It’s Not Your Lower Back’s Fault

It’s Not Your Lower Back’s Fault

“My low back hurts…How do I strengthen it?”

But what if strengthening it isn’t really the issue?

What if working it more won’t fix your problem and may actually make it WORSE!?

Low back aches and pains are one of the most common issues out there. About 80% of the population will at some time or another complain that their low back is “bugging” them.

I mean who hasn’t gotten low back soreness from sitting too long? Or we’ve known someone who’s “thrown their back out” picking up something as freaking light as a pencil. Heck, it’s may have even happened to us!

So what do we often do when this happens?

We go “rest up” on the couch or sit and don’t workout. We avoid moves we think may have caused it.

But rest and avoidance don’t really solve the problem.

Because we then go back to repeating the same poor movement patterns and compensations that caused it in the first place.

So maybe in an attempt to prevent yourself from getting injured again you think, “I’ll add in more moves to strengthen my low back.”

I mean it got injured cause it was weak, right?

WRONG!

Yes, sometimes weakness does lead to injury.

But guess what!?!

It may not be low back weakness that is the issue…

Actually working your low back more may only PERPETUATE the pain!

Often with low back injuries, we are ticking time bombs.

We spend way too much time seated with our hips in flexion hunched over a computer, driving in a car, watching TV…

This hip tightness and constant flexion can make our glutes, and even abs, under active and cause our low back to want to work during exercises and movements when other muscles should actually be doing the work.

It leads to compensations, imbalances and overuse injuries.

It causes our low back to become OVERWORKED!

Which is why simply working your low back more, thinking it is weak, isn’t the answer.

Too often when we get injured, we only focus on the point of pain. When the actual problem causing the imbalances and compensations that lead to our pain, aren’t exactly where we hurt.

That’s why you may want to give your low back a break and start addressing these other issues:

If you can get your glutes and abs working as they should, they will help prevent your low back from becoming overworked. They will PROTECT YOUR LOW BACK.

But often to get your glutes and abs working correctly, you also need to address hip flexor tightness and any imbalances you have between, not only your right and left sides, but even between different muscle groups.

Ever feel one side more than the other during exercises?

Or maybe you only feel your hamstrings or low back during glute bridges?

Or maybe you only ever feel your quads (the fronts of your legs) during leg exercises and never your butt?

These are all imbalances that need to be corrected! And often we ignore these things when we workout and continue to push through because these things seem like they have nothing to do with our low back pain.

I know I know…It’s not where it hurts.

BUT THEY ARE THE REAL PROBLEM!

And they all relate back to getting the RIGHT MUSCLES working. AKA your abs and glutes!

Using isolation exercises that require little to no resistance for higher repetitions, you can activate your abs and glutes and improve your hip mobility to prevent further low back aches and pains.

 The key is to use these moves to rebuild that mind-body connection and get the right muscles working BEFORE you do other compound moves.

That way when you run and lift, your abs and glutes will work as they should!

If you’re ready to stop suffering from low back aches and pains and wasting time overworking your low back, it’s time to start my 28-Day Booty Burner Challenge.

These quick workouts will help unlock your hips, correct imbalances and get your abs and glutes working correctly!

Join my 28-Day Booty Burner Challenge to activate those glutes —> https://goo.gl/FWYnzd

How To Deadlift With Proper Form And The Right Variation For You!

How To Deadlift With Proper Form And The Right Variation For You!

I LOVE the deadlift. It is an amazing compound movement to target your posterior chain aka your entire backside.

But it is also a more complicated move than we give it credit for. And there are a ton of variations to choose from.

First let’s discuss WHY you should use the deadlift. Then we’ll review form and breakdown the conventional deadlift before explaining what variations to use and how to use them!

So Why Use The Deadlift In Your Workouts?

Deadlifts are ESSENTIAL to include because they:

  • Are a compound move that works numerous muscle groups at once.
  • Are a hip hinge exercise to train a functional movement pattern
  • Work your backside to reverse the constant flexion we sit in or walk in as we text all day.
  • Work on hip extension to strengthen our glutes to help us run faster and lift more.

Because deadlifts are a compound exercise, you work more muscles at once.

This not only helps you build functional strength because muscles have to work together to perform a movement, but it also helps you burn more calories in less time because more muscles are working at once. And compound moves that use the large muscles of our body, also allow us to lift MORE weight!

And on top of being a compound movement, the deadlift is a hip hinge exercise that works our posterior chain AKA our BACKSIDE!

