IS YOUR ASS FIRING? WELL IT SHOULD BE

The glutes (bum,) are the biggest muscle group in the body. They are also part of “The Core,” that said, they remain inactive in many of us… this is crazy! 

If our biggest muscles are not being used, then we are asking too much of our surrounding muscle groups, especially the lower back. This is particularly effected when doing every day life activities, such as: walking up stairs, standing up, sitting down. If you aren’t using your glutes, then you’re asking for trouble.

With regards to your fitness program, it’s simple: strong glues, and the rest will follow. Guess what? If you want abs you have to get the glutes firing! 

Muscles love to eat fat, it’s their fuel, so if you get the bigger muscles firing then you burn more fat. So that roll on your stomach? Get squatting! This way you will torch way more fat than doing a load of crunches.

To change your body composition, I would argue that most people should start by waking up the glutes.

Should we train the glutes specifically? 

The basic principle behind any resistance training (weights or bodyweight,) is that our muscles are subjected to repetitive loading, which effectively creates mini tears. When we rest, our body goes into repair mode and we come back a little stronger. Repeating this train-rest routine, each time we come back a little stronger. By focusing on a specific muscle groups you can get a more focussed result. However, this will be at the expense of the rest of the body that may not get used in that particular session, so I would advise a total body work out for beginners and specific focused muscle group training for those more advanced, who are training 3/4 times per week. 

What exercises should we use?

Deep squats, the deepest part activates the glutes. Shallow squats are quad dominant, but you need the flexibility to get low enough.

• Stiff Legged Dead Lifts
• Lunges
• Glute Kicks
• Bridges