APT=no glute activation!

@webstranger Great post! Practical advice that expands on the mind-muscle-connection cue. Would you be willing to share any of the social media accounts of the physiology/physical therapists whose content you would recommend? If you aren't comfortable doing so here, please do DM me. I'd really like to follow more of this sort of content to continuously improve my training.
 
@pdxtouge Hi, pretty much the channels of the videos I posted are great. UprightHealth and CriticalBench seem to have other supplemental videos that are helpful, I just posted the ones that I felt gave the most bang for your buck. You could try to investigate more into those channels!
 
@webstranger Holy cow. So stoked to watch these, thank you!

I’m in PT right now for a wonky hip that all seems to be stemming from me being hyper mobile + naturally quad dominant. Turns out I do everything with my quads and my baby glutes can’t keep up and hold that slippery slidey joint in place. This is literally exactly what I needed!
 
@webstranger Interesting and informative! I struggle with extreme hip tightness and APT too, and I am glute dominant, somehow. But working on flexibility and correct posture over the past couple years has helped me start to recruit and grow my quads.
 
@webstranger Thank you for posting this. I knew about glute activation, and certain exercises have helped a little with it but change was minimal. In one of my classes we've started doing the frog pose stretch, and when I saw that in hip flexor video you listed it made me think I should probably consider this might be part of my problem (it's always been a really tight stretch). I've just always considered myself fairly flexible, since other stretches are usually fine.
 
@nursered Tight hip flexors can be unassuming, for sure! And I had the same frustration as you - tons of glute exercises but very minimal change. Nowadays with pretty much every glute exercise I do, I focus on stretching the hip flexors AND squeezing the glutes, and it's really working. Before I used to just try to squeeze the glute only. Major game changer.
 
@webstranger The things that really help me with my stubborn Glutes are , 1. Yoga, 2. Short breaks between sets, i’d do 10 hip thrusts, 10 secs break, increase the weight (if i can) and do another 10, never fails to get my glutes on 🔥🔥
  • also, the research you made here is amazing [sup].[sup],[/sup][/sup] great job!!.
 
@webstranger Thank you, thank you THANK YOUUUU!!! I’ve barely started SC myself (week 10?) and although I feel like I squeeze my glutes good, I have never gotten sore! :( how often have you been doing the exercises you’ve linked?
 
@rocky24 I do them almost every day, and the glory of these isolated body weight exercises is that it only takes a few minutes to do in the home. So no need to make a big show of putting on gym gear and hauling yourself to the gym. Just take a yoga mat and spend 20 min in the evenings. I cycle through different ones every day although I have my favorites, like the Spiderman stretch (really can feel that glute and hip flexor of the back leg), Lunge hold stretches, hip thrusts, glute squeezes, clamshells, also the Plank with Hip extension is excellent for strengthening core and hip alignment.
 
@webstranger One thing I learnt from my physio about clam shells is if you're struggling with this that you can keep your whole body inline and have your legs behind and do it that way (basically push your hips forward) - without the usual angle most people do it with it's a lot harder for your hip flexors to take over. I did loads of clam shells and sometimes it helped but actually when I did it for the physio she could feel my flexors were doing too much still and not enough on the glutes. I didn't realise this at all. Along with feeling squats really just in my quads etc.

Takes about ~6 weeks usually to properly start getting them going once you start remedial action regularly if you have an issue with this, so stick with it.

Could not believe how much more powerful my running was. I hadn't been racing for a while and I guess already weak glutes had just given up. Hip flexor got pretty mad, had a few months off running properly. Once I came back it felt incredible (without any hip pain) but even better setting a 5k PB off the bat despite barely running for months just because of the new found power! Agreed that hip angle is so important to help let them do their job.
 
@polcat Checking in - I'm at about five weeks of hip flexor/glute remedial work, tried running the other day, and my goodness you're absolutely right about the newfound power! My entire lower body is much more stable, posture is strong and upright without having to force it, and I can definitely feel quicker strides with less fatigue. I never thought opening up that hip flexor would make such a difference. I'm so excited to continue this progress!!
 
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