Your Glutes Can Take a Shit Ton of Pounding: Are Your Glutes REALLY Strong?

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?

3 Lower Body Warmup Drills

Today we’re talking about 3 lower body warmup drills to do before you workout. These drills are designed to help you warm up your entire body (particularly your lower body) and get you in prime shape to life heavy.

Now that you’re warmed up, are you ready to start lifting heavy? Email Coach Joey at jtabtraining@gmail.com

Your One-Stop Fitness and Nutrition Coach

Nowadays everyone like the one stop shop idea, cause everyone is super busy with life. Between the internet, social media, and binging Netflix our days are chock full. So a one stop shop for your fitness would be a great idea, right? Well if you go into your local favorite strength facility and work with a good strength coach, you get that…. Let me explain.

Strength coaches aren’t just useful when it comes to picking up heavy things. We’re also good at a few others:

1)    We make you strong(er)..  duhhh. That’s the obvious one so we will start here. Tendons, ligaments, bones, muscles, all connective tissues will become strong(er) using a simple progressive overload principle that most strength coaches employ.

2)    We help with Mobility/Yoga Flexibility. Would you believe me if I said stretching/moving through a range of motion under load is more beneficial than just stretching normally? It’s amazing when people say they are more mobile/looser after strength training. We also include some “traditional” stretches before you start or in between your heavy lifts to put the icing on the flexibility cake!

3)   We give you power. Why do we need power as we get older? We are not playing HS sports anymore, so it’s not important, right? Absolutely wrong and maybe more wrong than you think. Adults need MORE power work than HS athletes that have optimal power output due to their younger age. We lose power as we age, which is super important to try to maintain. Power output will help you go up stairs, help you catch yourself from falling down, and help you keep up with your Grandkids as best as you can. It also lets you create lots of “energy” or “force” with what you muscle you have. Power also helps with elasticity of your tendons and muscles. It helps your muscles bounce back and power forward when you have to go up multiple stairs or do multiples of the same movement.

4)    We teach you nutrition basics. There is tons of nutrition “info” out there but it can be really confusing. There are also many people that aren’t totally sure what a carb/protein/fat macronutrients are and why each one is important for proper health. That is where a Strength Coach comes in. How can you expect to eat “healthy” if you have no idea what to eat or what’s the best for your goals? We can go over the basics while lifting to get you a some great knowledge of how to fuel your body. If you want more info or a custom plan we can sit down together and map it out. Start with knowing the basics and it will lead to better nutritional health right away!

5)    We get you some great cardio work. Look no further than some finishers from your local strength coach AFTER you lift for your strength and hypertrophy work. Or you can include/count your hypertrophy work as your cardio if done correctly for more conditioning emphasis. Either way, a good Coach should be able to give you enough conditioning work for general fitness while still keeping it under your time constraints/needs. If you are training for a marathon or long race, it might need to be longer on some days keep in mind but for general “cardio” health it can and should be able to be completed within 15 minutes of your strength work.

Ready to dive in? Shoot Coach Joey an email at jtabtraining@gmail.com to schedule a time to come in!

Don't Got Glutes? Glute Camp Will Help!

Struggling to get a set of glutes or wish to naturally “enhance” what you have already? Enter
Jtab’s Glute Camp! 3 Days a week on top of your normal workouts will get your glutes to
where you want them! Best part of it is they can all can be done at home with just a few simple
pieces of equipment!

After purchasing this program everything will be laid out for you and includes:

• Complete weekly workouts included a different one for each day of the week,
• An online tracking sheet to keep track of your progress and what day you're on,
• Videos showing proper form so you can maximize your workouts, 
• And a private FB group with Joey answering any questions glute related.

3 extra days a week of dedicated glutes will really help focus on developing the glutes to not only look great but perform more optimally. This will make your squats, deadlifts and lunges better and you they will look better in jeans, bathing suites, dresses, khakis, yoga pants, and sweatpants even! Done right, training your glutes more often will ALSO ease or prevent back pain, knee pain and keep your hips more healthy. It is a WIN/WIN situation. Look better, perform better and feel better! Let’s do this glute thing!

The cost of the program is $25 per month. There is no long term commitment and each month a new workout will be created! Those that are local can save their spot by bringing payment direct to Joey at the gym. To register via PayPal Click Here!

Single Leg Squat AKA Skater Squat

Today on the blog we're featuring an amazing workout that is especially geared towards runners and athletes. The Single Leg Squat, also known as the Skater Squat, is an amazing exercise to work your hips, glutes, quads and ankles. Not only does it focus on stability and balance, but strength as well.

Stack pads on the ground and increase or decrease pads as needed to progress. You can also add weight by holding it out in front of you (like you were holding a steering wheel), just make sure your back foot stays elevated and doesn't touch the ground!