What is a hip hinge?

It is a movement that loads your posterior chain when you hinge, aka flex your hips, to push your butt back then extend your hips to stand tall using your glutes. It is a functional move we need to do every day to reach down to the ground to pick things up…like a DEADLIFT!

The problem with this functional hip hinge exercise?

All too many people do incorrectly.

They simply lean forward without loading their posterior chain. Or they turn it into a squat.

Or they recruit their low back and hamstrings to do work their GLUTES should be doing.

So how do you deadlift properly to get the benefits of the deadlift and really work your backside?

How To Deadlift With Proper Form:

The most important thing you can ask someone is, “Where do you feel working?”

And with the deadlift, they can answer “upper back.” Or “glutes.” Or even “hamstring.” Actually all of the above. Especially their glutes.

However, the one place they shouldn’t feel acting as the prime mover is their low back. Which honestly too often is!

So how do you do the deadlift properly?

There are three things I think are key:

  1. Think about pushing the ground away with your feet INSTEAD of lifting the bar off the ground.
  2. Push your butt back to hinge over don’t just lean forward.
  3. Squeeze your butt hard at the top!

Thinking about these 3 things, here’s how to break down the Conventional Barbell Deadlift or the traditional or main deadlift variation.

To do a Conventional Barbell Deadlift, set a barbell up in front of you. Walk up to the center of the bar with your feet parallel and about hip-width apart. Set up so your shins are right up against the bar. You do not want the bar to drift away from your legs or you risk loading your low back.

Hinge at the hips, pushing your butt back as you reach to grab the bar just outside your shins. Your knees should be soft as you push your butt back to grab the bar, keeping your back flat.

Think about engaging your lats and upper back to keep your spine flat. Traditional form will tell you to keep your head in line with your spine and look out on the ground in front of you. Powerlifting form will often tell you to look up to help you pull up. Choose the one that feels most comfortable without straining anything weird.

With your arms straight and core engaged, put tension on the bar. Then drive through your feet, pushing the ground away to lift the bar up off the ground. Exhale as you lift, “dragging” the bar up your shins to stand up.

At the top, stand tall and squeeze your glutes to fully extend your hips. Don’t lean back at the top or arch your back. Squeeze your butt, then lower back down. Keep the bar close to your body as you lower. Control the decent so you don’t drop the bar, but don’t eccentrically lower.

Once you touch the ground, you can either perform a quick rep without pausing or you can completely release at the bottom and repeat.

The key is really to keep that bar close to your shin, drive the ground away and even use your breathing to engage your core. Do NOT try to squat or simply lean or round over. Keep tension through your upper back and engage your lats. And sit your butt back, hinging at the hips.

Your knees should be soft, but your exact knee bend will be dependent on your mobility. Do NOT actively bend your knees and turn this into a squat though!

So what if you aren’t comfortable with the barbell? What if you’re a beginner? Or what if you want to target different muscles and challenge your body with a new variation?

Check out these deadlift variations below!

Deadlift Variations And When To Use Them:

There are so many great variations of the deadlift you can use to regress and progress the movement and even change up exactly what you’re working or use different tools that you may have available.

Yes, it will always be posterior chain, but you can isolate each glute, add in more adductor or even engage your hamstrings or core more.

Because the deadlift is a more technical move, there are a few ways I like to teach the deadlift and hip hinge movement WITHOUT the barbell.

Three versions of the deadlift I like to use with beginners are:

  • The Bodyweight Wall Hinge
  • The Band Hinge
  • The Kettlebell Conventional Deadlift

I’ve found these three deadlift variations to be an easier way to teach and train the hip hinge movement so that people learn to load their glutes and posterior chain instead of just leaning forward or engaging their low backs.

Here’s how to perform each and why each can be a great training tool.

The Bodyweight Wall Hinge – When you are first learning a movement, it is key to start with your own bodyweight. If you can’t do the move without a load, you haven’t earned adding a weight. Remember you need to EARN the weight and more advanced variations. No point in doing something if it won’t be quality. Hard for hard sake won’t get you results!

So the Bodyweight Wall Hinge is great for beginners because it helps them learn the hip hinge and deadlift movement without any weight. This allows them to focus on feeling the right muscles working. And by using the wall as a guide, you can learn to load your glutes and push your butt back.

