Get off your ‘dead butt’ and give your glutes a workout

Desk bound workers need to make time to exercise those gluteal muscles, or risk ‘dead butt’ syndrome.

The most gruelling form of the ‘hip thruster’ is the king of glute exercises.

This summer, if you’re at the beach you might think there’s really no point in many of the young women you encounter wearing ­bikinis at all. The trend of teeny-tiny bikini bottoms that are virtual G-strings is quite arresting, with bums of all sizes proudly wobbling and bobbing up the beach. Bums are on display everywhere these days. But fashion’s modern fixation on the booty is not confined to the bikini, and the trend of rounded buttocks a la J-Lo, ­Beyonce and Kim Kardashian has also spurred the massive ­popularity of glute training in gyms and pilates classes.

But even if you’re not chasing a rounded, muscular bottom, following the booty trend and getting the glutes into gear would benefit almost all of us, especially the large numbers of us who spend a lot of time sitting down.

The gluteal muscle group is made up of the gluteus maximus, the gluteus minimus, and the gluteus medius – and together these muscles are responsible for hip ­extension, abduction, and internal and external rotation.

One of the travails of our modern sedentary lifestyles is the phenomenon that has been dubbed by physiotherapists as “gluteal amnesia” or “dead butt syndrome”, in which the body “forgets” how to switch on or fire a gluteal contraction.

So it’s not just that the muscles themselves are not being worked, it’s that the muscle-brain connection which controls activation is interrupted. At the same time, sitting down a lot causes the hip flexor to shorten and get tighter, causing the opposing glute muscles to lengthen, preventing the glutes from working optimally.

Prolonged sitting and the continual compression of the tissue it exerts can also cause the glutes’ muscle fibres to lose their elasticity and ability to contract optimally. When the glutes are not firing, it tends to result in increased lumbar lordosis (a swayed back) and an anterior pelvic tilt, triggering muscle imbalances throughout the lower body.

Healthy glutes aid strength and posture.

“When the glutes don’t know how to activate, or they’re very weak, the first thing that will start to take over is your lower back, and your hips,” says personal trainer Connie Louise, the founder of the Glute Station gym in Sydney’s beachside suburb of Bondi.

“And your knees will be weak because your glutes are not supporting your movement pattern when you walk.”

Ms Louise says that while there are many compound movements with weights that are performed in the gym by those looking to build their glutes, the average person wanting to activate the muscles and get them firing can achieve a lot at home using “booty bands”.

“You don’t need a gym, and even if you’re short on time you can do some really basic home workouts,” Ms Louise said.

“There are hundreds of good ones on YouTube just using booty bands. And single-leg hip thrusters using your body weight is one of the best exercises you can do.”

Glute exercises using a booty band include the clam, which involves lying on your side with the band around your lower thighs and raising one knee; the glute kickback, lifting one leg into the air while kneeling on all fours; and the “fire hydrant”, which is lifting one leg out to the side while kneeling on all fours.

In the gym, the hip thruster, in its most gruelling form – shoulders on a weights bench, heavy barbell on the hips – is the king of glute ­exercises.

Ms Louise also recommends glute kickbacks using a cable ­machine, and abductor machines.

With this kind of regular glute training, not only will your butt look more perky but you might find any niggling back, knee and hip pains disappear.

“Glute training is huge now, and there are so many benefits for your posture,” Ms Louise says.

“Five years ago, you would never see a man in a gym doing hip thrusters or any glute-banded work. Now you see a lot of the top athletes – crossfitters, bodybuilders – all doing this stuff.

“They know now how important it is not just for health, but for back stability, bone density, injury prevention, everything.”