What if I told you the solution was NOT to stretch them more…?
What if stretching them, while it may provide TEMPORARY relief is only making the problem WORSE!?
The best way to think about your hamstrings is like a rubber band.
When a rubber band is just hanging there it isn’t tight. But when you pull it out long, it becomes super tight and taut.
That rubber band becomes tight feeling because it is stretched out.
This is exactly the same reason your hamstrings feel tight. And it is exactly why more stretching is NOT the answer!
Your hamstrings feels tight because they are already pulled long.
So instead of stretching them out further, we need to address the postural distortions and muscular imbalances that cause our hamstrings to be overstretched, such as Anterior Pelvic Tilt and tight hip flexors.
We need to focus on returning our hamstring to their optimal length through addressing muscular imbalances and stability issues.
This often means we need to address hip flexor tightness and glute underactivity. It may even mean addressing lat tightness as well because of the impact our lats can have on our lumbo-pelvic-hip complex functioning through our thoracolumbar fascia.
This means that instead of spending a ton of time stretching our hamstrings we actually need to be doing the following things…
Foam Rolling Hip Flexors And Lats
Stretching Hip Flexors And Lats
Activating Our Glutes And Abs
But First…What Is Anterior Pelvic Tilt?
Anterior pelvic tilt is the “Donald Duck” posture – an overarched back and butt sticking out.
(Or in maybe little Miss RS Badass Duck…who’s going to be working on her APT hehe?
This anterior tilting of our pelvis is what over stretches the hamstrings and can make them feel tight.
The muscles that are ACTUALLY being shortened by this posture are our hip flexors. Which means our hip flexors, and not our hamstrings, need the flexibility work.
It also means that our glutes and abs need to be strengthened and activated to improve the stability of our hip complex to also help our hamstrings feel less tight and even prevent them from becoming synergistically dominant and overused (overuse of a muscle can lead to injury!).
While it’s key we recognize that each of us WILL have slightly different natural postures, and we shouldn’t “freak out” over fitting one ideal, we want to watch for overarching of the lower back, or excessive lordosis, ESPECIALLY if we struggle with lower back, SI Joint, hip, or knee pain or hamstring tightness and strains.
This posture changes our natural proper recruitment patterns during moves EVEN if we perform the exercises with technically “correct” form.
What does this mean?
It means that while the moves may LOOK correct, if we actually THINK about what muscles we FEEL working, it wouldn’t be the muscles that SHOULD be working.
Our body will take the path of least resistance to do the exercise we ask it to do. This means that it will recruit whatever muscles it can to replicate a movement pattern – even if it means using muscles that really shouldn’t be working that much.
And this is what leads to compensations, overuse and INJURY.
So we need to address our overall posture over focusing on just the single muscle that “feels” tight.
And we need to do this by:
Foam rolling overactive muscles.
Stretching shortened tight muscles (using dynamic stretching to even help restore proper joint range of motion).
Activating underactive muscles that may not be firing and working as efficiently or effectively as they should be.
Loosen Up Tight Hip Flexors – Foam Rolling And Stretching Moves
The first step in addressing excessive anterior pelvic tilt is to loosen up short and overactive hip flexors.
If your hip flexors are tight and shortened, they tilt your pelvis forward which then pulls the hamstrings longer. This is why your hamstrings “feel” tight even if they aren’t in need of stretching.
The first step in addressing tight hip flexors is foam rolling.
Foam rolling helps inhibit the communication between the muscle you’re rolling and your brain. It helps “relax” the muscle so you aren’t necessarily as quick to recruit it during other moves. And it then allows you to better stretch and improve your flexibility and mobility.
Basically, foam rolling can help you improve your ROM or range of motion.
There has been some “debate” about the benefits of foam rolling. And as a standalone exercise, the effects are short lived.
You NEED to then stretch the tight muscles and activate underactive muscles if you want the benefits to last. This is just the first step in improving your posture and mind-body connection!
Then after you foam roll your hip flexors, you need to stretch them. Depending on when you are doing the mobility work, you may use dynamic or static stretching.
Dynamic stretches are stretches where you move through a range of motion whereas static stretches are stretches you hold in one position.
Especially prior to your workouts, focus on dynamic stretches. They put the joint through a range of motion and also get your blood pumping.
Static stretches are better kept to cool downs as some studies have shown them to negatively impact your strength and power during workouts.
Below are 5 moves to help you get started addressing hip flexor tightness.
5 Hip Flexor Foam Rolling And Stretching Moves:
1. Psoas Foam Rolling:
The psoas has become a very “popular” muscle in the fitness world.
And the one most often blamed for our hips being locked up. This muscle can become short and tight due to the fact many of us spend far too much time with our hips in flexion – seated in the car or at a desk. So it is key we start our mobility work by addressing it.
To roll out your Psoas, a big foam ball/posture ball works best. Place the ball in your abs above your hip to one side of your belly button.
Relax over the ball and lie face down on the ground. Breathe.
Then move the ball, working your way around the side of your lower abs between your belly button and hip. After you move the ball, relax completely back over it.
If you don’t have a larger ball, you can use a tennis ball; however, the tennis ball will dig in more. To use the tennis ball, you will also need some books or a yoga block. Place the ball up on the books or block and lie over it just like you would with the posture ball. Relax and breathe.
2. TFL Foam Rolling:
The TFL or Tensor Fasciae Latae is an all too often IGNORED hip muscle that can contribute to not only hip pain but even knee pain and IT Band Issues! It can also hinder our glute medius from activating and working as it should. It’s key we start by foam rolling and then stretching this muscle. It’s also important that during our activation moves, we do not let it compensate and try to take over!
To roll out your Hips/TFL, place a ball on the side of your hip just to the front of the fleshy part of your butt. Roll the ball around and hold on any tight spots.
If you find a tight spot, hold on that spot and lift and lower your leg up and down. By lifting and lower the leg, you are flexing and relaxing the muscle, which will help loosen everything up as you hold.
As you seek out tight spots in your hip, bring the ball around front and right to the side under your hip bone into your TFL (right in front of your IT Band).
Again hold on any tight spots and even flex and relax your leg to help dig in.
Move the ball under your hip bone and again hold on any tight spots.
You can work your way back out to the side of your hip as well if you found any sore or tight spots.
3. Rectus Femoris Foam Rolling:
There is one quad muscle that crosses both the hip and the knee – the Rectus Femoris.
And because of this muscles impact on both locations, it’s key we address that it may be tight and shortened, which means it may need to be rolled and stretched!
To roll out your rectus femoris a ball works best although you can use a roller. Place the tennis ball on the ground and lie on your belly supported on your forearms with the ball right in the middle of your thigh. You can start down toward the knee or higher up toward the hip, but you really want to focus right on that middle portion of your thigh.
Rock the leg gentle slightly side-to-side as you hold on the ball. You can even flex and relax your quad as you hold. Then move the ball up higher on your quad and again gentle rock and hold. Do not just roll quickly but really breathe and relax as you hold on any tight spots.
4. Half Kneeling Hip And Quad Stretch:
Stretch your hip flexors and your quads with this stretch.
You can add movement by releasing your foot and rocking back out of the stretch before squeezing your glute to drive your hips forward OR you can simply hold as you squeeze your glute for a static option!
To do the Half Kneeling Hip and Quad Stretch, set up half-kneeling with your right leg back. It is best to do this with a wall or bench in front of you to help you balance.
Then reach back and grab your right foot/ankle with your right hand and pull it in toward your butt. In the half-kneeling position with your heel pulled in and the wall to balance you, rock forward and backward, pressing the hip forward to increase the stretch down your quad. Then relax back out of it and repeat. Complete all reps then switch sides.
Make sure to squeeze your glute as you press your hips forward to stretch your right hip and quad. Do not simply hyperextend your low back as you rock forward.
You can also simply hold and press the hip forward without doing the slightly rock, especially if using this stretch post workout.
Beginners can also use a towel to grab their back foot if they can’t reach it.
