Priming the Glutes for Squatting
Jason Price, MS, CSCS, ATC, LAT, CPT, USAW Club Coach
Working as a Strength & Conditioning Specialist at a Physical Therapy clinic some of the clients and athletes I work with come to me with some sort of injury or conditioning related to dysfunction at the hip which affects them when they squat. Typically I see people with moderate to severe Glute weakness coupled with hip flexor tightness. There are many reasons the glutes are weak in athletes and active individuals some of them are fairly benign and others are more insidious in nature and can be debilitating. But, the bottom line is that having weakness in the Glute muscle group will severely impact the lifter while performing the squat exercise to the point where they are risking injury primarily at the knee, hip, pelvis, and lower back.
To overview the glutes muscle group starting with focusing on the largest and most powerful of the Glutes, the Gluteus Maximus is one of the most powerful muscles of the human body. Located on the posterior aspect of the hip the Gluteus maximus is typically referred to as the butt, rear end, or as just glutes. But, having a well developed and a powerful Glutues Maximus is quintessential not only for all athletes but to the population in general. The Gluteues Maximus originates on the Illiac Crest of the illium bone of the Pelvis and on areas of the sacrum or tail bone and inserts on the femur or thigh bone on the Greater Trochanter and has some fibers which blend into the Iliotibial Band or IT Band for short. The Gluteus Maximus primarily moves the hip into extension but it also plays a roll in external rotation, adduction and transverse plane abduction. The Gluteus Maximus plays the primary role in locomotion. Some studies have indicated that the Gluteus Maximus controls as much as 40% of the strength from the lower extremity for running and walking. The Glute Maximus is the prime mover during the squat. The Gluteus Minimus is located underneath the Glute Maximus and originates on the Illium bone of the pelvis just below where the Gluteus Maximus originates. The Glute Minimus inserts on the Greater Trochanter which is located on the femur and primarily moves the hip in abduction, transverse plane abduction and internal rotation. During the squat weakness of this muscle may cause the lifter to have dysfunction at the knee. The Gluteus Medius is a very dynamic muscle as it controls several motions of the hip. It helps out with abduction, transverse abduction, internal rotation and external rotation. Glute medius originates on the ilium like the other two glutes and also attaches at the greater trochanter. One clearly defined result in dysfunction of the squat movement by the glute medius is the knock kneed squat. This is when a lifter’s knees squirt in towards each other. This is a potential injurious movement while squatting and someone who performs squats like this should stop performing loaded squats and work on gaining control of the glutes. This in turn will stop the dysfunction at the knees.
So how do you prime the glutes for the squat? Before we answer this question it is appropriate for us to look at why dysfunction of the glutes takes place. It is simple weakness of our glutes is a direct result of our life styles. We live life in a very anterior manner. Think about how much time you spend over the course of the day walking or running backwards. Also, how many times when you go to pick something up or sit in a chair do you maintain an erect spine, weight trough the rear of the foot, a tight abdomen, initiate the movement with flexion of the hips followed by flexing the knee. Think about how you get up from the chair. Do you push yourself up with the arm rests or using your upper body pushing on your knees? Do you prematurely lean forward and shift all of your weight to your toes? Seriously think about your everyday movements. Now, is it so reasonable to understand now that our insufficiencies in our glutes stem directly from our life style? Couple this with any injuries you have had over the course of your life and things will begin to come more into focus.
So what we arelooking at with most cases of glute dysfunction comes from either the result of insufficient rehabilitation following injury, compensation of stronger muscles, or reciprocal inhibition because of tight hip flexors and movement pattern atrophy. The first two reasons explain them selves. But, movement pattern atrophy is best explained as this: our bodies get used to certain movements and we get to the point that we learn the movement and don’t have to think about it. This is the song “you never forget how to ride a bike.” What this describes is what is called and movement engram. This is that the Central Nervous System (CNS) learns that it can’t always go through all of the steps of having the brain send the signal to the individual muscles to cause movement. So the body has a mechanism called an engram which allows the CNS to circumvent the brain. This is when the Brain sends the signal to the spine to walk. The CNS automatically understands this system because of the repetition to develop the Neurological pathway to the muscles to control walking. Think of it this way; you are reading this article on www.athletesequation.com. The more you go to our site your computer stores the site in its memory with a “cookie”. It is this “cookie” which is your computers engram, it is the pathway to get the result you want without having to wait for your order to be process. So it is this engram is what movement atrophy is based off of. Movement atrophy is best explained as over time the body will suffer injuries, biomechanical changes (growth, puberty, learning new movements, etc) and we inherently try to find short cuts. This is the typical movement of going to pick something up light and instead of squatting down to get it you just swivel at the hip flex the lumbar and thorasic spine and complete the task of picking something up, a great example of this is the golfer picking their ball out of the hole. You don’t see two many PGA tour professionals performing beautiful squats to retrieve their ball. So what happens is the engram changes to adapt. This adapted engram the mind may think is the most biomechanical way but it may not be.
When I take on a new athlete or a client and perform a movement screen on them to find out if they have any movement dysfunction and where they are. The movement screen of choice I use is the Functional Movement Screen available at www.performbetter.com or through Gray Cook’s website www.functionalmovementscreen.com. Most if not all of my athletes and clients perform some sort of glute priming prior to any explosive training or squats and deadlifts. I use three basic exercises to get this priming effect. First, we perform a full dynamic warm up prior to all training sessions. If you are not familiar with the theory and implementation of a dynamic warm up click here to view my YouTube seminar. After completing the warm up we will perform some or all three of my glute priming exercises. In no particular order of importance the three exercises are the monster walk, the monster walk with straight legs, and the cook hip lift or single leg bridge.
The monster walk is performed with a band position at either the ankles or right below the knee cap on the patella tendon. The proper position to begin this exercise is to flex the hips and knees and get in the typical “athletic position”. The feet should be about shoulder width or slightly inside and the knees should be pushed out against the band so that the knees are out over the feet but not over the toes. The band should have tension on it at all times. The movement is a lateral step a few inches to one direction and the tension on the band is maintained by the opposite leg. Then the back leg moves back to a position of shoulder width and tension is never removed from the band. The exercise is performed for a predetermined number of steps usually between 10-20 is performed for a predetermined number of sets usually between 1-3. The individual should feel this exercise in the posterior hip sort of behind where side pockets would be. It is important to perform this exercise in both directions in order to work both hips equally. This is an excellent exercise for the Gluteus Medius.
The monster walks with straight legs or abduction walks are performed very similar to the monster walk except for the band should be around the ankles and the feet should begin close together. The individual will step lateral keeping their leg straight the whole time 10-20 reps for 1-3 sets are performed and the athlete will feel this exercise on the lateral hip. This exercise works the Gluteus Minimus