Stop “Squeezing” Your Glutes
4 min read
In what world does an athlete engage in the field of play and consciously thinks about squeezing their glutes? Even if you are not a competitive athlete, who has the time to consciously engage their abs, squeeze their glutes, and turn their pelvic floor “on” before ascending a flight of stairs? If you follow these cues, then I apologize that you have fallen victim to an overly relied upon cue in the field of physical therapy.
Stop doing clamshells!
In traditional physical therapy, banded exercises like clamshells and fire hydrants are the ones that are most often accompanied by the cues to squeeze your glutes, fire that glute, turn on those muscles, etc. In the context of poor exercise selection and under loading, sure, maybe consciously squeezing your glute makes the exercise feel harder. However, in such a case, the argument becomes: is training a muscle that is responsible for pushing your 150+ pound self out of a chair with a 4 pound yellow resistance band adequate?
Clamshells and crab walks are not going to get you back to anything high level.
How About We Load People Instead?
If people were instead put in positions, against appropriate load, in which the targeted muscle had no choice but to be loaded & utilized, the use of cues that demonstrate little transfer to the real world wouldn’t have to be heavily relied upon. Things as simple as lunges, step ups, or pushing a sled literally could not be completed without the use of your glutes. However, low level alternatives like clamshells don’t impose much load on target muscles thus necessitating the need for any cue that directs your attention to the target muscle. In this case however, just because the target muscle is now on your consciousness, doesn’t mean it is being adequately challenged.
What do you think loads your glutes and hamstring more?
Our patient here doing a deadlift or someone doing a clamshell with a 4lb resistance band?
Which do you think will better translate to the real world?
Summarized Solution
Muscles control movement therefore if you want to “use” them, simply move in a variety of ways under load. Squat, lunge, deadlift, push a sled, do a step up and your glutes are sure to fire. Do clamshells for 8 weeks (if you haven't already in prior PT) and compare your results to 8 weeks of squats, lunges, and deadlifts. The results will speak for themselves. Banded glute work with conscious squeezing leaves the door open for better alternatives. If you are interested in hearing about how we can bridge the gap between where you currently are and where you are trying to go, schedule a free discovery call.
References
Neto WK, Soares EG, Vieira TL, Aguiar R, Chola TA, Sampaio VL, Gama EF. Gluteus Maximus Activation during Common Strength and Hypertrophy Exercises: A Systematic Review. J Sports Sci Med. 2020 Feb 24;19(1):195-203. PMID: 32132843; PMCID: PMC7039033.