5. Standing TFL Stretch:
After you roll your TFL, you also want to stretch it as this muscle can be short and tight and compensate for your glute medius during abduction or lateral raise movements.
And when it engages and works for your glute medius, that can prevent you from getting the results you want and even perpetuate your pain despite doing the “correct” rehab moves!
To do the Standing TFL Stretch, start standing with your feet together. Then cross your left leg over your right leg. Bring the left foot over and back across until the big toe is even with the big toe of the right foot. You want your feet even so that your front leg (the left leg) is pressing the back leg (right leg) straight during the stretch.
If you struggle to balance or it is too much pressure on your knees to have your legs so tightly crossed, place the front foot a bit out in front, but make sure that you don’t bend that back knee as you hinge over to stretch.
Then reach your arms up overhead for a nice big stretch. After reaching up, hang over, reaching your arms down toward the instep of the back foot (right foot). Push your hips out to the right as you reach toward your right foot so you feel a stretch down the outside of that right hip and side. You may even feel it down your right hamstring and calf.
Hold for a breath or two. Then reach back up overhead and cross your legs the other way so your left foot is back. Again reach up overhead then reach down toward your left instep, pushing your hips out to the left. Keep alternating sides with a reach up overhead in between every time.
Try to touch the ground as you reach down while making sure to keep your legs straight.
If you really struggle to balance, you may need to stand with your feet together and not crossed over as you reach toward the outside of each foot while pushing your hips away.
How Can Your Lats Can Affect Your Hamstrings!?
When we have aches, pains or “issues” in a specific area, we often get very focused ONLY on that point of “pain.”
But all too often there are even mobility restrictions or imbalances elsewhere that contribute to the dysfunction. For instance, if you’re doing all of the things in this article and NOT seeing results, it may be time you start to look at your ANKLE MOBILITY!
So while the most common “culprit” of anterior pelvic tilt is tight hip flexors and underactive glutes, we can’t ignore our lats.
Our lats can play a huge role in our overall posture, affecting not only our upper body, but also our lower body.
Because lat tightness can not only perpetuate rounded shoulders, it can also contribute to anterior pelvic tilt.
And if we have excessive anterior pelvic tilt, our hamstrings really are the losers that suffer no matter whether it’s tight hip flexors or lats or both creating the posture.
So we can’t ignore our lats!
Below are 3 moves to help you start addressing lat tightness.
3 Foam Rolling And Stretching Moves For Tight Lats:
1. Lat Foam Rolling:
Rolling out your lats is a key first step to relaxing this overactive muscle. And even though we are focused on our lumbo-pelvic-hip complex, we want to focus on rolling this muscle closer to our shoulders to start!
To roll out your lats a roller is best although you can use a foam ball or even a tennis ball.
Start by lying on your side with a roller under one armpit. Extend the arm on the side with the roller up above the roller. Then rock forward and backward on the roller, rotating your chest toward the ground and then up toward the ceiling as you roll on the roller so it hits toward your ribs and then toward your back.
Hold on any tight spots you find then move it lower down the side of your back. Hold on any tight spots as you go and make sure to rock forward and backward as you make your way down your side.
As you work down your side, you may want to rotate slightly more toward your back. Work all the way from your armpit to about the end of your rib cage.
Be careful when rolling lower down your back into your low back. You do not want to arch over the roller and hyperextend your low back.
2. Child’s Pose With Shoulder External Rotation:
The Child’s Pose is a great way to stretch out the entire lat as well as the erector spinae (the muscles along your spine) and the quadratus lumborum (which is a muscle that can contribute to a hip hike…sort of like our back’s side bendy muscle or the muscle you feel when you reach to the side).
All of these muscles can become tight and overactive if our glutes are underactive so this stretch is an oh so important one! And the external rotation of the shoulders gives the lats just that little bit extra stretch!
To do the Child’s Pose with External Rotation, kneel on the ground and sit back on your heels reaching your arms out overhead on the ground. Rotate your palms open toward the ceiling rotating your thumbs out to the sides. Really reach out as far as you can as you rotate your palms open.
You can then walk your hands to one side, keeping your palms open. Pause then walk your hands to the other side. Again keep your palms open for an extra stretch.
3. Kneeling Thoracic Extension And Lat Stretch:
Working on our spinal mobility, especially our thoracic mobility can also help prevent extra overuse of our lumbar spine. If one area of our spine isn’t mobile, we’ll seek out mobility from other segments.
So if your thoracic spine isn’t mobile, it will cause you to seek out mobility or extension from your lumbar spine. This will only perpetuate or add to the overload that may already be occurring due to anterior pelvic tilt!
To do the Kneeling Thoracic and Lat Stretch, place your elbows up on a bench about shoulder-width apart and kneel on the ground in front of the bench. Make sure you are back far enough that you have room to lean forward and over and drop your head between your elbows.
Then with your elbows on the bench, relax your chest and head over, sitting your butt back just slightly. Press your chest toward the ground and feel a nice stretch down your triceps and lats as well as through your thoracic spine. Try to extend your back as much as possible as you press your chest toward the ground.
You can either hold here and breathe to stretch deeper or you can come out of the stretch and then relax back into it and try to get further with each rep.
Glute Activation Moves: Always Feel Your Hamstrings Taking Over During Glute Exercises?
Ever do a glute bridge or quadruped kickback move and only feel your hamstrings working?
Yes? Well you aren’t alone!
It’s because your hamstrings have become synergistically dominant. They try to do more than their fair share of the work to assist your glutes in moves that require hip extension or hyperextension.
Synergistically what?!?
Basically your hamstrings are doing more work than they should be to assist with a movement because you’re glutes aren’t working as they should.
For a glute bridge, your glutes should be the main muscle group working with your hamstrings assisting. But too often, it is the other way around.
It’s why you may do a glute bridge and only feel your hamstrings.
So while we are doing the right move, this only perpetuates the overuse of our hamstrings and can lead to injuries.
It’s why it’s so important we include glute activation moves in our routine. (Learn more about dialing in your glute bridge form to prevent yourself from bridging wrong.)
But isn’t as simple as doing the “right” moves. You must also really focus on what you FEEL working.
If you’re doing that glute bridge and NOT feeling your glutes, but instead feeling your hamstrings, you need to TWEAK the exercise.
Below are 5 moves to activate your glutes that help prevent your hamstrings from engaging as easily when they always seem to want to take over!
I did also mention that with anterior pelvic tilt you may want to do ab activation as well.
One way to do this DURING glute activation moves is by using the posterior pelvic tilt, especially during bridging exercises (and even some plank moves).
The posterior pelvic tilt is where you tilt your hips under, drawing your hip bones toward your ribs. This move not only works your abs but can also work your glutes more.
You would then bridge up as you hold the posterior pelvic tilt. To set up the posterior pelvic tilt before you bridge, here are some tips.
To do the basic variation of the Pelvic Tilt, lie on your back with your knees bent and your feet flat on the ground. Relax your arms down by your side.
Then feel the space between your low back and the ground. Press that space away by drawing your belly button toward your spine and “tilting” your pelvic.
You want to feel your low back press against the ground. Hold there with your abs braced and making sure to breathe as you hold.
Then if you are adding this to a bridge, you would lift up while maintaining this position. It is basically the exact OPPOSITE of anterior pelvic tilt. We are rounding the lower back.
SIDE NOTE But ESSENTIAL NOTE:
If you DO feel your hamstrings during a glute activation move, while you don’t want to stretch them between rounds, you may ROLL them!
Foam rolling your hamstrings may temporarily inhibit the muscle group, which means you won’t “feel” it as much. This can then even help you more easily FEEL your glutes working and focus on using them to drive the movement.
5 Must-Do Glute Activation Moves:
1. Mini Band Glute Bridge:
Adding a mini band to the basic glute bridge can be a way to progress the movement. It can also be a way to engage your glute medius and help PREVENT your hamstrings from taking over.
