Barre with Justine

When I first got into fitness, no one really spoke about the glutes (or “cupcakes” to quote one of my favourite instructors, Lauren George!) Every magazine had tips for a flat belly or lean arms…I can’t recall articles or exercises that were designed to *build* the glutes.

It’s an entirely different story today as so many women lift heavy to train the glutes and develop We have peach bands and booty bands, videos on how to “grow the glutes” and booty sculpting leggings. I see so many gym selfies focused on the derrière!

Glutes are actually a really important muscle group to train because they stabilize the hips and the pelvis. Strong glutes help to protect the low back and encourage good posture and balance. When we feel pain in the hips or the low back, it is often related to underused or undertrained glute muscles.

Fun facts about the glutes

• the glutes are made of three muscles – the glute maximus, glute medius and glute minimus
• the glute max is the largest muscle in the body
• the glute max helps us to stand up straight and perform important functional movements like climbing stairs and getting out of a chair.
• the smaller glute muscles (medius and minimus) help with lateral and external rotation AND give your cupcakes that beautiful shape (think plies in ballet or a side leg lift)
• sedentary lifestyles can cause the glutes to become weakened and a little lazy!

what are the best exercises for the glutes?

From a weight training perspective, a systematic review in 2020 found that step-ups (including variations) created the most glute max activation, followed by deadlifts, hip thrusts, lunges and squats. Barre can also be a fantastic way to train your glutes.

why DO I feel barre in my glutes so much?

So an interesting study (McMillan et al.) published this year looked at the size of the gluteal muscles in ballet dancers, as compared with athletes. What they found was that ballet dancers had larger glute max and glute medius muscles than athletes (adjusted to size, etc.), likely due to the external hip rotation required for the positions of dance. Sometimes when we think of turnout in first or second position, we just think of the feet, but the turnout originates within the hips.

How can I focus on the glutes in barre (or any workout)?

• when you are trying to focus on the glute max, focus on squaring the hips…for example, in scorpion lift, ensure the working hip doesn’t creep open to the side.
• add a little extra with a band wrapped above the knees or using a core ball behind the knee
• actively contract the glutes when doing an exercise and pause a moment – this is a great technique to use in bridge pose (and you can add the band or the ball to really fire up the glutes!) – squeeze everything between your hips!
• when you are trying to target the glute medius and minimus, focus on lateral and external rotation moves….e.g. side lying leg lifts, rainbows from tabletop, etc.

how do I stretch the glutes?

great stretches for the glutes include:

• FIgure 4 stretch (standing, seated, or on the back)
• Swan pose from yoga
• happy baby pose
• modified half lotus pose
• seated twist (focus on hugging knee in)
• reclined twist

References

Buckthorpe, Matthew et al. “ASSESSING AND TREATING GLUTEUS MAXIMUS WEAKNESS – A CLINICAL COMMENTARY.” International journal of sports physical therapy vol. 14,4 (2019): 655-669.

McMillan, Rachael Mary, et al. “Gluteal Muscle Size and Quality in Professional Ballet Dancers Compared to Non-Dancing Athletes.” Journal of Dance Medicine & Science, vol. 27, no. 3, 2023, pp. 119–29, https://doi.org/10.1177/1089313X231177161.

Neto, Walter Krause et al. “Gluteus Maximus Activation during Common Strength and Hypertrophy Exercises: A Systematic Review.” Journal of sports science & medicine vol. 19,1 195-203. 24 Feb. 2020