultimately back pain.
Let us now consider the importance of the glutes to sports performance.
Power in most cases comes from the ability to perform ‘triple extension’ with well directed force. In other words, you are able to coordinate extension (straightening of the joint) at your ankles, knees and hips simultaneously. This can be seen best when watching Olympic lifting, 100m sprinters and high jumpers.
Your glutes are the biggest muscle in your body, so if they aren’t firing on all cylinders, you’re not reaching your ‘power potential’ and won’t be jumping or running as high or fast as you could be.
In a fighting context, driving powerful knees into the sternum of your opponent in Muay Thai can only be performed perfectly by rapidly rising on to the ball of your standing foot, straightening of the standing knee and thrust of the hips using the glutes. Yes these exercises can be performed without perfect glute function but nobody wants sub-optimal performance!
In a running context, whether sprinting or at lower intensity for longer duration, if you are restricted to 80-90% extension of the hips, the inability to maximise stride length will result in a greater number of strides required over a given distance. Early fatigue is the result, which will clearly affect performance.
Injury prevention is also a key consideration. Many of the aforementioned ‘quad and hip flexor dominant’ athletes suffer from low back pain. This is often due to lower cross syndrome which, to put it rather simply, involves tight hip flexors pulling on the front of the spine where they attach, tight back muscles and / or weak hamstrings and glutes causing the pelvis to tilt forward.
Outwardly, this shows itself as protruding ‘lower abs’ and a backside that follows a few minutes after the rest of the body.
These imbalances often manifest themselves as either nagging back aches in training and competition or pulled hamstrings, neither of which are particularly productive.
We must also consider deceleration factors. The human body will only allow a powerful movement to occur in one direction if it feels there is sufficient strength to decelerate the movement before injury occurs.
This means attention must be paid to the upper back muscles in opposition to powerful movements such as throwing a punch in boxing, as well as strengthening the glutes to ‘allow’ powerful hip flexion (lifting of the lead knee) to take place in sprinting, jumping and throwing knees and kicks in a fight.
The Solutions
Any athlete not paying close attention to glute function is risking reduced performance at best, and injury at worst.
However, there is little point launching into some of the exercises commonly used to increase glute strength such as deadlifts and lunges. This will only serve to strengthen the dominant muscles, increasing the dysfunctional compensatory patterns.
The first stage is to get your glutes firing with flexibility exercises to ‘open’ the hips, allowing room for the extension to occur.
Once your glutes are firing with activation and isolation exercises such as hip lifts you can move on to compound exercises which will deliver noticeable strength gains.
My top 5 ‘glute’ exercises (once you have the muscles firing properly) are as follows. These are in no particular order as a lot depends on the individual being coached.
Kettlebell swings
Emphasize folding at the hip over squatting to avoid thebody relying on the strong quad muscles.
Front squats (kettlebell and barbell)
Deep range of motion increases the recruitment of the glutes so get down there!
Bulgarian split squat
Single leg work is critical for sportsmen and women and will help address imbalances. For instance a track runner at distances greater than 100m will always have imbalances from running bends to the left side all the time.
Plyometric split squats
Once you’ve built the strength from bulgarian split squats, progress to power split squats by driving straight up in the air from the split squat position, switching legs in mid air.
Pay attention to absorbing the impact as effective deceleration is also a critical element in any sport involving running strides.
Single arm kettlebell snatch
A similar ‘hip drive’ movement to the swing but also addresses the stabilisation mechanisms that work across the back of your body, especially when you add the following little tweak to how the snatch is typically taught.
Your lats (the ones you use for pull ups and other upper back exercises) form a cross ‘sling’ with the opposite glute, making an X shape.
This mechanism helps stabilise your spine and pelvis in running.
For instance, the right lat stretches as your right arm comes forward. At the same time, you are planting your left foot on the ground so the left glute is being stretched.
The opposite lat and glute are attached by muscle tissue called fascia, which tightens across the lower back as the glute and lat are stretched, stabilising it. The same occurs in the opposite way on the very next step and so on.
When performing the kettlebell snatch with your right arm, rock on to your left heel as the kettlebell goes through your legs, then drive up with the emphasis on the left foot, coming up on to the ball of your left foot to perform ‘triple extension’ on that individual leg. As you do this you will be pulling the kettlebell overhead causing the tightening of the fascia as your right arm goes up.
Obviously, repeat the process the other way around on the opposite side.
Conclusion
No matter what sport you are involved or, or if you just want to achieve a high level of athletic strength and conditioning, you must be paying attention to the function of you posterior chain so, these exercises should be included in your program at certain times of the season.
Clearly, depending on the sport, weight training programs must be designed so as not to conflict with core training but that’s for another discussion.
Remember have patience getting your glutes to fire properly, then build steadily.
However, there is little point launching into some of the exercises commonly used to increase glute strength such as deadlifts and lunges. This will only serve to strengthen the dominant muscles, increasing the dysfunctional compensatory patterns.
Because deadlifts are going to become quad dominant Put some weight on the bar and I beg to differ.
Also if working posterior chain is your concern, back squats (with and without box) are going to be far more effective then anything listed.
I did not suggest deadlifts make you quad dominant, but many people have overactive erector spinae which do far too much work on deadlifts (along with poor technique but that's another story).
Back squats can be a great exercise but as the whole article suggests, not if the glutes are inactive in the first place. However, as most people lack the mobility and flexibility to get low enough to recruit the glutes and hamstrings through full range then they are far from the best exercise hence why front squats are a favoured choice for most trainers as they tend to allow great ROM.
Also if working posterior chain is your concern, back squats (with and without box) are going to be far more effective then anything listed.
Not in my experience. BSS have a far greater effect on my glutes than backsquats, at least from what I can tell by soreness and other subjective measurements.