By activating our glute medius, we can actually better help ourselves engage our glute maximus. This then helps us avoid our hamstrings compensating! So if you really struggle with the basic glute bridge, try this variation!
To do the Mini Band Glute Bridge, you will perform a two-leg bridge with the band around your knees. To set up, place the band right above, below or at your knees. Below will be a bit more challenging than above. Make sure though that wherever you place the band, you feel your glutes working. Above the knee can help if you struggle to feel your glutes activating and instead feel your quads taking over.
With the band around your knees, lie flat on your back with your feet flat on the ground about hip-width to shoulder-width apart. Make sure your feet are just beyond your fingertips when your arms are down by your sides. You can move your feet slightly further away if your hips are tight. Make sure that your feet are at least about hip-width apart so that you are forced to press your knees out and open against the band to keep them in line with your ankles and hips.
Bend your elbows to 90 degrees and press your knees out against the band. Then, driving through your heels and upper back and arms, bridge up. Keep pressing out against the band as you bridge up. Do not let your knees cave in. Fully extend your hips and squeeze your glutes at the top. Do not hyperextend your low back at the top. Keep your abs engaged.
Hold for a second or two at the top then lower back down and repeat. Do not let your knees cave in as you lower back down. Keep pressing out against the band the entire time!
Adjust the band placement or even use a heavier band to make the move harder. You can also vary the move up by doing a Single Leg Mini Band Glute Bridge.
2. Band Y Reverse Hypers:
Being able to use your glutes to extend your hips, and even hyperextend your hips, is key. Too often during Reverse Hypers we allow our backs to do all of the work instead of actually extending at our hip.
By adding in the mini band, we can help engage our glutes better to prevent our lower back from taking over.
Because if we are using our lower backs to power this move, we are often going to simply perpetuate our anterior pelvic tilt by perpetuating overuse of our lower back muscles instead of activating our underactive glutes!
To do Band Y Reverse Hypers, place a mini band right below or above your knees or a booty band right above your knees and lie face down on a bench with your hips right on the edge of the bench. Grab onto the bench as you legs hang straight down. Push out against the band as your feet are on the ground so that your feet are wider than shoulder width apart. You want your legs to create a Y with your body.
Keeping tension on the band, press your hips down into the bench as you squeeze your butt to lift your legs up to parallel to the ground. Keep your legs pressed out against the band and make sure you are using your glutes to lift and not feeling your lower back take over.
Pause at the top and really even brace your abs by pushing into the bench. Then lower back down without letting your legs come together and repeat the lift.
3. Band Squat Pulses:
While often during activation moves we want to isolate our glutes as much as possible to focus on really establishing that mind-body connection, it is also key we learn how to do this in a variety of hip flexion positions and postures.
That’s why the Band Squat Pulses are key to include. The constant tension and smaller range of motion, really help you create that burn in your glutes!
To do Band Squat Pulses, place the booty band around your legs above your knees and stand with your feet about hip-width apart.
Sit back and down, pressing your knees out against the band so your ankles, knees and hips stay in line. You do not want your knees to cave in.
Sink to about parallel to the ground and then pulse a few inches up and down from here. You do not want to start below parallel and you don’t want to stand fully up as you pulse. You want the range of motion to be about 6 inches around that parallel position.
Once all pulses are complete, stand up.
Make sure your knees don’t cave in as you pulse and that your heels stay down and feet are flat on the ground. Do not round over. Make sure to keep your back flat and chest up.
Beginners may pulse over a bench or even hold on to help them balance. You can also stay up higher in the pulse squat instead of sinking as low.
4. 3-Way Seated Abductions:
As you begin to work on activating your glutes, you may find you aren’t as easily able to FEEL the correct muscles working during certain postures.
This may mean you need to first start with the variations you feel in the correct muscles before then moving on to those other positions. But you want to work to improve that mind-body connection from as many positions and postures as possible to help you avoid injury.
That’s why these 3-Way Seated Abductions are so amazing to include.
While you may start with just one based on what you can feel working during the move, especially if your TFL tends to take over (and you feel it in the front of your hip NOT the side of your butt), you can also use all 3 in a row. If you find you struggle most in one position, use that in the middle after you already feel the correct muscles working BUT before you’re at all fatigued!
To do 3-Way Seated Mini Band Abductions, place the mini band right below your knees and sit on a bench. Start by sitting toward the front of the bench so you can lean back and put your hands on the bench behind you. Place your feet about hip-width apart.
Then press your knees open against the band as you lean back. Your feet may rock open but focus on using your glutes to press the band open with your knees. Do not let your knees cave in as you come back to the starting position. Complete all reps then move to sit up nice and tall.
Sitting nice and tall repeat, pressing out with your knees so you feel your glutes working. After completing all reps, lean forward and repeat the movement. You can hold on the bench outside your legs to lean forward or just lean over even lightly resting your arms on your legs.
Complete all reps in each of the 3 positions. Make sure you’re really focused on pressing your knees out to feel your glutes while controlling the band back in. To reduce tension, you can start with a lighter band or put your feet slightly closer together, but make sure there is tension on the band even in that starting position.
5. Side Lying Extended ROM Lateral Raises:
Lateral raise movements are essential to include to activate your glute medius.
You DO need to be very conscious though that you don’t feel your TFL taking over! So you may find that you foam roll it between rounds or slightly kick back as you raise to the side. You may also slightly internally rotate your foot or turn your toe to the ground as you lift!
The added bonus of these extended range of motion is that stretch you put on the muscle at the bottom. This can really help you build strong glutes through the full range of motion your hip is capable of and even PROGRESS that basic side lying lateral raise without you even needing to add weight!
To do the Extended ROM Side Lying Leg Raise, lie on your side on a bench so that your bottom knee is bent and your bottom leg is close to the end. Prop yourself up on your elbow and position yourself so that your top leg can hang down over the edge and your foot is just a few inches off the ground. You can hold a plate weight on the outside of your top thigh, or wear ankle weights.
Then lift that top leg up and kick slightly back, feeling your glute medius, or the side of your butt, working to lift your leg. Keep that foot parallel to the ground or even turn your toe to slightly face the ground. This can help if you tend to feel your TFL or hips engage with lateral raises.
Do not rotate open as you lift. Lower that leg back down so that your toe touches the ground or hovers just an inch or so off the ground. You want to make sure you can lower that leg past parallel to the ground.
The bench allows you to have an extended range of motion from what you would have when side lying on the ground.
To modify, start with just your own bodyweight.
So…Should I Never Stretch My Hamstrings?
But what about those hamstring stretches you still see in warm up routines and recovery sessions?
Should you not be stretching at all?
While your focus should NOT be on stretching your hamstrings if you do have excessive anterior pelvic tilt, tight hip flexors and underactive glutes, this doesn’t mean you have to avoid hamstring stretches like the plague.
Especially in your warm up, you may find that dynamic stretches to put your hip through a full range of motion DO include a hamstring stretch component.
You do NOT need to avoid these. But spending a ton of time in your warm ups or cool downs focused on stretching your hamstrings IS going to be a waste and potentially even HINDER your results.
And this is of course talking about hamstring tightness due to anterior pelvic tilt.
With certain postural distortions you MAY still need to stretch your hamstrings. For instance, if you actually have POSTERIOR pelvic tilt, your hamstrings MAY actually be shortened.
However, the best place to start if you have a desk job, anterior pelvic tilt, tight hip flexors and/or stretching hasn’t really helped in the past, is to FOAM ROLL your hamstrings and NOT stretch them.
Foam rolling can help relax that overactive muscle so you can get your glutes activated and strong no matter WHY your hamstrings feel tight!
If you’re ready to improve your hip mobility and activate your glutes?
We NEED to work on our ability to recruit those muscles to stabilize from the ground up.
Our feet and lower legs are our foundation. And we need a strong and stable foundation if we want to be stronger further up our body.
That’s why in my Booty Burner (2.0) I made sure to include a BALANCE routine, which of course you have to repeat even though you’d love to skip it.
