Daily Mobility Exercises by Dr. Kelly Starrett › Forums › Lifting › Glutes not firing right

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    • 05/31/2013 at 6:14 am #70232
      AvatarRene Karteron
      Participant

      Hi Guys,

      I’m having problems with my buttox, I’ve been working on my flexibility doing the following video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f4ymiYa-ZGQ) and my glutes keep burning everytime I put my foot on the table and lean the knee out. So I started doing these first http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UY31J5BeKrg. which has allowed me to really feel the first stretch. The thing is I work in an office sitting for 8-10 hours a day and then cycle home, however the IT band flared up so I stopped and started taking the bus blah. 
      So currently I’ve spent the last two weeks stretching for 30min blocks each day with no exercise and I’ve noticed even though my glutes feel tight I have no strength in them. Is there anything I can to get them firing correctly?  
    • 05/31/2013 at 10:55 am #72063
      Avatar[email protected]
      Participant

      John,

      I´m no expert, but I had the same problem, so I do know what my physical therapist told me.

      First off, tight muscles and strong muscles are two different things.  Apparently, sometimes muscles are tight BECAUSE they´re weak.

      Anyway, I had glutes that wouldn´t fire on deadlifts, squats, nothing.  What I was told to do is activate them before every workout, activity, etc.  Doing bridges on your back, like this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8bbE64NuDTU worked great for me.  Now, the most important thing is to focus on doing them with the glutes and not letting the hamstrings and lower back take over.  Playing around with foot positions and pushing your knees out a bit should help.  Make sure your weight is on your heels.  You can also do these on one leg.

      Then to get them strong I like to do barbell hip thrusts (google ´m).  Same thing here, play around with foot positions and make sure your weight is on your heels.

      Now, a year later, my glutes know when it´s time to work, and they fire when needed.  And, most importantly, they´re a lot stronger, giving me better posture and helping me on the big compound lifts.

      Hope this helps!

    • 05/31/2013 at 10:25 pm #72069
      AvatarAnonymous
      Guest

      John —
      Some could be your positioning when performing those lifts.
      If you are overextended you can’t fire those muscles.
      Have you looked at your sitting position? This could be a contributing factor to the issue.

    • 06/01/2013 at 9:59 am #72071
      AvatarJames Elwin
      Participant

      Your hip flexors have a tendency to become tight since we as modern humans tend to sit a lot. This is turn can lead to glute inhibition which means theyre not activating when they need to. Glute hip bridges, barbell hip thrusts, glute hamstring raises etc are good exercises for training your glutes to work properly. Whenever I stretch my hip flexors my glutes work better because the purpose of the glutes is to keep the hips in a neutral position. If the hip flexors are tight you are literally being pulled forward and can cause lower back pain and a myriad of other problems.

    • 06/02/2013 at 6:12 pm #72082
      AvatarKristina Jones
      Participant

      Is it possible if you’re quaddominant that you only put you’re femor more in the front of the socket performing anterior hip capsul stretches? I feel more impinged but have to work on extension. It feels like I have to work on extension but also put the femor more back in the socket.
      Any thoughts?

    • 06/02/2013 at 8:10 pm #72083
      AvatarAnonymous
      Guest

      If you are quad dominant this is a place that needs attention.
      What is causing you to be quad dominant? Is it lack of mobility somewhere else?
      You need to work on having your femor placement and your hip flexors.
      This is the limiting factor.
      Here are some episode to check.
      Episode 04: Silent P in Filet, Very Paleo
      Super Sumo Groin Mob
      Episode 347: Stiffness Kills– New Anterior Hip Flossing Tweaks
      There are several hip opener& hip flexion episodes if you search for it,
      On the CrossFit Journal
      A Correlate Test for Hip Flexibility
      Hip Prep
      Mobilizing the Hip
      Midline Stabilization Part 10: Opening up the Hip

    • 06/03/2013 at 4:36 pm #72085
      AvatarRene Karteron
      Participant

      Guys,

      This has been great feedback, I’ll look to bring this all this into my workout this week. 
      For sure, man belly has been known to happens!
      Thanks for being awesome.
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