As Kevin stated last week, recent buzz in fitness and rehab circles have highlighted the importance of the Gluteus Maximus. Anatomically, people tend to just call it the glutes for short. This massive, key muscle is what gives the buns that classic round shape. It inserts at the back of the pelvis and outside of the thigh bone. Its main roles are to extend the hips and stabilize the pelvis during gait activities such as walking and running.
The Gluteus Maximus is hardly a cosmetic muscle. It’s a vital contributor to human movement. By extending the hips, you have access to push your leg behind you when walking or running. This motion is critical to all different types of physical activities. Weakness in this muscle can lead to devastating movement dysfunctions. For instance, someone might acquire a teapot-style gait, tipping too far to one side as they walk.
Research indicates that people with gluteal tendinopathy, which affects the Gluteus Maximus, tend to be weaker in their gluteal muscles. Gluteal strength is greater in healthy people. Gluteal tendinopathy, sometimes called greater trochanteric pain syndrome or bursitis, is characterized by pain on the outer part of the hip and can significantly impact mobility.
Experts agree that building strength in your Gluteus Maximus is key to reducing symptoms from hip osteoarthritis and gluteal tendinopathy. You can VERY easily strengthen this muscle with basic exercises. Just attempt to balance on one leg and raise the opposite leg a few inches off the floor!
“Standing on one leg where you’ve got both knees straight and you just lift up the opposite leg about a centimeter off the floor, so just weight shifting across uses a lot of muscle activity in the leg that’s standing on the ground.” – Ganderton
Even brief interruptions in activity can have a negative impact on the Gluteus Maximus. Research indicates that significant muscle deconditioning occurs in as little as two weeks of immobility. To combat this, experts recommend standing up every 20 to 30 minutes to wake up “sleeping” enzymes in the gluteal muscles. Basic exercises such as bodyweight squats or walking lunges can go a long way.
“There’s really good evidence that shows that if you get up and move every 20 to 30 minutes – get up, do a few squats, go and get a glass of water, go to the photocopier, just get up and move – it actually sets off a whole lot of enzymes in your muscles, which is good.” – Ganderton
The Gluteus Maximus helps stabilize the pelvis when we’re in motion. Along with other gluteal muscles, it helps to keep you balanced and standing straight. Without strong, well-functioning glutes, other joints—including those in the spine—can take on undue stress during movement.
“If you don’t have good functioning gluteal muscles, the actual hip joint is the one who takes on those forces.” – Ganderton
Physical therapists have long prescribed focused glute strengthening as a key component of rehabilitation programs — particularly for conditions involving hip pain.
“Say you had 100 people with gluteal tendinopathy, in a large percentage of them, if you got them to do some specific strengthening work for the hip abductors, and you gave them some suitable education, they’d probably all improve or a large percentage of them would.” – Fearon