My Booty Burner 1.0 had the Yoga Booty Burner, which people hated…And this new one has The Balance Booty Burner, which oddly stinks in a different way! YAY!
(And if you find balancing is a struggle, I coach you in the follow along workouts, providing variations you can start with to build up!)
These Booty Burner workouts are so key though because of the “ankle-butt connection.”
They help you improve your balance and mind-body connection as you build a strong foundation and activate your glutes!
Especially if you’ve ever had foot or ankle issues…even ones 10 years ago that no longer “bother” you… your current knee or hip pain may be connected!
And all of the glute activation in the world won’t fully add up IF you aren’t doing the right moves to establish that mind-body connection from the ground up!
It’s why you NEED glute activation series like this one!
So try the Balance Booty Burner from my Booty Burner 2.0 below!
Complete 1-3 rounds of the circuit below, pausing briefly to rest and switch sides after all 4 moves are complete (up to 20 seconds). You want to complete all 4 moves on one side before switching. If you find you can’t complete all 4 moves without pausing, you may want to switch sides after the first two moves or rest 40 seconds between rounds.
CIRCUIT: 20 seconds per side Warrior III 20 seconds per side Warrior III Squats 20 seconds per side Standing Clams 20 seconds per side Side Shift Skaters
The quick reference image below is taken from the 28-Day Booty Burner Book, BUT with the program you’ll also get video workouts so you can workout with me and I can coach you through the moves!
Lunges are an amazing leg and glute exercise; however, people often fear lunges and blame them for causing knee pain.
But lunges are NOT inherently bad for your knees and even learning how to master the lunge could help you PREVENT knee pain from returning.
It is key you always know how to work around your injuries, and select the variation of a move you need.
But as you tweak movements also take time to learn how to make sure you’re recruiting the correct muscles to get the most out of the exercise!
Depending on your injuries, you may need to reduce knee flexion, so an Anterior Reach Lunge may be right for you.
Or if you aren’t yet able to correctly load your glutes with a Front Lunge, you may find you need to start with a Reverse Lunge instead.
The key is learning how to use the lunge to meet your needs instead of just demonizing it! Because it really is a killer move if you want strong, lean legs and glutes!
How To Lunge Properly:
Quick Lunge Tips:
Make sure when you lunge forward you don’t let all of your weight shift forward onto the ball of your foot. You want to be able to push back off that front heel.
While your knee CAN travel past your toe if you want to load your quads more, it will also put more strain on your knee. So if you have knee pain, when you lunge forward, think about keeping your knee over your ankle. A more vertical shin angle can protect your knee and place less strain on the surrounding muscles.
Start by keeping your lunges smaller. As you advance, you may lunge out further and sink deeper. The further out you lunge the more challenging it is for your legs to push back.
A Reverse Lunge may also be easier starting out. This lunge can make it easier for you to load your glutes and can be more “knee friendly” if you struggle with lunging forward and properly loading your glutes. (demoed at 2:10)
With lunges, to target your glutes more, you can perform more of a hip hinge. You do not want to round over, but slightly leaning forward to push your butt back can help you load your glutes more.
The Split Squat or Static Lunge is also a great place to start if you struggle with forward or backward movement during your lunges. This lunge can help you improve your hip mobility while building killer leg strength (demoed in the video at 2:42). For this move, you can also shrink the range of motion using a pad.
By adjusting the range of motion of your lunge, you can not only make a lunge easier, but you can also make it more challenging. See some of the great deficit lunge variations below or even try a Balance Lunge (shown at 3:23 in the video).
You can use lunges to move in every plane of motion! You can even combine lunges in different ways to challenge your legs and even your core without necessarily even having to add weight (like I’ll show you below!)
Working Around Knee Pain:
Reduce knee flexion if needed!
Try even more of a hip hinge just touching a foot back instead of including a ton of knee flexion.
The Anterior Reach Lunge is a great front lunge if you do have knee pain as well (described in the video at 4:18 and shown below)
Try adding a slider and using more of a hip hinge (shown in the video at :41)
Why You Should Include Lunges:
Lunges are a great compound exercise to build functional leg and glute strength.
They are also unilateral exercises that allow you to isolate each leg and work each side independently to correct any imbalances you may have.
Lunges can also help you improve your hip mobility and build stability through a full range of motion because you can include movements in every plane of motion.
And because there are so many different options, you can even target the muscles of your lower body to different extents based on the version of the lunge you choose to include in your workout routine!
12 Amazing Lunge Variations To Work Your Legs And Glutes:
Using these 12 lunge variations you can build strong legs and glutes that not only look amazing but help you avoid injury!
By lunging in every direction you can build hip mobility and stability, which is key to helping you lift more, cycle further and run faster!
Side to Curtsy Lunge:
This lunge is a great way to really target and strengthen your glutes as well as your adductors.
Especially if you’re a runner, this lunge variation is important to include because it can help you avoid hip and groin injuries!
To do the Side to Curtsy Lunge, start with one side, say your left side. Lunging with your left foot, step the left foot out toward “9″ on the clock.
As you lunge out to the side, bend your left knee as you keep your right leg straight and sit your butt back. Don’t be afraid to hinge forward slightly, hinging at the hips. Really push your butt back and bend that left knee as you keep both toes pointing straight ahead. Keep your left heel down as you sink into the lunge. Keep your chest up even if you slightly lean forward to push your butt back.
Then drive back up to standing, pushing off your left foot to come back center. Do not bend your right leg to come back center. Really push off that outside leg and drive off your heel.
If you need to, touch your foot down center as you stand tall to help you balance before moving into the Curtsy Lunge. If you don’t need to tap your foot down, move right into the Curtsy Lunge.
Lunge back into a Curtsy Lunge with your left foot, stepping your left foot back behind your right leg. You will reach your left foot back to about “5″ on the clock as you bend your front and back knee as if you are almost going to half kneel on the ground. Make sure you step far enough back (do not keep your left foot too close to your right) so that you can bend both knees and sink down into a deep lunge. Keep your right heel down on the ground and your chest up. Make sure you feel the outside of the front glute really loading as you sink down.
Then drive through your front heel to come back up to standing center. Squeeze your glutes at the top and move right back into a Side Lunge on the left side.
Complete all reps on one side before switching. Add weight to make the move more challenging. Beginners may not go as low and may use only bodyweight.
Curtsy Lunge to Leg Lift:
This is another great lunge movement to really target your glutes and even isolate your glute medius a bit more to improve your hip stability!
While the lunge is a compound movement, adding in that leg lift allows for a little glute isolation work. And working the glute medius is so key to helping you prevent and avoid lower back, hip and even knee pain!
To do the Curtsy Lunge to Leg Lift, start standing tall with your feet together.
Then lunge back, stepping your foot across and behind your front leg so you sit back into your front glute. You aren’t lunging straight back, but are instead crossing behind as you keep your chest facing forward. Keep your front foot pointing straight ahead too.
If you rotate open as you cross behind, you won’t get the benefit of the curtsy lunge.
Sink down into the lunge, sitting back in your front heel as you feel your front glute load. Then drive through your front heel to come back up to standing.
Lightly tap the toe down to balance if needed and then raise your leg out to the side for a lateral raise. Feel your glute on the side lifting your leg laterally then touch the toe down and repeat the lunge.
You will shift your weight toward your standing leg, but don’t lean way to the side just to lift your leg up higher.
Airborne Lunge:
If you don’t have weights and really want to challenge your legs using just your own bodyweight, you should try the Airborne Lunge! This is a killer glute, and even core, exercise.
This fully unilateral move will help you correct any imbalances between your right and left sides while also helping you build up toward the pistol squat.
And unlike the pistol squat, this single leg move uses more of a hip hinge to target your glutes even more!
To do the Airborne Lunge, stand on one foot and bend your other knee, bringing your heel back up toward your butt.