To do the Bodyweight Wall Hinge, stand in front of a wall facing away. You want to stand between 3-6 inches away from the wall so as you hinge over, you can use the wall as a guide to help you push your butt back. AKA you want to hinge over and touch your butt to the wall. This will prevent you from simply leaning forward.

Stand nice and tall facing away from the wall. Then hinge at the hips, pushing your butt back to touch the wall. Keep your knees soft as you hinge over and your back flat. Then drive through your feel to come back up to standing tall. Squeeze your glutes at the top to extend your hips. Don’t lean or arch back though.

Then hinge back over again, pushing your butt back to touch the wall. The wall is a great training tool to teach yourself to push your butt back and load your posterior chain. I even sometimes use it as a reminder with clients as they add a load, especially with Good Mornings.

The Band Hinge – A resistance band is another great training tool to help you remember to load your glutes. And it also adds some resistance to really get those glutes burning. This variation, while a great way to regress for the beginner, is also still an important move for advanced lifters because it really activates those glutes.

It’s great for glute activation, teaching the hip hinge for deadlift and reminding people that, while the Conventional Deadlift means some knee bend, it is NOT a squat! It also teaches you to “push the ground away” to power the hip extension against the band.

To do the Band Hinge, anchor a band or loop behind you and step into the band, bringing it right up below your hips. Walk away from the anchor point so that there is tension in the band and stand with your feet about hip-width to shoulder-width apart. The more the band tries to pull you back (aka the further out you walk), the harder the move will be.

Then hinge over, allowing the band to pull your butt back toward the anchor point. Bend your knees slightly as you push your butt back to help load your glutes and keep you from flying back with the band.

Then explosively drive your hips forward to come back up to standing. You may lean slightly forward against the band, but you want to explosively stand up and drive your hips forward against the band, contracting your glutes as you do.

Stand up tall and squeeze your glutes then quickly hinge back over before repeating. This should be a quicker move and you should really focus on loading your glutes as you hinge over and then on quickly driving your hips into extension as you stand back up, squeezing your glutes hard at the top.

Do not lean back or arch your back as you stand up. Also, make sure you don’t lock out your legs OR squat to much as you hinge over. Make sure there is tension in the band even as you hinge over.

The Kettlebell Conventional Deadlift – The third deadlift variation I like to use to help teach the deadlift is the single kettlebell Conventional Deadlift. This is a great way to load down the hip hinge, but teach people to really sit their butt back instead of just squatting down.

With the barbell Conventional Deadlift, we can often struggle with keeping the bar back against our shins and legs. And this can cause us to load our low back. Because we can have a tendency to let the bar drift away, it can be a struggle to sit back and load our glutes and even drive the ground away when we are first learning.

This is why I like to often use the kettlebell instead of the barbell when someone is first starting out. The fact that you can place the kettlebell back between your legs and toward your heels can really help ingrain the proper hip hinge movement and proper loading of the glutes.(BONUS: I even find that often the height of the kettlebell can help prevent people from wanting to squat as much.)

To do the Kettlebell Conventional Deadlift, place a kettlebell in between your feet as you stand with your feet about hip-width to shoulder-width apart. Your feet should be parallel and the kettlebell should be back by your heels.

Then sit your butt back and hinge at the hips so you can reach and grab the kettlebell handle. Your knees will be soft so you can load your glutes. Engage your lats as you grab the weight and keep your back flat.

Then drive the ground away as you lift the weight up. Stand up nice and tall and squeeze your glutes at the top. Then sit your butt back as you hinge at the hips to drop the weight back toward your heels.

Make sure you don’t reach out or lower the weight out in front of you. Really make sure to lower the kettlebell back down toward your heels. You don’t want to just lean over or let your back round. Load your glutes and sit your butt back, bending your knees to allow yourself to load your glutes. Do not lock out your legs.

Along with these three basic variations to really learn the hip hinge movement and even return to basics to make sure your foundation is strong (yes I LOVE using the Band Hinge even with my most advanced lifters), there are a variety of deadlift variations you can use to target your posterior chain in different ways and even work your core and balance.

Single Leg Deadlift – The Single Leg Deadlift is a must-do move for beginners and advanced lifters alike. It is an essential move to include because it will not only work your posterior chain and train the hip hinge, but it will also improve your core stability and balance.

It is also key because it is a unilateral exercise, which means it will work each side individually and help correct any imbalances. Aka if you have a stronger and weaker side, this allows you to make sure both sides are working and strong!

