Recruit the Glute(s): Part One
Part One: The Why & How of Activation
All athletes experience aches and pains from time to time. Some of the most common running ailments are chronically achey knees, stiff lower backs, and tender shins. Most of us grow so accustomed to such nagging ailments - or get so good at ignoring them - that we simply accept them and “muscle” through the pain. While these injuries can arise for a whole host of reasons, many runners experience such chronic symptoms due to a common underlying reason: We are not effectively using our glutes.
Wait, what are glutes? The glutes, or gluteal muscles, are made up of three major muscles in your butt. These muscles help keep us upright, aligned, and running with a full stride. Without bushwacking too far into the physiology weeds, here are the main functions of the major glute muscles:
The glute max is in charge of hip extension and external rotation. Hip extension allows us to push and swing our leg back behind us as we run. If we aren’t able to open and extend from our hips, other muscles - notably the hamstrings or quads - will take over, leading them to become over-used and tight.
The glute med works to stabilize the hips and keep them aligned when we put weight on one leg. We are constantly using the glute med as we land and push off in the running motion.
The glute min also works to keep the hips in line, as well as acts as a powerful abductor as it keeps the thigh bone from jamming into the hip socket. Along with the glute med, the glute min keeps us grounded in the forward movement of running and prevents us from moving too much side to side as we run.
Who knew our butts did so much? When we consider the many functions of the glutes as they pertain to running, it’s clear just how important and powerful the glutes are. Which begs the question - why do we have trouble using them?
The main hurdle most runners face is that our glutes need to be activated (or “recruited”) in order to perform these functions effectively. Our glutes are like every other part of our body: super adaptable to their environment. The environment of our modern world - that of sitting for much of our days - lulls our glutes to sleep. And when they are asleep, they are not activated or readily able to do the work required of them while running. For runners, this means adding pre-run glute activation exercises to our daily routine, such as double and single leg hip bridges, clamshells, lunges, and fire hydrants. *Check out How to Warm up for a Run (Quickly!) for some more warm-up ideas.
Once activated, we need to be intentional about keeping our glutes firing while we run. This can be achieved by maintaining a good body position, with special focus on holding a neutral or slightly posterior pelvic tilt. This means tucking your pelvis so your butt is sitting below your hips, rather than behind you. Proper pelvic tilt is key to activating and engaging your glutes as your run. You can practice this by standing with your hands on your hips and imagining you are holding a bucket of water. You want the front of your bucket (i.e. your pelvis/hips) to be slightly higher than the back of your bucket. As you do this, you should feel your hips pull forward rather than back and your glutes activate. Next, try bringing your knee up in a marching motion - you should feel an improved range of motion with your pelvis tucked and glute recruited (remember the job of the glute max). When we hold our pelvis in this tucked position, we are better able to keep our hips squared forward, our core engaged, and our glutes working.
This image illustrates how a neutral or posterior pelvic tilt is best for glute activation and using our glutes as we run. Image from Belle of the Barbell.
Initially, this will likely be difficult and will require you to think about keeping your pelvis tucked and glutes firing as you run. Because many runners have run for so many years without really using our glutes, we don’t have the muscle memory, or even the strength, necessary to keep us in the proper body position with glutes recruited. But fear not! This will become more natural with practice, and the mantra “something is better than nothing” applies here - using your glutes for some portion of your runs is better than not at all.
After we master how to recruit our glutes, we need to adopt a specific and isolated strengthening routine. That’s part two of the blog, coming next month. In the meantime, don’t forget to “recruit the glute!”: work on activating your glutes before you head out the door for a run (or ski!). It takes time for your body to adapt, but soon it will make you a stronger, more efficient runner and athlete.
Runners practicing the pelvic tilt drill at our 2019 All Comers Camp.