Then push your butt back as you bend the knee of your standing leg to sink down into a lunge. Drop the knee of your raised leg back toward the ground near the heel of your standing leg. Make sure to hinge at your hips leaning your chest slightly forward as you sit back and sink down.
Do not touch the foot of the raised leg down when you drop the knee to the ground. Touch your knee down gentle or just hover above the ground.
Then drive through the heel of your standing leg to stand back up. Squeeze your glute at the top and stand tall then repeat the lunge.
Beginners can do a version holding suspension trainer straps to help them balance.
Pulse Side Lunge:
The Side Lunge is a great way to work your glutes and your adductors while even improving your groin flexibility.
When you add in the Pulse, you’ll spend more time under tension to challenge your legs more without adding weight!
To do the Pulse Side Lunge, start standing with your feet together. Then step out to the side with one foot and sink into a side lunge, bending that leg you stepped out with as you sit your butt back. Keep your other leg straight as you hinge a bit at the hips to sink down and load your glutes.
Then drive through that foot to straighten your leg a bit before sinking back down. You do not want to fully straighten your leg, but instead stay within that working range, coming up a few inches.
After you sink back down, push up and back to standing in one motion. Then repeat, sinking into the side lunge, pulsing up then stepping back and together. Make sure your heels stay down and that you do hinge a bit at the hips to load your glutes. Do not round over!
Reverse Lunge to Knee Tuck:
Work your legs, glutes and even your hip flexors, obliques and abs with this hybrid lunge exercise.
It’s a great way to build strength and even get your blood pumping for a little bit of cardio!
To do the Reverse Lunge to Knee Tuck, start standing tall with your hands on your shoulders or by your head to help with the twist. Then lunge back with your right foot, dropping your back knee down toward the ground as you keep your chest up.
Keep your front heel down as you lunge back and bend your front knee to about 90 degrees as you load your glute. Keep your front knee about over your ankle to help you think about loading your glute.
Drive back up to standing, pushing through your left (front) heel. As you drive up, bring your back knee up and forward as you come to standing. Tuck your right knee up and rotate your upper body toward that right knee. You can slight crunch toward the knee but don’t just round over.
Twist toward that knee then lunge back again and repeat on the same side. Make sure to engage the glute of your standing leg and feel your abs work to twist toward your knee.
You can tap your toe down to balance if needed between the lunge and knee drive. The less though that you tap down between the harder the move will be.
Walking Lunges:
Talk about a move that will build strength and really get you out of breath!
The walking lunge is more of a cardio exercise than you realize and a really great way to target your glutes! And if you don’t touch your other foot down between lunges, it is a great way to advance the basic forward lunge without even adding weights.
To do the Walking Lunge, start standing up nice and tall with your feet together. Then step one foot forward and then bend both knees, dropping the back knee down toward the ground. Even though you’ve lunged forward, your weight shouldn’t be going forward. Drop your knee straight down and keep your chest up. Make sure your front foot stays flat on the ground as you lower down.
Drive back up to standing, pushing off the front heel. As you drive back up to standing and bring your back foot forward, try not to touch it down but swing it forward and out to go right into another lunge. Beginners may need to tap their foot down center to balance, but if you can step right into the next lunge.
Again sink down, keeping your weight centered and chest up. Drive back up to standing and bring that leg forward right into the next lunge.
Add weights to make the move more challenging.
Deficit Curtsy Lunge:
By increasing the range of motion, you can make the curtsy lunge more challenging. You can also improve your mobility by working through a bigger range of motion.
Just make sure that you actually lunge deeper or you won’t get the benefit of the increased range of motion!
To do the Deficit Curtsy Lunge, set up a low box or plate weight and step up on top of the weight. A slightly higher platform will be more challenging. Beginners may want to start with something very small or no box at all.
Stand on top of the weight, holding weights as desired to make the move harder. Then lunge back and off the weight, crossing your foot behind your leg on top of the weight. As you cross the foot behind, sink into that lunge, lowering the knee to touch the ground or hover right above.
Then drive through your front heel to drive back up to standing and repeat the lunge. You can slightly hinge forward at the hips to sit your butt back but do not round over. If you can’t touch that back knee to the ground, lower the step so you can work through a full range of motion.
Do not let your knee cave in or your body rotate. Keep your chest straight ahead as you lunge back and load that front glute, pushing it slightly out to the side as you cross behind.
If you have knee pain, you may reduce knee flexion and lunge back with a straight leg from the ground still crossing behind while adding in more of a hip hinge.
Alternating Dumbbell Reverse Lunges:
Little tweaks can help you tailor moves to fit your needs.
Sometimes you’ll want to complete all reps on one side to really isolate each leg and burn out each side independently and sometimes you’ll want the added metabolic bonus of alternating sides.
If you want the added cardio bonuses of alternating sides, try the Alternating Dumbbell Reverse Lunge. Holding dumbbells down by your sides is a great way to progress the basic bodyweight lunge.
And with the Reverse Lunge, you’ll really be able to target those glutes while still working your quads and even your hamstrings.
Below I show the Reverse Lunge with more of a hip hinge IF you struggle to load your glutes or want to target them more!
To do Alternating Dumbbell Reverse Lunges, hold a weight in each hand and stand tall with your feet together. Beginners can use no weights.
Lunge back with one leg, sitting your butt back as you hinge slightly forward and drop your back knee down to just touch the ground or hover over it. Really sit back in that front heel.
If you struggle to load your glutes or want to make it more glute intensive, keep that shin more vertical and that knee about over your ankle. Also use the hip hinge instead of staying more upright.
Then drive through your front heel to push back up to standing in one movement. Then lunge back on the other side. Try to get as deep in the lunge as you can to strengthen through that full range of motion. Beginners should start with just bodyweight and limit range of motion as needed.
If you need to reduce knee flexion, use more of a skater squat and hinge at your hips as you step back in a straight leg lunge.
Anterior Reach Lunge:
If you have knee pain and want to work around the pain while strengthening your leg, this is a must do move. It reduces the amount of knee flexion you perform and uses a bit more of a hip hinge movement than the standard lunge.
While this lunge variation will include more of a hip hinge to target your glutes, it will also still work your quads. Strengthening your quads can also help improve your knee stability!
To do the Anterior Reach Lunge, start standing tall with your feet together. Then take a big step forward with one foot and, as you place your foot on the ground, bend that front knee a little bit and push your butt back. Keep your back leg straight as you lunge forward and make sure that, when you step forward, your front heel down stays down and you feel your glute load.
As you’ve stepped forward, you want to hinge over and reach your hands overhead. So you should lunge and hinge at the same time to make sure that, even though you are stepping forward, you are loading your glute.
Do not let your weight go forward and your front knee go over your front toe. If your weight all goes forward and your foot isn’t firmly planted, you may load your knee which could perpetuate your knee pain.
Then, pushing back off the front leg, come back up to standing. Stand nice and tall and then repeat, stepping forward and hinging over to load that front glute.
Make sure that you don’t step out so far that you can’t push back up to standing in one smooth move. Also, you aren’t not trying to bend your knee as much as possible when you lunge forward. You are combining the slight knee bend and lunge with a hinge to load your glute.
You can also either alternate sides or stay on one side until all reps are complete. Add weight to make the move more challenging, but makes sure you have good form and can maintain your balance and feel your glutes working before you do.
Rock Lunges:
This is a great lunge variation to target your quads while improving your hip mobility and stability. If you want to become more mobile, include this lunge as part of your routine.
It can even often be used by those with knee pain if you make sure to set up so you only rock forward to the point that your knee is over your ankle.
Because it isn’t really active knee flexion it can often be ok so is worth testing out if you are looking to work around your knee issues.
To do Rock Lunges, start standing tall then step one foot back as if you were going to do a reverse lunge. However, you will want to set up in a wider stance than you normally would. Sink down then in this extra wide stance where your back leg will be straight and your front knee will actually be BEHIND your front toe.
Stay in a low extended lunge with your chest up nice and tall and then drive off the ball of your back foot so that you rock forward in the lunge and your knee moves over your ankle or the ball of your foot. The rock back.
