What's up guys Michael Kamalu here aka dr Gaines and in this video I'm going to show you how to
hit all three glute muscles in a single combo exercise. Now, if you don't know your anatomy you
may think, well, that's easy. I mean just do some deep squats or some hip thrusters and it's bound
to hit all the muscles in there, right? Well, you'd be wrong because unlike Gluteus Maximus
the other two glute muscles are not activated with hip extension. In fact, in order to hit both the
Gluteus Medius and Gluteus Minimus you need to abduct and externally rotate the leg. However,
most of the glute workouts you see out there will only do one motion, in fact, most of them only
do an extension of the leg at the hip. There are a few out there that will combine two emotions,
either extension and abduction or extension, and external rotation, but
this exercise will show you how to incorporate all three. First, I'll show you how it's done,
and then, we'll dive into the anatomy to find out how and why it works. To perform this exercise
you'll need a cable system along with a cuff attachment which you'll place around the ankle
of the leg that's farthest away from the cable, then you will alternate between two motions.
For the first, you'll abduct your outside leg while standing straight up and keeping both knees
locked. And for the second you'll drop down into a single leg squat on the leg closest to the cable
while you externally rotate or laterally rotate the opposite leg, then you'll stand back up
and repeat alternating between the two motions. To understand why this exercise is so effective and
efficient in working the three glute muscles, we first need to understand the anatomy. If you put
your hand on your hip and press, you'll be able to feel a bone. That bone is called the ilium and
it's what you see right here on mr bones, and the largest of the three muscles the Gluteus Maximus
originates along the medial side of the Ilium, medial meaning closer in towards the center of
the body. It also has origination fibers along the Sacrum and the Coccyx, and then it inserts
down on the back of the femur on what's called the Gluteal Tuberosity. So, what does it do when
it contracts? Well, it does a couple different things. First, because the origination fibers are
above the insertion points when they contract, it'll pull the femur back and up, and that's
what we call the extension of the leg at the hip, and because many of the fibers are also
medial to the insertion point and behind or posterior to the insertion point, they're going
to pull back and in and that results in external rotation also called Lateral rotation of the leg
at the hip. So one way to work Gluteus Maximus an easy way actually just lifts your foot up off the
ground and then point your toes laterally, point them to the side as far as you can go and relax,
rotate them again and you're going to feel that contraction in Gluteus Maximus. And then for the
third motion, because some of the fibers are on the lateral side of the body and above the
insertion point, they will pull up and to the side and that is abduction of the leg. However,
of the three motions its primary role is extension of the leg at the hip. So in the combo exercise,
when you are down in that single-leg squat both holding that position and extending back
upwards you're nailing gluteus maximus. Next, let's take a look at Gluteus Medius.
It lies somewhat underneath Gluteus Maximus but also farther out to the side or more lateral
and you'll see that because its origination fibers are on the lateral aspect of the Ilium, and then
it inserts down on this bony knob here, it's called the Greater Trochanter of the femur so
when it contracts since it's on the lateral side of the body and the origination fibers are above
the insertion point on the lateral side, it's going to pull up and to the side so the Gluteus
Medius is actually the primary abductor of the leg at the hip. So if you really want to hit
the Gluteus Medius you want to be able to place a significant amount of resistance on the abduction
of the leg without incorporating external rotation as well, which we'll get to in a bit,
but we want to isolate it as much as possible and the best way to get abduction of the leg without
also externally rotating it or extending your hip, is standing completely straight with your hip
straight and your knees locked and abducting your leg out to the side. And so that's why, in this
exercise, one of the two positions that you're alternating between is standing up completely
straight with the knee locked and abducting your leg. During that movement, you are really nailing
the Gluteus Medius in the most isolated way possible. There is actually another role for the
Gluteus Medius that very few people know of and if you take a look at the muscle from the side,
you'll see that many of the fibers are not only anterior to the origination point they're closer
to the front of the body and they're also more medial to the insertion point, closer to the
middle of the body so when those fibers contract it actually brings the leg out and in front of you
and towards the center of your body and that's called internal rotation or medial rotation which
