Hey guys its JP and this time we will talk about Incorporating HIGHER Level Exercises
for the gluteus medius! I already went over exercises that engage the gluteus medius;
however, it is important to incorporate more ADVANCED exercises when you are ready! This
is because to strengthen a muscle it needs to be challenged appropriately. Further improving
strength and resilience of the muscle may help prepare the body for the demands of running.
This may be important as this muscle has shown to produce ALMOST 6X your BODYWEIGHT as you
run. As I have said before, this is actually more than the peak force generated by the
GLUTE MAX, which tends to get more attention!
Now, when training the muscle I typically incorporate lower intensity exercises focused
on working on areas that may be beneficial to improving running performance. However,
as the athlete's strength and motor coordination improve, I begin to incorporate more advanced
exercises for the gluteus medius. This is because these muscles adapt and the exercises
that were performed initially may become easier. To further strengthen these muscles, they
need to be challenged further. Now, lets go over some more ADVANCED exercises that challenge
the gluteus medius!
The first exercise I will go over is the Side Plank with Leg Raises. The side plank itself
has already shown to produce HIGH glute med activity. And incorporating this variation
further increases that. To intiate this one, push the bottom foot down into the ground
and get into this plank position. Doing so engages the glute med. Now, make sure that
the elbow is stacked under the shoulder. This decreases stress on the shoulder. Also, make
sure to keep the hand on the hips. Not only does this help standardize the exercise, but
it also helps increase body awareness, specifically at the hips. This is important as a common
compensatory strategy when performing this is rolling forward or backward from the hips.
This will increase awareness and help keep you sideways, so you load the gluteus medius
properly. Now, once in this position, try to maintain alignment. Then, you will raise
one leg straight up. Make sure as you raise the foot that it stays facing forward. Again,
similar to the hand on the hips, this is a good cue to make sure you stay lined up and
are not compensating by rolling back on the pelvis. Usually, I work the person to holding
this position for 3 seconds, then return to starting position and repeat. Now, the goal
I work toward for runners is to perform this for 3-4 sets for 30 seconds. Now, if this
is too difficult, you can revert to the side plank or other variations of it, which I went
over in a previous video.
Now, the next exercise I will go over is Side Stepping. I typically have the athlete master
the lateral toe tap prior to this exercise to make sure they engage the gluteus medius
along with the lumbopelvic hip region properly. Once they do, I incorporate this one as this
involves a more dynamic component to the activity. Now, here I use a band, but when learning
this exercise you can perform this without it. Anyway, to start this one, keep the knees
slightly bent. This engages the quads and actually puts the leg in a position more similar
to the midstance phase of running where the gluteus medius is known to produce its peak
force. Also, keep the trunk slightly bent forward. This decreases engagement of the
IT band and focuses the load on the gluteus medius, which is the point of the exercise.
Now, as you do this exercise, try to keep the shoulders and hips level. This cue will
help keep you from leaning too far toward the stance leg, which is a common compensatory
strategy. Then, straighten out the knee and gently tap out. Then, you will weightshift
toward that foot and once the knee is basically over the foot, you will bring the other leg
toward the other leg. Following this cue will really maximize usage of the gluteus medius.
Then, you can continue performing this movement. I typically have people perform 2-3 sets of
this exercise for 30 seconds to right and left. Now, to change the difficulty of the
exercise you can either slow down the movement, change the resistance, or position the band
somewhere else on the leg. Common places are around the thigh, ankle, and even foot. The
lower the band is, the harder the gluteus medius needs to work.
Now, the last exercise I will go over is the Ice Skaters. Unlike the previous 2 exercises,
this one adds more of an explosive component as this is more of a plyometric movement.
This exercise is typically more geared for sports requiring more of a cutting or side
to side component; however, this may be beneficial to incorporate depending on the athlete's
situation. Anyway, to do this one, you can start by placing an object in the middle or
placing cones on the desirde areas that you want to jump to. While I did not show cone
placement in this specific clip, I prefer using that as visual cues to standardize and
quantify how much the gluteus medius is working. Now, when you land, try to land flat footed.
This is meant to engage the side of the hips, which is the point in this specific case.
Then, as you push back up, try to push the ground sideways. And you can continue the
exercise. I do want to mention that duration and distance to jump to highly depends on
the context of the runner. However, if learning this movement I typically start with 2 sets
of 10 ice skaters, jumping as far as 70% of max effort, and work from there.
And those are a few more advanced exercises for the gluteus medius that you guys can try.
I hope you guys found this helpful in ways to improve your running performance. Let me
know what you guys think about the video in the comment section below. And as always,
THANK YOU FOR WATCHING!