Beginners can start by doing more of a staggered stance deadlift or even a deadlift with one foot down on a slider. Once your balance improves, you’ll want to do the full Single Leg Deadlift.

To do the Single Leg Deadlift, you can use kettlebells, dumbbells or a barbell. You can even unilaterally load the move down to make it even more challenging for your core and your balance.

To do the basic move with bodyweight, start standing on both legs. Lightly touch one toe on the ground as you shift your weight onto the other leg. Begin to then hinge over, lifting your raised leg toward the wall behind you. Push your butt back and even slightly bend the knee of the standing leg to load your glutes.

You do not want to squat, but you want to soften your knee to push your butt back and load your glutes. As you hinge at the hips, don’t let your raised leg swing way open and don’t simply lean forward. Really focus on loading that standing glute as you feel your hamstring as well.

Keep your back flat and hips as square to the ground as possible. Do not worry about straightening the raised leg if it makes your hips rotate open.

Then driving through your standing foot, come back up to standing tall. You may tap your toe at the top, but do not use your other leg to help you come back up to standing. Stand tall and straighten your standing leg as you contract and squeeze your glute at the top. Really feel your hamstring and glute work to help you come back up to standing.

Then hinge back over and repeat. Make sure you don’t round toward the ground. When you add weights, you’ll want to think about dropping the weights down and back toward your standing heel to help you sit back. You’ll also need to engage your lats and upper back to support the weights.

Do not let your low back take over and make sure to brace your core. Complete all reps on one side before switching. Remember if you are starting out and balance is an issue, use a staggered stance, slider or even no weight to start.

Good Mornings and Straight Leg Deadlifts – The Deadlift is a posterior chain exercise and your glutes are definitely the prime mover, HOWEVER, you can make the deadlift focus and work different muscles to different extents. One great Deadlift Variation to really work your hamstrings, is the Straight Leg Deadlift. And when you make it a front-loaded move like the Good Morning, you force your abs and core to work even harder!

To do the Straight Leg Deadlift, you can use barbells, kettlebells, sandbags, dumbbells or even resistance bands. I even like front-loading it down for the Good Morning variation. If you front-load the movement, hold a sandbag up at your chest cradled in your arms. You’ll wrap your arms around the bag and then pull it into your chest engaging your upper back to support it. Stand tall with your feet about hip-width apart.

Then, bracing your abs, hinge over at the hips, pushing your butt back as you keep your back flat. Feel your hamstrings and glutes loading as you hinge over. You will want to very slightly bend or soften your knees to help you push your butt back, but do not turn this into a squat.

After hinging over, drive back up to standing, pushing through your feet as you squeeze your glutes at the top. Do not rock forward, but instead drive straight up. Keep your abs engaged and do not round over.

Stand up nice and tall and squeeze your glutes, then hinge back over and repeat. Do not simply lean forward. You will want to keep your legs straighter but NOT lock out your knees.

Sumo – The Sumo Deadlift is another great variation if you want to target your legs a bit more and even get your adductors working. For some, this deadlift variation even allows them to lift heavier weights than the other variations. However, because of the wide stance, you will want to make sure to take care of your hips as the external rotation and wide stance can occasionally be hard on them.

To the Sumo Deadlift, beginners can start with a kettlebell just like they did for the Conventional Deadlift. You can also use a sandbag, dumbbells or even a barbell.

For the Barbell Sumo Deadlift, set your feet wider than shoulder-width with your toes turned out slightly and your shins against the barbell. Reach down and grab the bar between your legs about hip-width apart. Hinge at the hips as you bend your knees to sit your butt back and grab the bar. Keep your back flat and engage your lats and upper back to support the tension on the bar. Make sure your knees are in line with your ankles and hips. You do not want your knees caving in with the wide stance.

Then driving up through your heels, come back up to standing. Think more about pushing the ground away than on picking the bar up. You won’t want to lose tension in your upper body as you initiate the pull so it can help to think about pushing the ground away. This can also help you focus on using your legs and glutes.

Drive all the way up to standing tall and squeeze your glutes at the top. You do not want to lean back, but you do fully want to extend your hips. Then begin to lower the bar back down, siting your butt back as you hinge over to return it to the ground. Stay in control of the bar, but do not turn this into a slow eccentric lower down.

Make sure to keep the bar close to your body the entire time to make sure you are using your posterior chain to lift!

Unilateral Loads – With all of these great deadlift variations, you can also change how you load the move. From making the Conventional Deadlift a bit easier for beginners by using kettlebells to even making moves harder and more core intense by front loading OR even adding a unilateral load.