You don’t want to bend or extend your back knee or stand up at any time. You are pretending like you have to stay under a ceiling right above your head and you are simply rocking or sliding forward and backward.
Slider Side Lunge:
There are so many different ways to progress or vary movements to fit our needs. And one great way to make the side lunge target your adductors even more is by adding in a slider.
By sliding your leg out straight to the side instead of stepping out to sink down, you will make your adductors have to work even more while still working your glutes! (Just be careful the first time that you don’t slide out too far or you’ll get stuck!)
To do the Slider Side Lunge, place a towel or slider under one foot. Start standing tall with your feet together.
Then bend your standing leg and sit your butt back as you slide the foot on the towel/slider out to the side. You may hinge a bit at the hips as you sit your butt back and bend your standing leg to sink down, but don’t round forward. Make sure to keep your standing heel firmly planted on the ground. Also, make sure to slide your leg out straight to the side. Do not bend that leg on the slider.
Drive through your standing heel and pull your foot on the towel/slider back in to come back up to standing. Do not allow yourself to go forward as you come back up to standing. You do not want to load your knee. Make sure to really sit back and then drive back up through your standing heel. Keep your back flat as you lunge even if you lean forward a bit because you hinge slightly at the hips. Also make sure to pull your foot on the slider back in using your inner thigh.
Make sure you feel this in your standing glute and the adductor (inner thigh) of the leg on the slider. Complete all reps on one side before switching.
Go lower in the lunge, slow down the tempo, or add weight to make the move harder.
Balance Lunge:
This is a great way to progress the basic static lunge or split squat by adding instability but also by increasing the range of motion.
You can make it more quad intensive by staying more upright with your posture or you can target your glutes more by including more of a hip hinge as you sink down.
You can also advance it further by adding a weight. By front loading the movement, you can make it more core intensive. (You could also create even more instability by putting your back foot in a suspension trainer strap instead of up on a box!
To do Balance Lunges, place one foot back up on a box. You can place the top of your foot on the box by pointing your toe or you can flex your foot and rest the ball of your foot on the box. Hop your front foot out so you are in a nice wide stance with your back foot up on the box.
Then sink down into a lunge, dropping your back knee toward the ground as you bend your front knee to 90 degrees. Really sit back into the lunge. Make sure you aren’t going forward onto your front toe and that your front knee is not going past your toe. You want to sit back to make your glute work. You should also feel a nice stretch in the front of the leg that is back when doing this move.
Keep your chest up nice and tall as you sit down and back. If you are struggling to sit back, you can hinge very slightly forward at the hips.
After sinking down as low as you can, drive back up to standing, driving through your front heel and the back foot. Don’t go forward as you drive up. Then repeat, sinking back down.
Beginners may want to use a super low box or do the move from the ground as a Split Squat. More advanced exercisers, or if you don’t have weights, you may want to do it with your back foot in a suspension trainer. You can also add weight to make the move more challenging.
If you want some killer workouts using these lunges…
Grab a booty band and get those glutes, and even your abs, firing with this activation series!
Really focus on what you feel working as you go through this 5-minute burner.
Because this burner isn’t about adding more resistance or heavy weights – it’s about creating that pump or “burn.”
You want to use it to improve your mind-body connection before your run, ride or lift so you can quickly and efficiently recruit the right muscles to work when you need!
Because if we aren’t recruiting the correct muscles, we can end up compensating and overloading muscles not meant to carry the full load. And this is what leads to injury.
So if you want to prevent low back, hip, knee and even ankle pain, include a quick glute activation series before your workout!
Just remember…don’t just rush through the movements! Feel those glutes and abs working and focus on feeling that BURN!
The 5-Minute Booty Band Activation Series
Complete 2 rounds through the series, working for 30 seconds on each move. Do not rest between moves or rounds.
SERIES: 30 seconds Booty Band Wall Sit 30 seconds Booty Band Skater Walks Forward/Backward 30 seconds Glute Bridges 30 seconds Plank Lateral Taps 30 seconds Abduction Toe Touches
Ok I’d never heard this term before a Facebook Live “Ask Me Anything” when I got asked about the best moves for a “pancake butt.”
I found the expression incredibly amusing, but it also got me to thinking about the science behind developing shapely, strong glutes.
How could you best develop them and create the perky shape you wanted?
A. You would need to create a program implementing all 3 drivers of muscle growth.
B. You would need to combine movements in a variety of planes of motion to not only target all three glute muscles, but even different aspects of those muscles.
And C. You would need to focus on not only adding loads or weight but different types of resistances and a variety of reps and set schemes.
First let’s go over the different drivers of muscle growth and the different ways to target different aspects of the glutes.
Then I’ll share 5 Must-Do Moves To Avoid The Dreaded Pancake Butt!
The 3 Drivers Of Muscle Growth:
Too often we think the only way to “grow” a muscle or promote muscle hypertrophy is through using heavier loads and creating a ton of muscle tissue damage aka lifting heavy and making ourselves really sore with moves like the squat and deadlift.
BUT muscle tissue damage is only ONE driver of muscle growth.
And SORENESS? Well soreness isn’t an indicator of progress or results.
Soreness can simply even mean you did something new (or even that your hydration or sleep aka your recovery is off). So stop using soreness as your indicator that you worked hard enough!
And especially as you utilize metabolic stress, and potentially even more moves that create mechanical tension, to get results, you may even find there are workouts you feel a huge pump DURING the actual workout and NOTHING after. No soreness. NOTHING.
That’s not a bad thing!
We don’t always need to use heavy loads and compound moves with huge ranges of motion to get results. They are just one piece of the puzzle.
So what are the 3 drivers of muscle growth?
Muscle Tissue Damage
Mechanical Tension
Metabolic Stress
Let’s start by reviewing what moves create the most muscle tissue damage as these are the moves we tend to think are most important for results.
Muscle Tissue Damage:
If you’ve ever heard “Squat for a better butt,” you may have fallen victim to the belief that if you just squat, you’ll get rid of your pancake butt.
However, squats alone may NOT get you the results you were hoping for.
Neither may deadlifts or lunges even.
While these compound moves are ESSENTIAL to include in your routine, there is no “one best move” out there that alone will get you results.
And thinking there is, will only hold you back from using every tool in your toolbox to get the best results as fast as possible.
These compound moves, done with challenging loads, create more muscle tissue damage, which can drive muscle growth.
If you break down muscle tissue and recover proper, your muscles should grow stronger and bigger in response.
HOWEVER, the more muscle tissue damage you create, the longer you have to rest before working the muscle again so that it actually recovers and rebuilds.
If you don’t let the muscle rebuild and recover, you’re constantly just tearing it down which will fight against all of your hard work.
If you’re constantly only doing heavy lifts and the volume is adding up with those, you probably are only able to train that muscle effectively once a week. And this isn’t ideal.
Studies have shown that the optimal training frequency for muscle hypertrophy may actually be 2 to even 3 times a week. So if you want to shape up that pancake butt, adding in a second glute day each week may be the answer!
You can’t increase your training frequently though if you’re constantly creating extreme amounts of muscle damage.
While controlling overall volume can definitely help, so can using moves that drive growth in other ways.
But first, what moves create more muscle tissue damage?
Moves that will create more muscle tissue damage:
Have moderate glute activity
Big ranges of motion
Peak tension when the glutes are lengthened
Emphasize the eccentric
These are most often those big compound lifts like squats, deadlifts, and lunges that we tend to load down.
Many of these moves focus primarily on the glute max, working that lower glute max just slightly more.
These moves can be included in your workouts as some of your primary lifts, using moves that may create less damage and be done with lighter loads for slightly higher reps after.
Or you may even include them on your leg day with a separate “glute day” each week that focuses on those glutes with moves that create less muscle damage.
With these compound moves, you may work on maximal strength in the 1-5 rep range or even work in the more traditional hypertrophy range of about 6-12 reps.
