Butt Imbalances

8/13/2019 Butt Imbalances

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Bret's Glute eBook

Glute Training, Low Back Reconditioning

How to Fix Glute Imbalances

by Bret !anuary "#, #$"% & (omments
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Glute imbalances are very common much more common than youd imagine !ut o" all

o" the email in#uiries $ receive "rom my readers %ertaining to the glutes the to%ic o"

imbalances comes u% the most o"ten $" you comb the 'eb you 'ont "ind much goodmaterial on this to%ic $n "act a Google search o" the term (glute imbalance) yielded

several links on the "ront %age to threads "rom some o" the most %o%ular strength &

conditioning "orums yet no com%rehensive ans'ers could be "ound The reason 'hystrength & conditioning e*%erts shy a'ay "rom this to%ic is because the ans'er is

com%licated $n this article $ 'ill "irst discuss the reasons 'hy you may have a gluteal

imbalance and then $ll discuss %otential solutions

(auses o) Gluteal Imbalances

"* +symmetrical Human-ature

+y nature 'e are asymmetrical beings !ur anatomy itsel" can be asymmetrical "or

e*am%le right to le"t %elvic and hi% asymmetries and leg length discre%ancies are

common Ho'ever o" %erha%s greater im%ortance is that our daily movement ismarkedly asymmetrical in nature ,e tend to shi"t to one side 'hen standing "or

%rolonged %eriods and 'e develo% com"ortable asymmetrical %atterns "or common daily

tasks

$n s%orts its natural to rely %redominantly on one side during a %articular %attern -or

e*am%le 'hen 'e kick most right.handed individuals 'ill %lant o"" o" their le"t leg and

kick 'ith their right leg -or this reason most right.handed individuals are actually morestable on their le"t leg and there"ore are initially better on their le"t leg com%ared to their

right leg 'hen learning single leg e*ercises $n rotational s%orts most athletes s'ing or

thro' "rom the same side 'hich uses the rear glute to a much greater degree than the"ront glute $t comes as no sur%rise then that one glute or region o" the glute might be

stronger and more coordinated than the other
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There"ore non.signi"icant gluteal imbalances should not necessarily be thought o" as

dys"unctional they might /ust be a natural conse#uence o" li"e Signi"icant imbalances o"

a%%ro*imately 012 or more ho'ever should be actively targeted "or correction

#* Inacti.ity

,hen considering the human body 'e kno' that some muscles are more %rone toinhibition than others and the glutes are one o" these (easily.inhibited) muscles Several

decades ago %hysical thera%ists such as 3ladimir 4anda noticed that the glutes are #uite

%rone to inhibition and in the last decade strength coaches "or %ro"essional teams began

to notice that their athletes glutes 'ere not "unctioning o%timally

There are a "e' reasons 'hy the glutes could shut do'n 5eural and mechanicalinhibition involving o%%osing muscles can inter"ere 'ith gluteal activation -or e*am%le

tight or shortened hi% "le*ors may lead to 'hats been coined (reci%rocal inhibition) o"

the gluteals There may even be inhibitory conse#uences to e*cessive sitting as
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com%ression slo's do'n vascular "unction and inter"eres 'ith nerve "unction ,ell

learn belo' that %ain inhibits muscle contractility and is a ma/or %layer in glute

inhibition Moreover gluteal inhibition can negatively im%act %osture and %oor %osturecan "urther inhibit the glutes thereby creating a do'n'ard s%iral in gluteal "unction

Ho'ever %robably the biggest reason 'hy the glutes shut do'n is due to inactivity $"you "ail to consistently activate a muscle and you "ail to regularly activate a muscle to

high levels o" ca%acity it 'ill inevitably #uit 'orking %ro%erly

$" you study electromyogra%hy 67MG8 you learn that many muscles get highly activated

"rom common everyday movements -or e*am%le the #uads get highly activated every

time you stand u% "rom a chair %ick a bo* u% "rom o"" the ground or climb stairs Theerectors are highly activated 'hen bending over to move "urniture or %er"orm yard 'ork

The trice%s receive su""icient stimulation 'hen %osting u% to get u% "rom a %rone %osition

or to %ush o%en a heavy door The calves are highly activated 'hen climbing stairs and

the abdominals are highly activated 'hen sitting u% "rom a lying %osition

Ho'ever the gluteus ma*imus "ails to achieve high levels o" activation during each o"

the a"orementioned everyday movements $n "act the nervous system only activates the

glutes to around 092 o" ma*imum ca%acity during the sit.to.stand es%ecially in the

manner in 'hich most sedentary individuals rise "rom a chair and gluteus ma*imusactivation is even less during gait at normal 'alking s%eeds !nly heavy or e*%losive

movement such as s#uatting deadli"ting lunging hi% thrusting /um%ing running and

s'inging highly activate the gluteus ma*imus The %roblem is that most %eo%le "ail to%er"orm any o" these activities on a regular basis in the modern.day 'orld