Unilateral loading is a great way to work on anti-rotational core strength and stability. It allows you to add weight, but make your core work even harder to stay balanced. Because you are adding weight on only one side though, make sure your core is ready for the challenge of fighting your body’s urge to compensate and rotate or you risk injury.

To unilaterally load down any variation, you can simply hold a kettlebell, sandbag or dumbbell in one hand. For the Single Leg Deadlift, you can hold it in the same or the opposite hand from your standing leg and for the conventional, you can hold it like a suitcase outside one side. Just make sure to do reps holding the weight on each side.

All of these moves can be used in your programming to work your posterior chain and strengthen those glutes. Make sure to pick variations that target your specific goals and don’t hesitate to mix things over progressions to not only challenge your body, but even focus on your weaker areas!

For even more coaching cues, tips and variations, check out my Mastery Series – Deadlift Edition!

The Mini Band Booty Burner

The Mini Band Booty Burner

The Mini Band is a great way to activate and burn out your glutes from every angle. Using the Mini Band, you can target all three glute muscles to really activate your glutes from every angle.

These moves will get your glutes firing to help tone your glutes while also strengthening them to help you prevent low back, hip and even knee pain.

Too often we get back pain and think, “Oh I need to work my low back. My low back must be weak.”

When really the issue lies more in the fact that we are constantly overusing our low backs to carry a load our glutes and abs should really be used for.

So to get your glutes firing using the Mini Band, try this Mini Band Booty Burner below.

Mini Band Booty Burner

Complete 2-4 rounds of each superset. Do not rest between exercises, but rest as needed between rounds so you keep feeling your glutes working. Regress as needed to so that your glutes continue to work to burn them out without your low back taking over. Beginners may need to start with fewer rounds while more advanced exercisers, or exercisers who’ve done this before, will want to do all 4 rounds.

Shorten this and just do 2 rounds of each if you are using it as activation before your workouts!

SUPERSET #1:
20 reps per side Mini Band Clams
20 reps Mini Band Glute Bridge

SUPERSET #2:
20 reps Mini Band Bench Abductions
20 reps Mini Band Reverse Hypers

Love this workout? Try my entire 28-Day Booty Burner System! Learn more HERE!

Tone Those Trouble Zones – Glutes And Inner Thigh Workout!

Tone Those Trouble Zones – Glutes And Inner Thigh Workout!

“Trouble zones”…You know…those areas we all seem to want to work, but struggle to get to look the way we want.

Areas like…The triceps…”the bra fat”….the glutes…and the inner thighs…to name a few.

And while we know we can’t spot reduce, it doesn’t prevent us from feeling like we’d still really like to work those areas and do all we can to tone and make them look their best.

That is why I wanted to share this Glutes and Inner Thighs “Trouble Zones” Workout.

This workout will activate and strengthen your glutes and inner thighs using a combination of compound and isolation exercises. Not only can it target those “trouble zones” to help your legs look stronger and leaner, BUT it is actually an essential workout if you’ve ever had low back, hip or knee pain.

It is an especially great workout for all of you runners as well!

It will help you build core, glute and inner thigh strength to improve your movement patterns!

While you can’t spot reduce, you can use a combination of compound and isolation moves to really work those areas for the best results possible!

So try this Tone Those Trouble Zones – Glutes And Inner Thigh Workout!

Tone Those Trouble Zones – Glutes And Inner Thigh Workout

WARM UP
Stretch and Roll Out:
Calves
Quads
Groin
Hamstring
Hips/Glutes
Back/Chest
Shoulders/Forearms

WORKOUT

Complete 3-5 rounds of each circuit, resting as needed between rounds. Rest 1-2 minutes between circuits. Focus on adding weight or trying more challenging variations; however, make sure that you use a full range of motion. Don’t add weight at the expense of not completing a full range of motion!

CIRCUIT #1:
20 reps Glute Bridge with Squeeze
6-8 reps per side Cossack Squat
8-12 reps per side Side Plank Bench Lift

CIRCUIT #2:
10 reps per side Side Plank Clams
10-15 reps Sumo Squat
10-15 reps Peek-a-boo

COOL DOWN
Stretch and Roll Out:
Calves
Quads
Groin
Hamstring
Hips/Glutes
Back/Chest
Shoulders/Forearms

NOTES: Modify moves as needed, and add weight to make moves more challenging if you can still work through a full range of motion. This workout should help activate your glutes, strengthen your adductors while also improving your mobility!