However, as most people lack the mobility and flexibility to get low enough to recruit the glutes and hamstrings through full range then they are far from the best exercise hence why front squats are a favoured choice for most trainers as they tend to allow great ROM.
Jon
How\Why would ROM be significantly different between front\back squats? You can compare different back squat variations but even then I'm not following how ROM in and of itself is going to be significantly limited by the placement of the bar. Even if it was, wouldn't the "right" answer be fixing the mobility issues for two months and then you don't have to worry about it regardless of the exercise?
Most people I know like front squats because it forces you to maintain somewhat decent form or you're going to drop the bar or fall over (you're not going to GM a front squat).
In addition, even if you're not using the glutes fully through the ROM of a deadlift\squat (which you're not). Wouldn't a 400-500lbs worth of stimulation do more to strengthen a muscle than a KB swing\snatch? If you're just talking about activation, outside of using proper form\ROM on your lifts in the first place, what's wrong with hip ext variants which basically force you to activate your ass to work vs movements that let you fool yourself into thinking you're doing what you're trying to do (such as your arguement against DL\Squats?
what is the difference between a back squat and a front squat other than the position of the bar and gravity? I am having trouble with my lower body program on how to get both the front squat and back squat into my schedule so I dont get tired of 1. in front squat after performing the deadlift (right now I have front squats after deadlifts) and I don't feel my butt is doing what it supposed to be doing and putting some pressure on my low back and maybe knees. I also have not squatted in a while either and have been doing a lot of deadlifting. I know for squats I have to go straight up and down, but sitting back when going down on the squat is harder than it is on a deadlift. My Back squat I think is fine. its just the front squat thats hard. Also the bar tends to move around on my shoulders too and not easy to keep stable (I use the cross grip because the wrist grip..I dont have the flexibility in the wrist or the wrist strength).
I have front squats after deadlift on lower body day 1 and on lower body day 2 (a few days later..I am doing upper body/lower body split) I am doing back squat and then RDL because I know that deadlifts and back squats should not be performed on same day. I am starting to think the front squat shouldnt be performed with the deadlift either. What should I do here? I am stuck
what is the difference between a back squat and a front squat other than the position of the bar and gravity?
I'll probably regret responding to this... Gravity is obviously the same. Not quite sure what you mean by that. 135 pounds is the same whether it's on the front or back of your head. It's just a little harder to lift in front. FS's are very helpful for building core strength.
How do I get the bar to stay on my shoulders and get to where it need to be? Whenever I have done front squats, the bar is not stable and it feels like I have to use my shoulder muscles to try and keep it stable and from going down my shoulders. When I go to heavier weight especially, the bar wants to go down my deltoids somewhat and I have to put the bar back on the rack.
Case in point why regular squats aren't doing you any good. You can't get into the proper posture for a front squat because you are too weak. Drop the weight or even get a broomstick and get it right before you start loading. Also, try holding the weights in your hands like you just caught a clean.
Case in point why regular squats aren't doing you any good. You can't get into the proper posture for a front squat because you are too weak. Drop the weight or even get a broomstick and get it right before you start loading. Also, try holding the weights in your hands like you just caught a clean.
oh okay thank you. I will upload my videos I taped in the gym the last time I did front squat and post the front squat form so you can see how I exactly do it. I think I need to have the bar closer to my neck. and I cant hold the weight in my hands like I caught a clean because my wrists are not flexible. I can hurt my wrists if I force it. I tried it once before and it hurt and I cannot get my elbows up because of the wrist flexibility. I have to use the cross grip.
deadlift different view (did 3 reps with the same weight and my grip did not give out this time until after the 3rd rep kind of) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BaRTbtTgwr8
front squat side view (lighter weight) more lower body control, but not very good bar position at the shoulders (tried to get it in a good postion, but wasnt able to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rStU39hLT0o
front squat different view (heavier weight). I thought going up in weight would be ok and I know my quads could handle it, but my core coudlnt and my shoulder stabilizers for the bar. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XKm5mF88a74
I need opinions and advice on my forms to make it better. I think my deadlift form looks good. I am worried about my front squat form and core strength
You defiantly [sic] have the bar too far forward on your shoulders. It should be resting on the meaty part of your delts. You look pretty wobbly on the light squat (the only one I have seen). I would work at that weight or lighter before going heavier. Maybe elevate your heels on 10lb plates.
Is the bar supposed to touch your neck when doing a front squat? If it is, its in the right position right? I looked up at google and it says that sometimes at first, the bar may feel like its choking you. Thats why I am thinking I should have it closer to my neck and touching? I have it slightly touching so I wont have a choke feeling, but maybe it is a good thing to have the choke feeling. Am I correct?
oh okay thank you. I will upload my videos I taped in the gym the last time I did front squat and post the front squat form so you can see how I exactly do it. I think I need to have the bar closer to my neck. and I cant hold the weight in my hands like I caught a clean because my wrists are not flexible. I can hurt my wrists if I force it. I tried it once before and it hurt and I cannot get my elbows up because of the wrist flexibility. I have to use the cross grip.
Or just increase your wrist flexibility and all will be solved. Not sure how welcome outside links are on this site so just google front squat/clean wrist flexibility. There are also options that Poliquin suggests of sticking straps on the bar and then holding those so you are still in a better position in terms of stabilizing the weight.
David, thanks for the consideration. If only every new poster had that attitude! You may post outside links as long as they are relevant to the discussion and they aren't affiliate links. Helpful articles are always welcome in here. If you wish to post an entire article, you can put it in a quote box and put a link afterwards to cite the source.
Posterior chain work for athletic performance
Put some weight on the bar and I beg to differ.
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