$" 'e 'ere to e*amine the muscle density achieved via ma*imum voluntary isometriccontraction 6M3$:8 o" 099 sedentary individuals it is likely that ;1 o" them 'ould be

able to %roduce signi"icant tension in their #uadrice%s calves abdominals and trice%s

musculature to name a "e' Ho'ever %erha%s only


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%* /ain, /rior In0ury, and 1tructural Issues

$ mentioned above that %ain is a huge inhibitor o" the gluteus ma*imus This is a big deal

=esearch sho's that the glutes can become inhibited 'ith /ust about any lo'er body ors%inal in/ury Ho' many o" you readers have stubbed your toe> This inhibits the glutes

Ho' many o" you have s%rained an ankle> Glute inhibition Hurt your knee or your hi%>Pulled a groin or hammy> -ell on your tailbone> 7*%erienced sciatica> T'eaked your

lo' back> All o" these in/uries decrease glute activation $s this a bad thing>

5ot e*actly The glutes are ma/or %ro%ulsion muscles They %roduce %o'er"ullocomotion $nhibiting the glutes 'ill cause an individual to slo' do'n so they can heal

+ack in the day you 'ould not have survived long i" you 'ere "orced to hobble around

"or the rest o" your li"e due to in/ury So "rom an evolutionary survival stand%oint this isa 'ise strategy

The %roblem is that the glutes dont necessarily turn back on automatically They must be

reactivated restrengthened and recoordinated back into every day movement and

activity Ho' many %eo%le s%rain their ankle and u%on healing %er"orm glute activationdrills and utili?e a %rogressive a%%roach to reintegrate their glute into "unctional high.

"orce and high.velocity movement> The over'helming ma/ority do not

-ollo'ing in/ury most "olks sim%ly kee% on kee%in on and their movement %atterns

su""er =ather than e*%eriencing %ro%er glute "unction during movement they rely onother muscles to get the /ob done This is 'hy you see %elvises dro%%ing to the side and

knees colla%sing in'ard during gait backs rounding over during li"ting tasks and an

over.reliance on the hamstrings "or hi% e*tension The body is resilient and 'ill "ind a'ay to %revail and %eo%le can become very "it des%ite using the 'rong muscles or

dis%laying "aulty movement %atterns 5e*t time you go "or an early morning drive %ay

attention to the /oggers @oull notice that not many o" them a%%ear athletic or %ossessgood running %osture Sadly most look like theyre (s%eed.lim%ing) +ut even advanced

athletes o"ten have "aulty glute "unction !ne study e*amining strongmen sho'ed that the

best heavily incor%orated the glutes during li"ting tasks 'hereas the less.skilled relied

%redominantly on the back musculature
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-inally 'e must consider mor%hological structural issues that could contribute to

diminished glute "unction To list some e*am%les lets say that you have lost the natural

arch in your right "oot or you have bone s%urs in right hi% or you have scoliosis or youhave e*cessive anterior %elvic tilt or you damaged the lateral meniscus in your right

knee 7ach o" these could create glute inhibition To con"use matters some o" these could

have been caused by glute inhibition 6remember the do'n'ard s%iral $ re"erred toearlier>8 So structural changes can cause or be caused by gluteal inhibition

+ut dont be alarmed these conditions dont guarantee glute dys"unction An athletecould %ossess any one o" these maladies and yet still %ossess sound."unctioning glutes $n

"act %erha%s the best %ound."or.%ound deadli"ter in %o'erli"ting history had severe

scoliosis and a ma/ority o" s%rinters have (e*cessive) anterior %elvic tilt

1olutions )or Restoring Gluteal Imbalance

As 'e noted above glute imbalances can be caused by dys"unction brought u%on by %ainor inactivity and are there"ore a (dys"unctional conse#uence) Ho'ever they can also be

caused by everyday li"e and s%orts and are there"ore a ("unctional conse#uence)
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$ do not kno' 'hy @!= glutes are imbalanced Lets say that 'e had a consultationand $ learned your entire athletic and in/ury history at best $ could only s%eculate as to

'hy you have a glute imbalance Maybe 'hen you 'ere in high school you hurt your le"t

knee 'hich caused your le"t glute to shut.do'n and since you never rehabilitated%ro%erly your body memori?ed sub.o%timal movement %atterns and has been relying on