For descriptions of each move, see this post 21 Inner Thigh Moves for a video of the moves.

Ready To Strength Your Core And Tone Those Trouble Zones!?!

–> Get My 10-Minute Core Burners! <–

How To Activate Your Glutes Before You Workout

How To Activate Your Glutes Before You Workout

So you want a sexy, strong butt…because let’s face it…who doesn’t!?!

Whether you just want your butt to look firm and toned or you want to lift more, run faster or even PREVENT INJURY, glute activation is a MUST.

And it can be done quickly BEFORE you workout so you get even more out of all of those squats, lunges and deadlifts.

Because while squats, lunges and deadlifts are AMAZING compound exercises, if your glutes aren’t ALREADY activated, they won’t work properly during those moves.

Which can not only lead to injury, but also cause your quads and legs to change while your glutes stay the same.

So if you want to get the most out of your workouts, you’ve got to activate your glutes BEFORE.

(And P.S. Guys – this applies to you too. If you want to prevent low back, hip and knee pain, run faster, and lift more, you have to activate those glutes…Plus I won’t lie…Women like a nice backside. 😉 haha)

Below are 3 moves you can do before your lower body workouts to make sure your glutes are activating and firing.

These moves are all BODYWEIGHT because with bodyweight we have the ability to contract our glutes harder and establish the mind-body connection.

Too often we add weight to try to get the glutes to work, but then they stop firing. Bodyweight and light resistance for higher reps is KEY to getting them activated and pumped.

Using these 3 moves you can also unlock your hips to improve hip extension and work all 3 gluteal muscles.

It is important that your glute activation ALSO works on hip extension because tight hips can not only lead to pain and injury, but they can keep your glutes from working proper and cause that LOWER BELLY POOCH!

Use these 3 moves and get your glutes working properly before your workout for a strong and sexy butt!

3 Moves To Activate Your Glutes Before You Workout

Bench 2-Way Leg Swings:

This move works all three gluteal muscles, opens up your hips AND even helps you build core stability.

It is the perfect move if you can literally only do one thing that day to activate your glutes and core. This move alone will get you ready to feel your glutes during your workout!

bench-two-leg-swings

To do the Bench 2-Way Leg Swings, place one knee and both hands on a bench with your knee under your hips and your hands under your shoulders. Your other leg will be off to the side of the bench hanging straight down to the ground.

Keeping your arms straight, brace your core and then lift the leg off the bench straight up to the side. Keep the leg straight as you lift and don’t bend your elbows or lean away to try to lift higher. Squeeze your glute to lift the leg up and out to the side. Try to get it as straight out to the side as possible. Feel the outside of your hip working.

Lower back down and then lift the same leg straight back toward the wall behind your. Again, squeeze your glute to lift your leg straight out behind you and extend your hip. Keep your core engaged and do not hyperextend your low back or rotate your hips open just to kick the leg up higher as you lift it back behind you.

Lower back down and repeat the lifts on the same side. Do not bend your arms or really rock away to get the leg up higher. You want to move from the hip and use your glute.

Do not just swing the leg, but focus on FEELING your glute working. Complete all reps on one side before switching. Move quickly between the two lifts.

Side Balance Leg Raise:

This is the perfect way to activate your hip stabilizers aka your gluteus medius and minimus to prevent pain and injury AND even make sure your gluteus maximus engages during your workout! PLUS, this move will work your core and even your shoulders!

To do the Side Balance Leg Raise, start on one knee with your other leg out straight to the side. Then place your hand down on the outside of your knee so you are in a side balance position. Your hand should be under your shoulder while your knee will be just slightly below your hip. You want to keep your chest open and not rotate toward the ground.

Then lift your top straight leg up toward the ceiling. Lift the leg as close to parallel to the ground as you can and then lower back down. Do not swing your entire body to lift the leg. Keep your core tight and do not let your body rotate toward the ground or open toward the ceiling as you lift. Make sure your toe doesn’t rotate open as you lift.

Feel the outside of your glute and hip working to lift the leg. Complete all reps on one side before switching.

Feet-Raised Hip Thruster:

Take the basic glute bridge and amplify the pump with the Feet-Raised Hip Thruster. This move will work on hip extension and get those glutes burning and engaged! It is the perfect way to unlock your hips as you activate your glutes.

bilateral-off-box-hip-thruster

To Feet-Raised Hip Thruster, place a box and a bench close enough together that your back can be on the bench and your feet up on the box. You just don’t want your legs to be out too far. If your legs are out too straight, you will use more hamstrings than glutes.

