You’ve been sitting all day long and research tells us your waistline is going to pay dearly, but who knew the desk life would also turn off signals to our backsides?
Here are 6 ways to wake up sleepy glutes.
Gluteal amnesia or “dead butt syndrome” is a real thing and it happens when your glutes forget how to activate correctly. While gluteal amnesia may not cause symptoms early on, having a major muscle group like the glutes not working properly will have effects globally throughout your body as time passes.
Some of these effects include:
Lower back pain
- Hip pain
- Knee pain
- Muscular imbalances
- Postural distortion
The exciting news is that gluteal amnesia isn’t permanent if you’re willing to do the work!
Glute Exercise #1 Glute Bridge
This exercise is not only an easy move to begin with for nearly everyone, it also has the benefit of being one of the top exercises to activate the glutes. Start with your body weight and progress to single leg bridges and for advanced trainees, progress to loaded barbell hip thrusts.
Glute Exercise #2 Clam Shell
Start simple on this movement and focus first on “feeling” the glutes. Once you’ve mastered activating the correct area, add some resistance with a band.
Glute Exercise #3 Bird Dog
This “standard” exercise for lower back health can also help wake up the glutes. It’s simple and everyone can do it giving themselves 2x the benefit.
Glute Exercise #4 Donkey Kicks
You’ve probably seen these in every Jane Fonda video or they might even bring back memories of your favourite 80’s movie…but they work.
Glute Exercise #5 Squat
About as primal and fundamental as it gets, no lower body development program should be without one or more variations of the squat. Start with developing a good, solid bodyweight version first and scale up the difficulty from there. With so many versions to choose from – goblet squat, split squat, back squat, front squat – you’ll never get bored of doing squats and getting the results you want.
Glute Exercise #6 Deadlift
You might associate deadlifts with something only hardcore gym-goers should be doing but that’s just not true. At least not if you want to wake up your glutes and strengthen your hamstrings at the same time. Like squatting, there are many variations of the deadlift to keep you occupied but starting with a simple Bodyweight Romanian Deadlift will do the trick!
When it comes to excessive sitting, driving and a generally sedentary lifestyle, we’re starting to understand just how potentially devasting it can be to our health. Putting our sleepy glutes into that category may seem laughable but gluteal amnesia is no joke. Solving the problem will not only will make you healthier but you’ll look and feel better too!
Dr. Michael Gibson has committed himself to helping others to live the best life possible. After graduating with a Bachelor of Kinesiology from the University of Western Ontario, he received his Doctor of Chiropractic Degree and Masters of Science in Chiropractic Sports Science from Life University. He is the co-creator of Life By Design, owner of The Wellness Group, and co-owner of CrossFit 613. His passion for empowering families runs deep. After experiencing the loss of his sister due to illness, Michael’s purpose became reaching and teaching as many as possible the foundational principles of an extraordinary life. Since that time he has passionately pursued and been successful in living out his dream. He maintains a busy family chiropractic practice, a full speaking schedule and finds time to implement the principles and practices of Life By Design in his own life.
