Are squats and lunges truly king for glute development
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10th May '11, 5:37am
My physio has suggested that I undertake lunges and squats in order to build up my legs and to encourage muscle firing in the gluteal muscles. (Had a leg injury and one side is about 30 % weaker than the other).
Traditional leg exercises seem to fatique me prematurely and I feel my technique for lunges isn't great.
But I need to build up my legs to learn fencing and play hockey this summer.
Please advise.
Thank yo.
Some answers from Facebook...
16th May '11, 2:11pm
Meysam writes, 'For gluteal development, reverse lunge is the king!'
Duncan adds, 'without doubt these two movements are king! the squat activates the entire drive-train front and back when done correcrtly as do lunges with weight!'
And this from Brian, 'Supine bridges are a great warm-up to these to work on glute activation'
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Peak-Performance/6140642631
glute development
16th May '11, 3:11pm
well, although a 1 legged split squat and lunge are very important in hockey development there is one more exercise you should do, romanian deadlifts, best glute exercise out there, squeeze with your glutes and use heavy weight, hockey development is a combination of elements each exercise hits muscles at different angles that is why none can be over looked, this should be a good start, but remember you should work your entire body if you really want to excel in hockey the more you do, the better you perform.
Excercises for glutes
16th May '11, 3:16pm
Hi Chof, welcome to the forum and thanks for your comments.
Romanian Deadlift
16th May '11, 3:19pm
Couple of links
Weight training: The Romanian deadlift
A safer alternative for back strengthening
Weight Training: the romanian deadlift exercise
How to perform the single-legged Romanian deadlift
Oh and there's our Peak Performance book - Unbeatable Buttocks.
squats
18th May '11, 12:31pm
I would most definately try some elevated reverse lunges on a riser. Stairs or Stepper. Maybe 6 or 7" will do. Also you may do some onelegged wall squats with or with out a stability ball. These exercise will contribute to core strength. Make sure you are pushing off the heel of the foot to engage the glutes. Try one reverse lunge courtsey's. They will target middle and minor glutes and hip abductors.
The real answer may be in a good Pilates level 1 class 3 times a week or a good reformer class.
A fly in the ointment...
21st Jul '11, 11:16am
just to throw a spanner in the works, here is a link to an artical by Bret Contreras on t-nation.com making the very well laid out and scientifically supported case that squats, lunges and deadlifts AREN'T the kings of glute activation. Just for a different perspective.
-http://www.t-nation.com/free_online_article/sports_body_training_performance/dispelling_the_glute_myth
Happy training
Glute development
28th Jul '11, 7:52pm
Dai Roberts, Senior Coach, Dai Roberts Group Inc. Virginia Beach, VA.
Interesting discussion. We live in the flatlands of Virginia Beach and have very few hills to help with glute firing and development, as a result we get a lot of hamstring injuries through overuse. To rectify this, the few hills we do have are very useful if not absolutely essential. Walking up steep slopes and running up shallower slopes will aid glute firing and development as well as gym style strength exercises.
Also walking in the water up to your hips with a high knee lift will have similar effect.