GLUTE By Jeff Richter CSCS, USAW ACTIVATION ne of the foundations and pillars of athletic anteriorly gliding during extension rather than maintain- performance is the development of the ing a constant position in the acetabulum1. posterior chain, and in particular, activation O When we examine the anatomy of the glutes (inset) we and strengthening of the glutes. Gymnastics is not notice that there are three “players.” an exception. When considering the comprehensive approach to glute I THINK GLUTE ACTIVATION NEEDS TO BE functioning relative to knee health, we have to look mainly at the two hip abductors (brings the laterally) called the VIEWED THROUGH THIS LENS: a skill that needs gluteus minimus and in addition to the gluteus to be programmed and learned neuromuscularly. Gymnasts maximus. These abductors work not only in terms of creat- that repeatedly load their lower body eccentrically through ing concen- the quadriceps have a high risk for developing structural tric muscle imbalances that may result from a weak posterior chain. actions in Over a period of time, if our body becomes unfamiliar which they with the neuromuscular pathways to activate the glutes contract to abduct their functioning can be the hip but according unintentionally hindered to Thomas Myers in his with these imbalanced book, Anatomy Trains, movement patterns. The they also work in terms problems this presents of preventing excessive are not only related to hip adduction (“caving diminished abilities to in”) and thus enable the reach athletic potential hip to display adequate but also present stability. They need to “fire” and “red flags” for injury be neuromuscularly efficient to risk. do this. Since these muscles have Gymnasts have the ability to be better athletes when they a dynamic and multi-role respon- can display explosive hip extension strength. Running sibility in human movement, we and jumping both require that the produce power must train them in terms of stabil- as these are naturally hip extension dependent positions. ity in addition to strength Certainly the play a key role in hip extension movements. When as well; however, the position of the glutes relative to the hip show that they have a strategic role in not only display- ing strength for hip extension but also controlling the femur from anterior gliding where it attaches to the . According to Sahrmann, when muscle activity is dominant during hip extension, the proximal femur creates stress on the anterior joint capsule by

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this form of training is neglected, there are often negative conse- In conclusion, check out the video I made back in the quences for the knee (knee pain, ACL tear risk, etc). Check out winter for USA Gymnastics in regards to glute activation this study from the North American Journal of Sports Physical progressions at usagym.org/healthknowledge. This will Therapy that examined 19 females between the ages of 18 and provide you with a couple simple progressions that are 40, experiencing unilateral knee pain. Bilateral offered as a tool to enhance glute activation and thus and medius strength were measured with a MicroFET hand-held your ability to display hip extension power. dynamometer. Their findings indicated that strength of the gluteus medius and maximus muscles were significantly less in the extrem- ities of patients experiencing knee pain than the extremity without knee pain2. As you can see, strong glutes promote positive joint health for much of the lower body. As a leader in lower- back disorders, Dr. Stuart McGill’s work reminds us that weak glutes can increase risk for lower-back related 3 problems . Weak glutes that can’t produce optimal hip extension ENDNOTES 1 Sahrmann, Shirely. Diagnosis and Treat- can sometimes be a reason as to why the lumbar spine is overused ment of Movement Impairment Syndromes. and tries to “make up” for a lack of hip strength by entering into Mosby. St. Louis, 2002. 2 N Am J Sports Phys Ther. 2007 August; 2(3): an abnormal excessively extended position during dynamic sport 164–169.

movements and a task as simple as lifting a box off the floor. In 3 McGill SM. Low Back Disorders. Champagne, fact, Schache et al (2000) 4 showed that limited hip extension IL: Human Kinetics, 2002. 4 Schache, AG. Three-dimensional angular during running is coupled with increased lumbar lordosis. Our kinematics of the lumbar spine and pelvis during running. Human Movement Science. lumbar spine has a natural lordotic curvature but our body doesn’t Volume 21, Issue 2, July 2002, Pages 273– act favorably to changes that makes the spine hyperlordotic. 293.

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