Of course, you want nice buns! But, in order to have nice buns, you need to know how to activate your glute muscles for strong glutes. But strong glutes are not only necessary for “nice buns”, they play an essential role in the overall health of your body.
So, what are the glutes?
The gluteus muscles, commonly called “glutes”, “butt” or “buns” are a group of three large muscles located in the buttocks. They play crucial roles in hip movement, stability, and posture. Those three muscles are gluteus maximus, the gluteus medius and the gluteus minimus. The gluteus maximus is the largest and probably the most popular glute muscle. The gluteus maximus is responsible for extending and rotating the hip outward. The gluteus medius, though significantly smaller than the gluteus maximus, serves a key function and that it helps stabilize the hip and rotates the hip inward. The gluteus minimus assists in hip rotation and abduction. Abduction is movement of a body part away from the body’s midline.
To engage all three areas of my glutes, I love to do step-ups, bulgarian split squats, and lateral lunges as demonstrated in this video:
Glute Exercises Work Other Muscles
It is important to note that Step-ups. Bulgarian Split Squats and Lateral Lunges work many other muscles in the legs. Step-ups and bulgarian split squats work other muscles such as the quadriceps, hamstrings, adductors or inner thigh muscles, calves in addition to the glutes. Lateral lunges work the glutes, quadriceps, hamstrings, adductors, and abductors or outer thigh muscles, with a specific emphasis on the gluteus medius due to the sideways movement pattern. I love to do one leg at a time so that I can really pay special attention to form, technique, and most importantly, muscle engagement.
Nice Buns Are Important for Your Health
It is also important to note that while the motivation to strengthen our glutes is often for aesthetic reasons “nice buns”, strong glutes are necessary for healthy posture, injury prevention and physical performance. Weak glutes combined with overactive tight hip flexors can lead to lower back pain, poor posture, discomfort in the hips, and increased risk of injury due to imbalances in the pelvic region, often referred to as “Lower Cross Syndrome.” When the glutes are weak, the hip flexors pull the pelvis forward, creating an excessive arch in the lower back or anterior pelvic tilt negatively impacting posture. Strengthening your glutes reduces the risk of hip and lower back pain which supports a healthy and aligned spine necessary for everyday squatting as well as more intense movements such as jumping or running.
I am happy to say, and my husband seems to think, I have “nice buns” but most importantly I have strong buns. I regularly incorporate exercises for all areas of my “butt” so that I have strong and healthy glutes!