Paleo Diet and Paleolithic Diet Questions & Answers

Question

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No, this is not a cheap trick to get TMS to come back out of retirement. (If he does I am gong to call him Brett Favre from now on).

I genuinely need some tips on activating and strengthening my glutes. They are too pancakey for my taste - also too weak.

Right now I do heavy lifting that includes squats, deads, one legged squats, one leg bulgarian deadlifts, step ups with weights, dynamic step ups (jumping), and box jumps.

I still feel like they are "dead" or don't fire right. Any butt tips?

(Oh and this is soooooo Paleo as those HGs have strong bottoms!)

flag	asked Jul 10 2011 at 0:01 none 16.3k●1●11●77

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I feel I cannot properly answer your question without seeing a proper picture of the aforementioned ass. – Aravind Jul 10 2011 at 2:53

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You dear one are cheeky - pun INTENDED! – none Jul 10 2011 at 3:09

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I thought we were in the trust tree, the nest??? – Aravind Jul 10 2011 at 3:27

youtube.com/watch?v=ByG2BnWeACU – Aravind Jul 10 2011 at 3:52

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The fact you knew the line makes me want to see your butt even more. Tease!!! – Aravind Jul 10 2011 at 3:57

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Jeff · Answer 1 · 2011-07-10 00:51:40Z UTC

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Here is a great video showing a set of quick and easy exercises to develop (and learn to activate) your posterior chain. i.e. butt

edited Jul 10 2011 at 0:51

answered Jul 10 2011 at 0:31

Jeff
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my posterior thxs you! – none Jul 10 2011 at 0:34

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just did this. feels really good to work that particular set of muscles. – MKS Jul 10 2011 at 0:48

right mks? My lower back has been jacked since having 2x babies - I dunno, but I think my weak posterior is to blame! – none Jul 10 2011 at 0:54

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glad you like! I really noticed a difference after doing these exercises for a week or so. I've done them somewhat regularly for about a year now. – Jeff Jul 10 2011 at 1:08

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yeah meredith...that whole core thing is integral. i can only imagine the stress of pregnancy..twice. intense. good luck! – MKS Jul 10 2011 at 3:32

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jesuisjuba - paleorepublic.com · Answer 2 · 2011-07-10 02:15:39Z UTC

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Have bike, have butt. The best racers in the world use their glutes more and the less proficient racers rely on their quads. Le Tour is on now so plenty of spandex clad riders to check out :) I don't know what your workout schedule is, but if you do a 30 minute resistance session of deadlift, single leg box jump, quad specific barbell squats, then follow it with 30 minutes of HIIT with cycling? You'll be able to bounce a quarter off your bum and get fifty cents back in no time :)

answered Jul 10 2011 at 2:15

jesuisjuba - paleorepublic.com
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Now, that's a return on investment - thx! – none Jul 10 2011 at 2:23

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I know that endurance sports aren't paleo recommended, but bless the spandex-clad Le Tour menfolk and their fabulous legs/derrieres. Road cycling did give me a nice curvaceous (and strong) tookus. – LastingOne Jul 10 2011 at 6:21

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Agree that road cycling is beneficial to the female form. Some of the best ladies' legs and derrieres in town can be seen at local road rides. – Ed♦ Jul 10 2011 at 13:47

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If I may add, cycling won't automatically give you a butt because it is possible to activate your quads only (think mashing down on the pedals only, and not pulling up). The exercises in the video I posted were pretty much designed to get cyclists to activate the glutes. – Jeff Jul 10 2011 at 18:55

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Indeed Jeff! It is a great video. Pro cyclists have to learn the effectiveness of utilizing the entire pedal stroke, not just mashing like you described. When I was riding, it was amazing the difference in efficiency, power and stamina when I relearned how to pedal- seems so simple, but it is a dance. I look forward to doing the Livestrong exercises as us equestrians would also benefit from it! – LastingOne Jul 10 2011 at 23:24

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Efaitch · Answer 3 · 2011-07-10 20:12:47Z UTC

I'm going to come at this from a completely different angle. Alignment. I follow a blog about biomechanics and Katy Bowman, the author has a lot of stuff to say about they way that most people walk, sit etc.

Have a look at this post and see if you can do the movements without your tailbone tucking under: http://www.alignedandwell.com/?p=1310&option=com_wordpress&Itemid=223

ps. Not suggesting that you can't, but if you feel that your glutes aren't firing, maybe it is more about alignment that anything else? And of course, I might be completely on the wrong track, but worth mentioning :) .

miked · Answer 4 · 2011-07-11 15:18:57Z UTC

It's not the exercises, it's training yourself to actually use the right muscles in the exercises. Deadlifts, Heavy Squats, Hill sprints on a bike, Rowing...All of those have the POTENTIAL to use glutes and hamstrings almost exclusively. However unless you're activating those muscles on purpose, you're probably defaulting to just using your quads. I'm now about three years into a pretty serious strength-based crossfit program, and it's only this summer that I've learned how to actually activate the glutes and hamstrings in those workouts (and it's really helped my mountain biking too now that I can easily turn on the hamstrings and not rely only on the quads). Generally, if you have a office-type job or really any jobs where you spend the majority of your day sitting, your posterior chain will be pretty weak and hard to turn on. Normally I'd recommend getting a trainer of some kind to help you, but most trainers aren't smart enough to know how to train that. So unless you find someone who knows how to teach you to activate the posterior chain, you'll have to figure it out for yourself. I'd focus on Deadlifts and Squats. Do them heavy enough that you feel it, but light enough that you can play around with form a little. Try things like keeping your weight way back on your heels, sticking your butt back, whatever makes you feel the weight in your glutes and hamstrings and NOT in your quads. If you feel it in your quads you're doing it wrong. Be patient, it really did take me a long time to figure it out, but then I'm kind of an uncoordinated nerd, so maybe this comes naturally to lots of people.

gilliebean · Answer 5 · 2011-07-10 00:21:08Z UTC

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Sprint.

Get out and run as fast as you can a couple times a week.

P.S. Do lunges too. Every day.'

P.P.S. Maybe buy a kick scooter and scoot around.

P.P.P.S. Also take up skiing. ;)

answered Jul 10 2011 at 0:21

gilliebean♦
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What the blooody heck it all is a kick scooter - I want one and I don't even know what it is! Also - I forgot about sprinting! I've been doing hiit on an airdyne, but I've let the running sprints go by the wayside. THX for the reminder. – none Jul 10 2011 at 0:24

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Kick scooters: razor.com – gilliebean♦ Jul 10 2011 at 0:43

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I have the Cruiser. I think I should have gotten the A5 Lux. – gilliebean♦ Jul 10 2011 at 0:44

Joe Brock · Answer 6 · 2011-07-10 02:30:21Z UTC

Deadlift and Deep Squat should be doing it, but you can consider Reverse Hypers if you can locate a machine for them. I'm not a big fan of machines in strength training, but Louie Simmons from Westside Barbell uses them, so who am I to criticize?

As far as "firing" is concerned, if you are to the point of your programming where "dynamic" lifting days can be programmed in...then that might help a great deal. The idea is to take these lifts, but the weight down to 50% of your 1RM and try to perform them in an explosive manner. I wouldn't bother, though, if your DL isn't at least 2xBW.

JakeA · Answer 7 · 2011-07-10 15:33:49Z UTC

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As a former rower, I recall the "rower's ass"

Probably from the same kind of strength motions as squats and deadlifts but you could use more rowing in your conditioning work

answered Jul 10 2011 at 15:33

JakeA
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Hack My Butt! (Will TMS pull another Brett Favre???)

7 Answers