Then with your feet and back both up on boxes or benches, bridge up, driving up through your heels and your upper back. Make sure to engage your abs and even do a pelvic tilt if you struggle to keep your low back from taking over.

Drive your hips up and squeeze your glutes. Lift your hips to full extension and hold for a second and then lower back down. Make sure you don’t drive yourself backward over the bench. You want to bridge straight up and feel like you are driving your knees forward over your toes.

Lower back down, making sure to drop your butt below the height of the box and repeat. You do not have to touch the ground each time, but you do want to do a bigger range of motion than you could if performing a bridge from the ground.

–> 5 Signs Your Hips Are Locked Up And Glutes Are Inactive <–

LEARN MORE –>

 

Unlock Your Hips And Activate Your Glutes

Unlock Your Hips And Activate Your Glutes

We’ve all know that we sit too much during the day and that sitting may be killing us.

And while moving more is important, your movement needs to REVERSE the effects of sitting.

You’ve got to make sure that you loosen tight muscles and get those muscles that become weak and inactive from sitting activated and working correctly again.

This is why I constant harp on improving hip mobility AND working on glute activation!

If you sit a lot during the day, your hips are tight from being in constant flexion (aka bent!). This tightness causes your glutes to often shut off, which means all of that squatting and lunging and deadlifting may not actually be working those butt cheeks!

It may mean you’re actually potentially risking pain and injury because other muscles are engaging and working so that you can squat and deadlift and lunge. Muscles that SHOULDN’T and CAN’T really handle the load!

Wonder why your low back so often hurts? Or why you only feel your quads during some of these compound moves?

It may be because your glutes aren’t actually working and engaging because they aren’t activated! And why aren’t they activated?

Because your hips are locked up!

To unlock your hips and activate your glutes, I like to do these 3 moves basically DAILY!

(And if you are looking for a complete program to unlock those hips and activate those glutes check out this AMAZING one – Unlock Your Hip Flexors!)

Half-Kneeling Hip (and Quad!) Stretch – I do this stretch as often as possible. It is the perfect way to reverse the effects of sitting and even start to activate your glutes. You can do a few different variations and hit your hips from a couple of different angles and even really stretch out your quad as well.

One HUGE key though to getting this stretch to actually work though is ENGAGING YOUR GLUTE! Too often people do this and don’t ACTUAL extend their hip because they lean forward or simply arch their low back.

If you don’t engage your glute and actually focus on extending your hip, guess what?! You don’t actually unlock your hips and you don’t really reverse all of the effects of sitting!

So no matter which version you pick, make sure to truly engage your glute and extend your hip and not simply your low back. If you are starting out, the version below is a great place to start! From there you can add in the quad stretch by grabbing your back foot or placing it up on a bench.

kneeling hip flexor stretch

To do the Basic Half-Kneeling Hip Stretch, start half kneeling on the ground. Flex your back foot and squeeze your glute as you drive your back hip forward. Reach your hand up overhead so that you feel a nice stretch down the hip of the back leg. You can reach both hands up or simply the hand on the side that is back.

Squeeze the glute of your back leg so that you are actually fully extending your back hip and not simply arching your back. If you just hyperextend your low back, you will just be perpetuating the problem. Make sure you are truly extending your hip.

Breathe as you hold and reach your hands backward overhead or turn this into a dynamic stretch by releasing and then repeating the stretch.

You can also reach your arms to the side over your front leg if you want to hit your hip from a different angle and stretch your TFL and even the muscles of your back that help you bend to the side.

Leg Swings – If you ask any of my in-person clients, they’ll tell you I make them do this one basically daily along with the Half-Kneeling Hip Stretch. I LOVE this one because it not only works on balance and activates the muscles that stabilize your feet and lower legs, but it also wakes up your core, activates your glutes AND opens up your hips.

And it does all of these things in different planes of motion, which means you’ll be mobilizing your hips so you can move well in every direction!

There are three main variations of the Leg Swing I use; however, you can really swing in any direction. Just make sure to really engage the glute of the standing leg to help you balance and even use the glute of the other legs to swing, especially on the rotational one!

3 way leg swihngs

To do the 3-Way Leg Swings, start standing on one foot. Feel your foot gripping the ground and engage the glute of the standing leg to help you balance. Brace your abs and stand up nice and tall.