"aulty motor control ever since Maybe in your t'enties you #uit %laying s%orts and #uit

going to the gym and %retty much sat on the couch "or < years Buring this time %erha%syou rarely used your glutes and the only times you did anything that used the glutes to

any substantial degree you relied %redominantly on the le"t leg causing the right glute to

shut do'n 'hile kee%ing the le"t strong Maybe your "avorite s%ort 'as highly

asymmetrical and you s'ung a club or thre' right handed strengthening your right gluteto a much greater degree than your le"t

,hatever the case is it usually doesnt matter as the solution is o"ten the same Buring

the (re.education) %rocess its im%ortant to have %ro%er %ers%ective @ou might havebeen 'alking around 'ith a gluteal imbalance "or over a decade there"ore its going to

take some time to re'ire your motor circuitry $" it takes a "e' months "or the %roblem to

normali?e so be it 7ach session youll be a little bit closer to your goal so be %atient

Also recall that 'e 'ant to strengthen the (neuromuscular) unit Theres a neural andmuscular com%onent to "i*ing the issue =ight no' your dys"unctional glute is 'eak and

doesnt 'ant to activate @ou need to get it easily.e*citable through neural reeducation

and then you can "ocus on increasing strength and hy%ertro%hy

2ait )or /ain to 1ubside

,hen %ain e*ists during movement the brain is trying to shut do'n the glutes so this isnot a good time to try to be teaching the glutes (motor learning) There sim%ly 'ill not be

much learning going on in the gluteal motor So 'ait until %ain subsides to startattem%ting to "i* the dys"unctional glute

Assuming %ain is gone there are si* strategies that you may choose to em%loy

Be%ending on your situation you may 'ant to stick to /ust some o" the strategies or you
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may em%loy all si* simultaneously $t all de%ends on your situation Here are the si*

strategiesC

"* Isometric (ontractions )or t3e 2eaker Glute

The "irst thing you 'ant to do in order to try to "i* a gluteal imbalance is %er"orm a buncho" e*tra 'ork "or the 'eaker glute ,hat you need to do is establish a solid mind.muscle

connection 6MM:8 'ith the dys"unctional glute !ne great 'ay o" going about this is to

%er"orm isometric contractions Here is a good series to %er"orm on a daily basisC

09 sets o"


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E sets o" 09.E9 re%s o" single leg glute bridges 'ith the 'eaker leg

D =est


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$ts u% to you to learn your loading threshold and stick to loads that allo' "or %ro%er

motor %rogramming -or some this e#uates to body'eight loading and "or others 92

o" 0=M might be okay Ho'ever even i" your imbalance is not that signi"icant youde"initely 'ant to shy a'ay "rom anything above ;92 o" 0=M "or at least a month

,hen you go too heavy your body ,$LL "ind the %ath o" least resistance in order to getthe /ob done !ne o" your glutes is 'eaker than the other and i" you %ush the envelo%e

your body 'ill 'ork around it by using other muscles and contorting the body 6ieCshi"ting to one side rotating at the hi%s8 So %lease rememberC good re%s take you

"or'ardF bad re%s take you back'ard and cause stagnationI

Gradually increase loading over the course o" several months $" you ram% u% too soon

you 'ont %rogress as youll /ust con"use the 'eaker glute and %revent reintegration @oumay 'ish to start o"" 'ith easier variations such as goblet s#uats and =BLs Take your

time and be %atient

5* Bilateral Mo.ements wit3 Resistance Bands +round t3e 6nees, +nkles, or Feet

+ody'eight s#uatting and bridging %atterns 'ith resistance bands around the knees arevery e""ective "or gluteal reeducation and should be %er"ormed during 'arm.u%s $n

addition various ty%es o" band 'alks can and should be %er"ormed These have di""erent

names such as *.band 'alks sumo 'alks and monster 'alks $ recommend %lacing

bands around the mid."eet and %er"orming both crouched and u%right 'alkingmovements $ also recommend %er"orming these 'alks both "or'ard and back'ard as

'ell as "rom side to side 4ust %ick a cou%le o" these band e*ercises each session and

%er"orm E sets o" each during the 'arm.u% Again dont go "or P=s and %rogressiveoverload go "or activation Think JAL$T@ not JA5T$T@
http://bretcontreras.com/wp-content/uploads/Goblet-Squat.jpg


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* 1ingle Leg Mo.ements and (ore 1tability 4rills

Heres the deal @ou dont 'ant your strong leg to get 'eaker and you dont 'ant the

glutes hamstrings adductors and #uads on the good leg to shrivel u% ,hat you do 'ant

is "or the glute on the 'eaker side to catch u% as #uickly as %ossible so it matches that o"the stronger side Per"orming lo'.to.medium load bilateral movements 'ill %revent the

hi% and thigh muscles on the dominant side "rom e*%eriencing signi"icant atro%hy and

you 'ont lose a%%reciable amounts o" strength either So let that give you %eace o" mind

