Glute Exercises

Glute Exercises

Your glute muscles are responsible for keeping you upright and initiating movement in your lower body. They help you keep your balance, walk, run and more.

Try these exercises to help strengthen your 3 glute muscles (max, med & min) and even your TFL.

1️⃣ Donkey kicks

Start in a table top position on your hands and knees. Engage your core throughout the exercise so that your back does not sag down and remains flat. Lift your heal back and up to the sky. Exhale as your press your leg up and inhale as bring it back down to a resting position.

2️⃣ Fire hydrants

Start in a table top position on your hands and knees. Engage your core throughout the exercise so that your back does not sag down and remains flat. Lift your leg out to the side like a dog lifting their leg for a fire hydrant. Exhale as you lift your leg up to the side, inhale as you return it to the starting position.

3️⃣ Glute bridge raises

Start lying on your back with your feet flat on the ground shoulder width apart and hands out to the side for support. Inhale in the rest position and exhale as you press your hips up to the sky to form a straight line from your shoulders, through your hips and to your knees. You can increase the intensity of this workout by lifting one leg and doing a single leg glute bridge raise.

4️⃣ Weighted glute raises

Start lying on your back with your feet flat on the ground shoulder width apart and hands out to the side for support. You can lie on the ground or with your shoulder blades resting on a bench. Hold a weight over your hips. Inhale in the rest position and exhale as you press your hips up to the sky to form a straight line from your shoulders, through your hips and to your knees.

5️⃣ Sumo goblet squats

Start by standing with your feet slightly wider than shoulder width apart. Hold a manageable weight in your hands and slowly lower the weight down as if you are squatting to sit back into a chair. Inhale as you lower and exhale as you stand up again against the resistance.

6️⃣ Single leg deadlifts

Start by standing with feet shoulder width apart. Hold a manageable weight in each hand. Lift one leg and gain a stable stance on the supporting leg. Slowly lower the weights as you inhale and hinge at the hips with a slight bend in the supporting leg. Exhale as you stand back up again. Ensure you maintain a strong stable spine throughout.

7️⃣ Resisted side steps

Start with feet shoulder width apart and a resistance band wrapped around your thighs. Take steps side ways from side to side against the resistance of the band.

DO NOT continue these exercises if they cause you pain and ensure you check with your health care provider to find out if they are right for you.

PhysioMax Wellness is a Physiotherapy clinic located in Burlington, Ontario. PhysioMax Wellness offers; physiotherapy, chiropractic care, massage therapy and more. We use manual therapies as well as various modalities to improve the rate of healing from injuries. Our goal is to work with you and for you to create personalized plans to recover from injuries and help your reach your health goals for conditions you may have.

Julia de Reijke RKin, CSEP-CPT, BASc Kinesiology (Hons), DipFTHP