Last week I was under the barbell doing glute bridges, taking a break after one of the 8 sets of 15 reps I was set up to do that day of them. It got me thinking; How many reps was I doing? (120 to be exact) And how much total poundage (lbs) was I glute bridging? (around 24,750lbs combined, just on my glutes)
Now this may not be the norm for most people, but it really made me think that our glutes can handle some serious work (at least 12 tons in my case!).
Why am I bringing this up? Not every muscle can withstand a total beating like this. The glutes can. If you do too much quad work you can get an imbalance that might lead to back pain. If you do too much chest work you might get an imbalance that can lead to shoulder pain. The glutes (and the upper back) are muscles that can take a lot of work.
A big part of allowing your glutes to carry a heavy load without pain is proper stretching. Tightness in the lower body can often be attributed to hip flexors, and most of the tightness in lower body can be alleviated by stronger glutes. A very smart person once told me “Your hip flexors are stupid, just get your glutes stronger”.
Most people have tight hip flexors and constantly stretching them out is not the only answer. There might be a reason they are always tight (like your Glutes are WEAK). They are one of the major muscle groups that can, and probably should, get extra attention and extra work. They don’t need their own day (although some fitness competitors actually have a glute day) but definitely can take some extra hard work. And by work I mean heavy intense glute bridges, tons of lateral walks, and single leg glute bridges (among others).
Who doesn’t like a nice set of big strong glutes? The extra glute work you put in now will pay dividends in the fall when it comes to filling out your jeans and leggings. I don’t know a single person that doesn’t want, or appreciate, and nice set of glutes. They make all the difference in your physique when you have a nice set.
So as we melt into the gym floor, let’s not forget that our glutes NEED and CAN HANDLE a shit ton of pounding and really get after them in the weight room. Add in some glute bridges, hip thrusts, and lateral band walks, and be sure to do high reps to make up for maximum toning. These three exercises in particular will work the glutes but not tax the hamstrings or quads as much. This means the glutes will get extra work from all the deadlifts, squats, lunges you are already doing… which I know you are doing them already, right?