You want to make sure to use a weight that challenges you though for whatever reps you select!
And you can even create more muscle damage by not only increasing the loads, but by changing the tempo of your reps.
Especially if you slow down the ECCENTRIC portion of the move, you can create more damage. (This would mean slowing down the lower down in the squat or the lunge for example.)
More time under tension, and especially more of a focus on the eccentric, means more work for those muscles.
This can be another great way to advance movements if you don’t necessarily have heavier loads or want to do more reps!
Mechanical Tension:
If you do a chest exercise and expect your glutes to grow, you’re going to be waiting a long time.
Why? Because you placed no tension on the muscle you wanted to work!
Seems sort of silly and obviously, right?
But that is what mechanical tension is…placing more tension on the muscle you want to work!
So if you want to work your glutes, the more tension you place on that muscle, the more you can drive growth.
Now all too often we simply try to “add weight” to create more tension.
But with our glutes, this can backfire.
Using our “mind-body connection” to better recruit the muscle, while using moves that place the most tension on the muscle when shortened, may actually allow us to create more tension with LIGHTER loads!
Now this doesn’t mean you shouldn’t still CHALLENGE yourself.
But it does means that instead of depending on the LOAD to challenge the muscle, you need to focus on the muscle you FEEL working and try to activate it as much as possible with your MIND.
You want to THINK about it contracting hard.
The reason for this is that, with the glutes specifically, simply going heavier with some moves may actually lead to synergists doing more work to lift instead of the glutes coming under more tension.
So if you do that barbell hip thruster and start to feel your quads and hamstrings working more as you increase loads, you may actually be going “too heavy” to create the optimal amount of muscle tension in your glutes!
Basically, adding a heavier load only works to an extent and there is a point for each of us when going heavier fights against us optimally engaging and recruiting the muscle we want.
What glute moves create the most mechanical tension?
Moves that:
Have high glute activity
Moderate ranges of motion
Peak tension when the glutes are shortened
Can emphasize the eccentric
These moves can be more isolated or still compound lifts.
They are moves like the barbell hip thruster, the back extension, high step ups, ankle weight abductions and cable kickbacks.
The variety of moves that create mechanical tension allow you to work not only your entire glute max, but also really target your glute medius. And many of the abduction movements even allow you to hit that upper glute max a bit more, which can help get rid of that “pancakedness.”
These moves generally don’t take as long to recover from (usually about 2-3 days), which can make them great to include to really perkify that butt while increasing your training frequency.
Most often these moves will be done for about 5-15 reps. Some moves like the barbell hip thrusters may be done with heavier weights so you may work down in reps; however, just make sure this isn’t necessarily at the expense of FEELING the correct muscle driving the movement. (Make note of your personal set point where synergists may start to dominate.)
Because lighter loads may allow for you to focus more on your glutes working, you may find you often work between 10-15 reps with these moves.
NOTE: Range of motion is still important and so are even the TOOLS used with these moves. Start to shrink the range of motion on some of these moves and you get into creating more metabolic stress territory!
Metabolic Stress:
You know that feeling when you’ve done a band move and you stand up and grab your butt and think “Holy butt cheeks batman!?”
That feeling right there, that “burning sensation,” is called metabolic stress.
These moves make great activation exercises prior to your heavy lifts and runs to help you make sure your glutes are working.
Because you can do a few to create that “pump” and establish that mind-body connection, without wearing yourself out, they can help you make sure your recruitment patterns are correct when you go into more compound movements.
That makes many of these moves great rehab/prehab movements to avoid injury!
However, ONLY using these moves as activation exercises doesn’t allow you to take full advantage of their metabolic stress benefit!
Following a compound movement with a more isolated exercise to create a pump can help you further burnout a muscle.
They also make great burnouts to target those glutes even at the end of a leg day with compound moves!
You may even find that doing full circuits or workouts with these moves can allow you to dramatically increase your training frequency without the need for extended recovery.
Most of these moves you will feel a lot at the time yet the next day feel like you could train again. Their recovery cycle is much shorter, making them a key piece to include to maximize your results.
And they can be a great way to really utilize that mind-body connection to build and tone your glutes.
Especially for runners or cyclists who don’t want to risk the “soreness” or “fatigue” of heavy lifting affecting their training, these are a great way to build and strengthen their glutes!
Moves that will create metabolic stress:
Have LOW glute activity
Small ranges of motion
Peak tension when the glutes are shortened
Varied tension on the muscle
Wait…LOW glute activity?!
You may now be thinking, “Then why are they great as activation moves to establish that mind-body connection if they have LOW glute activity!? And why the heck do I feel them burn so much!?”
The reason these moves are AMAZING activation exercises all comes down to the fact that they DO create that PUMP and that BURN.
Even think about it in terms of your biceps after curls. When you feel that muscle with a PUMP, your brain is much more aware of that muscle with every other move, right!?
By using these moves to create that pump and burn, you help your brain to really FEEL the muscle, which is what establishes that mind-body connection.
And while it may seem strange they have lower glute activity, the pump you feel isn’t so much due to the activation of the muscle, but the fact that you restrict blood flow out of the muscle.
By keeping the glutes under constant tension with quick back to back reps you prevent blood from leaving the muscle aka your cells swell, you get pumped and create metabolic stress.
And that “burn?” Well that is due to the build up of certain metabolites that happens due to the constant tension for that higher volume!
So what moves create metabolic stress?
Think about all of those amazing band moves!
Band monster walks, band side shuffles, band glute bridges, frog bridges, clams, fire hydrants…all are great moves to create that pump!
With most of these moves, you will want to focus less on increasing the resistance and more on the VOLUME. Reps for these will usually be in that 15-30 rep range.
Yup…30 reps even.
Beginners may find it even takes more reps at first to establish that mind-body connection while more advanced exercisers can engage from that first rep and really build up that burn!
These moves are also a great way to target your glute medius especially while working your entire glute max. And by using some of the abduction moves, you can even target that upper glute max more if needed.
And if you want to focus a bit more on that lower glute max?
Why not try creating metabolic stress with some of those moves that usually create more muscle tissue damage….
Wait…How can you do that?!
Change The Resistance, Change The ROM, Change The Driver?!
If we want results, we need to progress our workouts. We need to progress our movements.
To do this, we usually add more weight or do more reps.
But sometimes using slightly different VARIATIONS of movements is actually the key to progressing our workouts so that we can keep moving forward.
By using the “same but different,” or variations of moves we usually love even with “LESS” weight, we can also change how they drive muscle growth.
For instance, a barbell hip thruster will create more mechanical tension.
But what if you used a band instead of a bar AND added a mini band or booty band around your legs?
If you changed the equipment in this way, you could take a move that usually would create more muscle tension and use it to create more metabolic stress!
It’s the same move, but by changing the resistance, you change how the move drives growth.
By replacing the barbell with bands, you place less of a focus on the eccentric portion as the band reduces tension as you come back toward the anchor point.
And by using the mini band, you put the glute medius under constant tension, which then helps build more of a pump!
But it’s not just a change in tools that can take a move from creating a ton of muscle tissue damage to more metabolic stress.
You can also change the range of motion!
Take that basic squat.
You can load it down and create a ton of muscle damage.
OR you can place a band around your legs and shrink the range of motion, pulsing only at the bottom or even coming just short of lockout.
By changing the squat so the range of motion is smaller and you’re CONSTANTLY under tension, you will create that pump instead!
Using different variations of the squat may not be a clear “progression” but this same but different movement may just be what you need to keep progressing and challenging your body!
Sometimes it can even simply be a slightly different body position during the movement that will keep you moving forward.
Take for instance the mini band seated abduction. You can do these seated on the ground or off a bench. While seated on the bench, you can lean forward or backward or sit up nice and tall.
All of these involve slightly different angles of hip flexion which can affect not only where you feel it but how much you target the anterior or posterior fibers of your glute medius!
This seemingly slight difference can be a way to progress movements so you are really working those glutes from every angle for the best results possible!
