Summary: Today I’m going to share three of my favorite glute exercises to help you strengthen your glutes and keep you injury free!
Something I learned while I was running long distances was that training your muscles was just as important as getting in those miles! A lot of runners end up with injuries, and it’s often because they have weak glute muscles, so other muscles are trying to compensate.
Glutes are often ignored because many of us sit all day, leaving them inactive. We also often focus on training quads and even hamstrings and glutes get overlooked. Today I’m going to share three of my favorite glute exercises to help you strengthen your glutes and keep you injury free!
- Bird Dog
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Make sure that your hands are below your shoulders and your knees are below your hips. Then extend one arm and the opposite leg, keeping your body and back flat and balanced. Bring them back in (all slowly!) and repeat 10x before switching to the opposite arm and leg. This move also works your core muscles to keep you balanced!
- Glute Bridge
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For this exercise, lay on your back with your feet on the ground, knees up, and arms straight out to your sides. Activate your glutes by squeezing and pushing your hips up. If you want to make the move a little more difficult, lift one leg in the air while doing the move with just one leg on the ground, and then switch.
- Glute Extensions
Lastly, there’s the glute extension. Start in the same position as bird dog, but this time only lift one leg up so it’s at a 90 degree angle with the bottom of your foot towards the sky. This is the starting position. Then, extend your leg back and up, using your glutes to lift up your leg. Be sure to repeat on the opposite side!