Glutes SuperFeature (Part 1)
There are numerous articles and write ups about how to get better legs, chest, arms, and a killer six pack. Just about everybody part has about one hundred articles on the best way to build them… One body part that is often missing from the list however, is the glutes. Sure there are hundreds of “Do this to get better glutes!” articles but I want to get into breaking down the glutes and their importance. So what is so important about the glutes anyway? Well right off the bat, a shapely pair of glutes sure is fun to look at!
Seriously though, the glutes are not only one of the strongest muscles in your body but the center of a lot of lower body power. Glute training is important for five main reasons:
- Strengthening your Posterior Chain
- Building Strength and Power
- Injury Prevention
- Physical Improvements
- A great pair of glutes is fun to look at!!!
Glutes for power- Power lifters are some of the strongest people on the planet. Do you know what they all have in common? Power lifters are known for incredibly strong hamstrings and glutes. Do you want to up your squat and dead lift numbers fast? A sure fire way to do this is to build up the strength in your glutes. Most Power lifters live on an exercise called the box squat. This exercise develops super powerful upper, middle, and lower glute strength along with hamstring power. They will do box squatting from a variety of heights. The lower the box, the more glutes get incorporated.
Box Squats
For you ladies out there box squatting in not just for a bunch of bury men that want to be ultra powerful. Box squatting is a great way for you ladies to lean to activate your hips and glutes better, not to mention shape and firm your hamstrings and “booty”. The main difference for you will be changing the amount of weight you use and your rep scheme.
Female Box Squats
Deadlifts work almost all the major muscles in your body. One muscle people tend to overlook when deadlifting however is the glutes. People tend to think that deadlifting gives you strong glutes but the theory is kind of backwards in actuality strong glutes will give you a bigger deadlift. Most power lifters do a lot less deadlifting in comparison to working their glutes and hamstrings to build up strength. When your glute and hamstring strength go up, your deadlift will go up weather you deadlift often or not. Stronger glutes can contract better and bring the hip forward when deadlifting. This takes pressure off of your lower back.
Andy Bolton 1000 lb. Deadlift
(notice the hips are forward at the end of the deadlift due to strong glute contraction)
Coming soon: Part 2 Glutes and Athletic Performance
You can find more helpful articles like this one at taylorednutrition.tripod.com
