Sleepy Glutes? 13 ways to wake them up to help you Run Better

The glutes are an important set of muscles when running. They are part of the hip extensor muscles. The gluteus maximus, gluteus medius and gluteus minimus work together to propel you forward.

The gluteal muscles are in the hips and buttocks. They are responsible for a variety of movements, including running. Strong, stable glute muscles are key to maximising your running performance. They also help us avoid many injuries.

Every single client I have ever seen has got some level of inactive glutes. Whether they are completely not firing or not firing as much as they could. Sleepy glutes effect our running form.

In this episode I'm going to go into more detail about the glutes. Why they are so important. What you can do to strengthen yours. And how to switch them on when running.

Let's get into this episode...

GLUTE MUSCLES WHEN RUNNING

Gluteal muscles provide the power needed to propel the legs forward. The glutes are most active during the propulsive phase of running. This is when the lower leg is pushing off the ground.

During this phase, the glutes must provide the power to drive the hips forward. They also stabilise the hip joint.

Weakness in the gluteal muscles can cause the hip to drop. When this happens it causes an increased load on the iliotibial band, resulting in pain or injury.

Weakness can also cause poor knee drive. This causes over-striding and poor hip extension. Leading to injury.

With strong glutes, it is easier to maintain a proper stride. Strong glutes create balance and stability when running. Particularly during running on uneven surfaces and trails. When your glutes are strong you reduce the risk of ankle, knee, or hip injuries.

In summary, glute muscle activation is essential for maximising running performance. They also reduce your risk of a running form related injury.

To reach your full potential as a runner it's essential to strength train your glutes.

WEAK GLUTES CAN CAUSE INJURIES

Weak glutes can cause many running-related injuries. Such as shin splints, plantar fasciitis, knee pain, hip pain, and low back pain.

When the glutes are weak, other muscles in the body must compensate and work harder to stabilise the body. When the body compensates in some way, it leads to imbalances and overuse injuries.

Your ability to produce power and drive when running weakens. This leads to inefficient running form and increased fatigue.

BIG TOE ACTIVATION

One area that is not given enough credit for glute activation is the big toe.

The big toe is vital for glute muscle activation during the walking/running motion.

During the walking/running motion. When the toes push off against the ground in the toe-off phase. This creates tension in the gluteal muscles. This tension helps to propel the body forward.

This tension in the big toe is most active with full extension of the big toe. As the toe itself provides a solid base for the tension to travel back up the leg and into the gluteal muscles.

Without full extension of the big toe, if the big toe is weak or lacking in activation. The glute muscles will not engage during the walking/running motion.

The big toe also helps to maintain correct alignment of the body in the upright position. Providing stability and balance during the walking/running gait cycle.

By engaging the toe, it increases the tension in the entire foot. The tension in the foot contributes to a more efficient movement pattern.

The tension created by the big toe helps to ensure the glutes remain active. This allows the glutes to transfer energy through the muscles in a more effective way.

The big toe helps to activate the glute muscles by providing stability through the foot. This stability whilst pushing off the ground with the toe creates greater forces.

When pushing off the ground, the hip and glute muscles need to produce force to propel the body forward.

To start this force production, the big toe must press into the ground.

13 WAYS TO GET BETTER GLUTE ACTIVATION WHEN RUNNING

1. Change your running gait. Most runners (up to 80%) land on their heel. Most use their heel to propel them forward. Start landing on your mid-foot and from there roll forward onto your toes. This will encourage the use of your glutes to propel you forward.

2. Increase your cadence or stride rate. Increasing your cadence will encourage you to use your glutes. The faster contractions to propel you forward will activate your glutes. Increasing your cadence to 175-185 steps per minute is ideal. This will ensure that your glutes are activating. Faster contractions means your glutes will be firing more often. Try to aim for 180 steps per minute or more.

3. Strengthen your glutes. Strength exercises that target the glutes will increase the muscle activation. Squats, deadlifts and single-leg exercises will increase the strength of your glutes. This will improve the ability to use them while running

4. Improving your running form. Pay attention to your hip height and forward tilt while running. Make sure your hips are level with the ground and do not drop too far behind you while running. Hip drop or pelvic tilt is indicative of weak or inactive glutes.

5. Try tapping your glute muscles (bum) as you walk and run. You are looking for the muscles in the bum to feel active. They should feel hard as you tap. If they are feeling squishy then focus on trying to squeeze against the tap. This helps to retrain your central nervous system. The mind-body connection is stronger as a result. You are training the muscles to activate.

6. Warm-up your glutes before running. This includes a few minutes of walking, skips, hops or mobility exercises. You can jog on the spot to warm up the muscles.

7. Incorporate side-to-side movements into the warm-up to activate the glutes. Lateral legs kicks are a great exercise for this. Stand with feet touching. Stand into left leg. Kick the right leg out to the side. Start the movement from the hip/bum area. These are your glutes.

8. When running, focus on keeping your hips and feet under your body, using the glutes to power each stride. Think about pushing into the floor as your foot is about to lift up.

9. You must include rest days into your running schedule so that the glute muscles can recover. This will help them adapt and prepare for the next session.

10. Plyometrics for glute activation. Focus on jumps and explosive movements, like hopping, skipping, and squat jumps. This will improve the muscle recruitment and activation in your glutes during running. Training your central nervous to activate your glutes strengthens the mind-body connection.

11. Run Hills. Running uphill requires more effort to move your body up the hill. This forces your glutes to work harder. Hills also force you into a natural drive motion. When you drive the legs more you tend to be activating the glutes.

12. Add Slow Downs into your run - Speed intervals aren’t the only way to add intensity to your run. Adding slow running intervals. so that your glutes have to decelerate and accelerate. This will help to build strength. You will have to activate your glutes to speed up and slow down.

13. Stretch to keep healthy range of motion. Stretching your glutes will increase their mobility. This will help them to drive you forward when you’re running. Include dynamic glute stretches and foam rolling into your recovery time.

There you go. 13 ways to get stronger glutes. Ways to help them adapt and recover to your training.

HOW TO CONTACT ME

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Online: runbetterwithash.com

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