Runner's Drill: Single Leg Balance

You all know that at Jtab we are all about strength training. Not only does building muscle burn more calories and fat over time, but it can also work as a great cardio that's less destructive on your knees, hips and ankles. However, for those that do enjoy running, it's important to include strength training to stay strong and reduce the risk of injury. Today on the blog, we have an exercise that is especially important to all you runners out there.

This single leg balance strengthening drill is an all in one workout that works ankle stability, as well as strength in your feet, glutes, abductors, quads and core. So all you runners out there, check out this video and get strong (er)!

Zercher Squats

Today we're showcasing the Zercher Squat. This powerhouse move works multiple areas of your body. This move has the benefits of a regular squat (legs, quads and glutes), but combines super core activation to work your abs at the same time. It also helps safeguard your lower back as there is less of a potential of pulling or injuring it, and helps take the pressure off your spine by putting the weight at your mid torso. As if all that isn't enough, you'll even get a bonus shoulder workout.

A big thank you to our Jtab squat model Aaron Binek.

High Step Ups

While I was injured I had to get creative with exercises.  I couldn't do heavy traditional lifts so I increased intensity with range of motion with a high step up. This is a great exercise to stretch out the hips, increase range of motion and work your quads, glutes, hamstrings and calves. Make sure your knee starts above hips to create that deep squat feel.  You don't need heavy weights with this particular exercise, as the intensity is the range of motion.   

The Ultimate At-Home Leg Workout

I’m all for a crazy heavy weight training workout but sometimes you just can’t get to the gym but want to get a great workout in.  You will be hard pressed to find a better home based leg exercise than the split squat. 

Here my client Charlotte demonstrates a slightly advanced version for people that have the mobility and strength.  It is called the Front Foot Elevated Split Squat.  This exercise fries your quads and glutes and gives you a great stretch in your hips.  If you can not do this variation you can simply omit the box(step) in front and have your front foot on the ground.  Give it a try and get those legs cranking!  Start out with low reps but once you mastered your form pump those reps upwards to 15-20 each leg!  Do a few sets of high rep split squats once or twice a week and you will notice your legs becoming stronger and leaner!    

Mini Band Lower Body Working pt. 1 of 2

Today we're featuring one of the favorite tools at Jtab Training, the mini band! At about $2 per band, this is something you can easily pick up at any gym supply store or online. So grab yours (or ask me to order one for you) and start using it at home for some great resistance training.

Today is part 1 of a 2 part series featuring the mini band and we're starting with the lower body. This series of 3 exercises features glute walks, squats and glute bridges which can all be done without extra weights at home. Not only will these moves help shape your legs and glutes, but offer you better balance and stability, relieve pressure from your lower back, AND burn calories.

At Home Strength and Fat Burning Exercises

Today we're all about bringing it back to the basics. We're talking squats and pushups. You may be thinking to yourself, "I already know how to do those, why are you bringing them up?" Because they work! There's a reason they've been and stayed popular for so long and that is because they are easy, effective and almost everyone has the ability to do them without any extra equipment. 

If you're looking for something to start getting you back in summer shape, that's what we're bringing to you today. We're breaking down these 2 basic exercises and showing you how you can increase their difficulty as well as turn them into fat burning workouts.

Jtab December Challenge - Glutes and Core

Just because it's the holiday season, doesn't mean you should let yourself go. In between the holiday eating and parties, jump on into our December challenge to keep your muscles firing and burning calories all month long. First, check out the video below to learn the proper form, then be sure to visit our Facebook page each day for a new challenge. Everybody get out there and get going!

No Equipment Warm Up and Full Body Exercise

We're back this week and we have a series of exercises that yet again don't involve any equipment. All you need is a bench, or chair or other flat surface off the ground. 

We begin with a warm up designed to stretch out your hips and upper body all while getting them ready to work. Following the warm up is a series of pushups (a classic but always good), regular squats (again sometimes the traditional moves are the best), scalp pushups (to really work those shoulders), and split squat (get ready for screaming quads). 

Between our blog last week and this week you should now have a set of exercises to get your heartrate up and your muscles pumping all without using any gym equipment. Now, there really is no excuse to get up and get going!

No Equipment Leg Circuit

One of those people that simply loves fall? Getting outdoors as often as you can to enjoy the last legs of the beautiful weather? Today we've got a leg circuit that you can do in the backyard, park, open field or wherever you have a little bit of room.  It starts with a few good stretches to get you loose and ready to go. Then that's followed up with a circuit of squat jumps, reverse lunges, squats, side lunges and the finished with glute bridges. 

Not only will you be working your glutes, inner and outer thighs and quads for some great legs, but you'll be jacking up your heart rate for fat burn and cardio.