5 Must-Do Moves To Avoid The Dreaded Pancake Butt:
Now the fun stuff hehe
These 5 moves cover all 3 drivers of muscle growth and work your glutes from every angle.
They will target not only your entire glute max, but also your glute medius.
And if you need to focus more on your upper glute max or lower glute max to build that round, perky butt, these will also help you out!
Band Squat Pulses:
If you want to use metabolic stress to build those glutes, this is a great version of the squat to include. You will want to use it for between 15-30 reps aka a higher rep range without focusing on upping the resistance.
The Band Squat Pulse will target your glute medius as well as your entire glute max.
To do Band Squat Pulses, place the booty band or mini band around your legs above your knees (or if using a mini band, below your knees even) and stand with your feet about hip-width apart.
Sit back and down, pressing your knees out against the band so your ankles, knees and hips stay in line. You do not want your knees to cave in.
Sink to about parallel to the ground and then pulse a few inches up and down from here. You do not want to start below parallel and you don’t want to stand fully up as you pulse. You want the range of motion to be about 6 inches around that parallel position.
Once all pulses are complete, stand up.
Make sure your knees don’t cave in as you pulse and that your heels stay down and feet are flat on the ground. Do not round over. Make sure to keep your back flat and chest up.
Beginners may pulse over a bench or even hold on to help them balance. You can also stay up higher in the pulse squat instead of sinking as low.
You can also even vary this movement by performing a GOBLET band pulse squat, holding a dumbbell or kettlebell up at your chest. Or by changing the exact range of motion performed!
Barbell Hip Thrusters:
This move will create muscle tension to work those glutes and target the entire glute max.
As you progress, you will want to add loads, just be careful that you don’t start allowing your hamstrings and quads to take over just so you can go heavier.
Advanced exercisers able to go heavier may work down toward 5 reps while beginners or anyone really wanting to focus on that mind-body connection may find they need to stay in that 10-15 or even 20 rep range!
To do the Barbell Hip Thruster, set up a bench and make sure it won’t move as you bridge up with your back on it. Take a barbell and put some padding around it so that it won’t dig into your hips as you perform the move.
Place your upper back against the bench and sit with your butt on the ground and your legs out straight. Roll the barbell up over your hips and then bend your knees and plant your feet firmly on the ground and close to your butt. Your mobility may dictate the exact placement of your feet.
Holding the bar firmly, drive up through your heels and your upper back on the bench, to lift your butt up off the ground and drive your hips, and the barbell, up toward the ceiling.
Squeeze your glutes and press your hips up as high as possible, driving the barbell up and off the ground. Hold a second or two at the top and then lower back down and repeat.
Do not hyperextend your back at the top. Really squeeze your glutes at the top and even posteriorly tilt your pelvis. Make sure you are driving straight up through your heels. Do not push yourself backward over the bench.
You may find that as you bridge up you want to “push” the barbell down toward your thighs to help you drive up and squeeze your glutes.
You can also slightly keep your chin tucked so you’re looking up but out past your legs instead of relaxing your head back to look straight up at the ceiling. This little flexion of your neck can help with your glute engagement.
Lower your butt back down toward the ground and repeat.
You do not fully need to touch the weight down, but you do want to complete a full range of motion. Make sure to sit back forward as you lower down instead of trying to keep your upper back up on the bench so that you don’t hyperextend your back by simply lowering your butt.
Then repeat, driving your hips back up.
Do not rush the movement. While you can add weight to make the movement harder, you may also want to adjust the tempo!
Slowing down the lower down can create more tension on that muscle too! It’s not always about adding loads!
Band Lying Lateral Raises:
This is a great move to create metabolic stress, strengthen your glute medius and even target your upper glute max more!
Especially if you’re a runner, this is a must-do move for hip stability and a great way to “perkify” your butt while not creating fatigue for your running!
To do Band Lying Lateral Raise, place the band around your legs. The placement depends on the band and how well you can engage your glutes. Put it above your knees if you’re using a booty band or heavier mini band or below your knees to progress the movement using a mini band. You can even move the band down around your ankles if you don’t feel other muscles compensating.
Then lie on your side on the ground. You can support your head in your hand while lying on your side or relax fully onto your side. Place your top hand on the ground in front of you to help you stabilize.
Stack your feet on top of each other and then lift your top leg up so there is just a very little bit of tension on the band. If you have a booty band, you may not really have to lift it, but just make sure there is tension and you keep this tension throughout!
Then lift your leg straight up toward the ceiling as high as you can without rotating your toe up. Do not rock or swing to lift up higher. If you can only lift a few inches up higher that is fine. It’s better to do the range of motion you can control.
If you struggle to feel your glutes and instead feel your hips, kick slightly back as you lift up or turn your toe down toward the ground to internally rotate your hip.
Quickly perform reps, keeping tension in the band the entire time.
Deficit Reverse Lunge:
One way to progress a movement is by adding load. Another is by changing up the tempo.
A third is to INCREASE the range of motion.
Not only will this help you create more muscle tissue damage but it will also help you strengthen through a bigger range of motion to improve your mobility.
However, this only works if you ACTUALLY work through the increased range of motion. If you can’t lunge all the way to the ground with a standard reverse lunge, you aren’t ready for the deficit version.
While this move will work your entire glute maximus, it will hit that lower glute max harder!
To do Deficit Reverse Lunges, set a small box or stack of stable plate weights on the ground. Even just starting with a single 45lbs bumper plate is enough to make a difference.
If you’re ready, add weights but start with making sure you can complete the full range of motion.
Stand tall and then step back off the box or weight, bending your front knee to about 90 degrees as you drop your back knee down to lightly touch the ground or hover right over it.
Really sit back in that front heel as you sink down.
Keep your chest up and do not hunch or round over. While you may hinge slightly at your hips to sit back and load the glute, you should maintain a nice neutral spine.
Then drive back up to standing on the box by pushing through that front heel.
Don’t lean or rock forward but think about driving straight up to standing. Then lunge back again.
If you can’t get your knee down past the platform and close to the ground, you aren’t yet ready for the increased range of motion.
Band Seated Abductions:
This is a great move to work your glute max and medius with a slight bit more “love” for that upper glute max.
This move is a great way to create that glute pump.
And there are so many little tweaks you can make to this move to implement that “same but different” rule to help you progress!
You can change your body positioning from standing to seated. You can even change how much you lean backward or forward while seated to work those glutes in different ways!
To do the standard Band Seated Abductions off a bench, place the mini band right below (more advanced) or right above (a bit easier) your knees. If you’re using a booty band, place it above your knees. Whichever place you choose or whatever weight mini band you use, just make sure you feel your glutes and outside your hips actually working.
Sit up nice and tall with your hands on the edge of the bench and your feet about hip-width apart. Then press your knees open against the band as you sit up tall. Really use your glutes to press the band open.
Do not slouch or rock back. Press your hips forward as you press your knees open. You may rock open on your feet, but don’t simply rock and bend your ankles. Really press the band open with your knees.
You MAY lean back or forward just make sure this is a CONSCIOUS change in placement instead of swinging as you do the move!
Using these tips and 5 moves, you can build a round, perky booty and reverse that pancake butt!
If you want even more booty building workouts that will also help you improve your running and lifting while avoiding injury, join my Glute Camp!
You don’t need fancy equipment or to spend hours at the gym working out to get results.
When you’re short on time, all you need is your own bodyweight and 10 minutes.
In that time you can get in a killer workout to strengthen your ENTIRE core – everything down your frontside AND your backside.
And while this workout is called the Backside Burner it targets more than just your back, hamstrings and butt. It will also work your abs, serratus anterior, obliques, quads and shoulders!
Complete 3 rounds of each circuit, moving right from one exercise to the next. After you finish the first circuit, perform 40 seconds of active rest before moving on to the second circuit. Beginners can fully rest between circuits instead of performing the active rest. Click on each exercise below to see a video demonstration and more information!