Keeping both legs fairly straight, but not locked out, begin to swing the other leg forward and backward. Swing from the hip, don’t just bend your knee and kick your lower leg. The bigger your swings are, the more your standing leg will have to work to balance.

Do not hold on to anything as you do this move. If you need to at the beginning, just perform smaller swings and tap your foot down as needed to reset and stabilize. You can hold onto a wall if you want to remove the balance element and instead just focus on mobilizing the hip, but remember that you are then taking out balance work and even building some extra core stability.

Complete all reps of the forward/backward swing then, still balancing on the same leg, switch to lateral swings. For the lateral swings, swing the leg up to the right and then to the left in front of your standing leg. You may even feel the outside of that glute working to raise the leg up as you swing it. The bigger your swing, the more you will open up your hip and force your standing leg to work hard to balance.

After performing the lateral swings, bend the knee of the leg you’ve been swinging to 90 degrees and perform rotational swing.

To do rotational swings, bring the bent knee in front of you and then open it out to the side. Bring the knee back forward, keeping the leg bent the entire time. Really focus on opening from the hip with this move. You should really feel the glute of the standing leg working as you rotate. The more your rotate, the harder the move will be, but also the more you will open your hips and get your glutes activated.

Once you complete all three swings, switch to the other side and do all three swings.

If you do this move correctly, you will feel your foot, calf and even your shin muscles working to balance. You will also feel your glute and core engaging as you swing your leg to open your hip.

Again start with a more basic balancing pose if you can’t maintain balance or perform smaller swings. The whole point of this move is to improve your mind-body connection and get things activated so you can balance.

Bridging – I don’t care if you do a Camel Bridge, Tabletop Bridge, Basic Glute Bridge or any other variation of the Bridge…If you aren’t doing some sort of bridge almost daily, you are missing out on a great chance to not only improve your hip extension but also activate your glutes!

Unlocking your hip flexors and keeping them unlocked isn’t only about stretching. Because if you stretch and then go right back and sit, you’ll simply tighten everything back up.

BUT if you actually get the muscles activated and working and STRENGTHEN through the range of motion you’ve established, you can actually improve your mobility, unlock your hip flexors and prevent and alleviate low back and hip pain (as well as even knee pain among other things!).

No matter how advanced an exerciser you are, you should always include a Basic BODYWEIGHT Glute Bridge in your routine…I know I do.

A. Because it is important to always return to basics and establish/maintain your mind-body connection.

B. Because with bodyweight exercises we are often actually able to contract our glutes harder AKA really make sure they are activated and working correctly!

bridge exercises

Just a refresher on that Basic Bodyweight Glute Bridge…

To do the Basic Glute Bridge, lie on your back and bend your knees and put your feet flat on the ground. Your feet should be about hip-width apart. You may need to adjust your exact foot positioning based on how tight or mobile your hips are. You can move your feet slightly away or slightly closer to your butt, but just make sure you don’t move them so far away that you feel your hamstrings taking over.

Bend your elbows to 90 degrees so that only your upper arms are on the ground. This will help you really be able to drive down with your elbows, upper arms and back to help you bridge straight up instead of pushing yourself backward.

Then bridge up, driving through your heels and upper back and arms to lift your glutes up off the ground. Drive your hips up as high as possible, squeezing your glutes hard as you brace your abs. Keep your belly button drawn in so you don’t hyperextend your back. Focus and consciously squeeze your glutes at the top.

When you bridge, do not push backward off your heels. Make sure you are driving straight up and that your knees aren’t caving in. Even think about driving your knees forward over your toes to help extend your hips and prevent you from pushing yourself backward.

Squeeze your glutes for second or two at the top and lower all the way back down to the ground before repeating. Do not rush through the move.

OH and I also want to mention…Glute Activation and unlocking your hip flexors not only means reversing the effects of sitting so you prevent and alleviate injury and can lift more and run faster…

But it can also help with that LOWER BELLY POOCH!

Did you know that tight hip flexors can actually contribute to that hard to get rid of lower belly pooch!?! Well they can!

All the more reason to unlock those hips and get those booty cheeks working correctly.

For some essential flows and movements you NEED to be including in your workout routine, check out this program – Unlock Your Hip Flexors!

–> Click Here To Learn More About How To Unlock Your Hip Flexors! <–

3d rendered illustration of the psoas major muscle