is literally the opposite of what Gluteus Maximus does. It's an example of why it's so important and
beneficial to understand anatomy because you wouldn't think that two muscles that have the
same name, they're both gluteus muscles, they have completely opposite roles when you look
at specific motions that they do. So, when you're done rotating your toes laterally to work Gluteus
Maximus you can start rotating them internally and you'll be able to work gluteus medius. Finally,
let's get into the Gluteus Minimus. Now, some of you may think that, because it's so
small and underneath the other muscles, it's not worth your time. However, not only is it a very
important muscle functionally, but because it is underneath the others it plays a significant role
in the thickness of the glutes overall. There's a similar concept with the calves, most people only
focus on working the Gastrocnemius because that's what's on the surface and so they believe that's
all that matters, that's what's going to be seen. However, the bulk of the calf muscle is actually
made up by the soleus which lies underneath the gastroc and so, in building the soleus
you get better, thicker calves overall. Similar concept here with the glutes like the other two,
the Gluteus Minimus originates on the Ilium just a little further down, and then like
Gluteus Medius it inserts down here on the greater trochanter of the femur, this big knob,
but farther towards the front or more anterior and that's important functionally, as we'll see in a
minute. Because some of the fibers of Gluteus Minimus are above the insertion point and it's
laterally displaced, it will do some abduction of the leg. However, because the insertion point is
more anterior or more lateral than the other muscles, and because the origination points are
so much more medial or towards the middle of the body, it's going to have its primary role be -
external rotation of the leg. It's going to pull medially and backward on the femur and externally
rotate or laterally rotate the leg. That is its primary role and the best way to put significant
resistance on the external rotation motion of your leg at the hip, is with a bent hip and bent knee.
In that position, you can really put a significant amount of resistance in that lateral rotation of
the leg. And that's why it's incorporated in this exercise. The second of the two different
alternating positions that you do, you're going to be squatted down where your leg is bent at the hip
and your knee is bent with the cable attached right here on your ankle and you're going to be
externally rotating that leg, pulling against the resistance. And when you're in that motion you're
going to be nailing primarily Gluteus Minimus. So, to summarize, in this exercise you're hitting
Gluteus Maximus by forcing extension of the leg when you're doing that single leg squat on the
leg that's closest to the cable, you're hitting Gluteus Medius when you're doing the standing up
abduction of the leg and you're hitting Gluteus Minimus when you are doing the bent external
rotation of the leg. Now, to be clear there are a lot more muscles involved you're not completely
isolating those each gluteus muscle with each one of those workouts, each one of those positions.
However, they are the best position you can do in order to isolate them as much as possible and
make sure that you're getting a good workout on all three of those muscles. I will give you two
tips on this exercise that should help you make it as effective as possible. First, if you try
to do completely unassisted single leg squats while the other is doing abduction and rotation
the leg that's sitting in that squat is going to tire a lot more quickly than the outside leg
and so I recommend supporting yourself by holding on to the cable or whatever you can that's nearby
and hold yourself up just enough that you're able to get a really good workout on the leg
that's doing the external rotation and abduction before the leg that's doing the squats completely
tires out, and obviously make sure that you are switching which side you're doing the standing up
and squatting versus abduction and external rotation so that you're hitting both sides
equally. And then second, after you have this motion down try implementing a slight rotation
when you're doing the external rotation so, what i mean by that is, when you are going down into
that single leg squat instead of staying with your body faced sideways or perpendicular to the cable,
turn and face the cable slightly and what that's going to do is it's going to change the angle of
resistance to more directly oppose the lateral rotation aspect. You're changing the resistance
from coming you know directly from the side of you to now the resistance is coming from in front of
you and to the side and that angle is the best in order to get the most resistance possible
on that external rotation motion and therefore on Gluteus Medius. Try this out on your next leg day
and I promise it will leave your glutes burning so badly that you won't be able to sit for a week. If
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