Ho'ever you can still %er"orm some traditional single leg 'ork 6think +ulgarian s%lit

s#uats ste% u%s reverse lunges single leg =BLs single leg hi% thrusts and single legback e*tensions8 or core stability 'ork 6think Pallo" %resses side %lanks and band hi%

rotations8 'ith t'o caveatsC

Bont go too heavy to the %oint 'here you no longer "eel the 'eaker glute doing

the brunt o" the 'ork $" you cant accom%lish this 'ith body'eight loading then

dont do them theyre too advanced "or you and 'ill %revent you "rom

%rogressing Assuming you do "eel these movements 'orking the 'eaker glute%ro%erly then you can indeed incor%orate them into your %rogramming but the

set sto%s the second "orm breaks do'n or the second you sto% "eeling the glute

doing the 'ork

Bo t'ice the volume "or the 'eaker side com%ared to the stronger side $" you do09 re%s "or the 'eaker side stick to 1 re%s "or the stronger side This 'ill also

%revent strength and hy%ertro%hy losses "or the dominant side 'hile allo'ing the

'eaker glute to catch u%
http://bretcontreras.com/wp-content/uploads/Band-Lateral-Walks.jpg


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$" you %lay an asymmetrical s%ort thats in season $ advise you to not do any 'ork "or the

dominant side as its getting %lenty o" 'ork during the s%ort and %ractices themselves

7* 1el)Myo)ascial Release 81MR9 and 1tatic and 4ynamic 1tretc3es

$t is very im%ortant "or your hi% mobility to be symmetrical @ou should test your hi%

"le*ibility "or each leg in all %ossible directions @ou 'ant to test your hi% "le*ion hi%

e*tension hi% abduction hi% adduction hi% internal rotation and hi% e*ternal rotation"le*ibility "or each hi% $" you have a marked asymmetry in any o" the motions then you

should attem%t to restore balance as #uickly as %ossible ,hile the strengthening

movements can hel% 'ith this goal some SM= and stretching is synergistic and 'ille*%edite the %rocess !"ten you 'ill "ind that hi% rotation imbalances e*ist 6e*ternal or

internal8 $" so you 'ill bene"it "rom %er"orming a combination o" "oam rolling static

stretches and dynamic stretches to hel% achieve balanced "le*ibility Stick to 1 minutes

o" SM= and "le*ibility 'ork "or the a""ected side

+utomaticity is t3e Goal

@our goal is to eventually reach automaticity and #uit having to (think glutes) all daylong Sure any good li"ter has to remind him or hersel" to s#uee?e the glutes on ma*imal

hi% e*tension e*ercises such as 'hen locking out a deadli"t +ut both o" your glutes
http://bretcontreras.com/wp-content/uploads/Hip-Internal-Rotation-Stretch.jpghttp://bretcontreras.com/wp-content/uploads/Single-Leg-RDL.jpg


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should "ire automatically 'hen you e*tend the hi% 6or conduct any other movement that

relies on the glutes8 ,ithin si*.months o" gluteal reeducation you should be able to

balance out your strength and movement %atterns ho%e"ully even #uicker

@ou eventually 'ant to be able to %er"orm high.load movements such as ma*imal s#uats

and deadli"ts and e*%losive movements such as /um% s#uats %o'er cleans kettlebells'ings %lyos and s%rints 'ith symmetrical and %ro%erly "unctioning gluteals As you

%rogress in your gluteal reeducation you 'ill begin to ram% u% in loading and %er"ormmore challenging e*ercises As this occurs you 'ill begin to 'ean yoursel" o"" o"

isometric contractions and lo'.load glute activation drills -or less.serious cases o" glute

imbalances this %rocess might take K 'eeks -or more serious glute imbalances the%rocess could take


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Bene)its o) 4oing +bduction:;xternal Rotation Mo.ements

Abduction e*ercises o"ten hit the u%%er glutes really hard 'hile e*ternal rotationmovements hit the entire glutes really 'ell $n "act as you can see in the chart above the

band e*ternal rotation is an ama?ing glute e*ercisemost likely the best glute isolation

movement in e*istence $ts di""icult to master but i" you can do it youre glutes 'illres%ond very "avorablyI Boing these movements "irst in a routine o"ten allo's the client

to "eel their glutes 'orking more on subse#uent e*ercises 'hich is a huge %lus

3e /lan

0 ScreenE ,arm.%


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!%tionsC "ull s#uat bo* s#uat "ront s#uat Nercher s#uat 'alking lunge high ste% u%

+ulgarian s#uat %istol

!. Pick a ip-Dominant ip Extension Exercise and do ! sets of "-10 repetitions

!%tionsC deadli"t sumo deadli"t tra% bar deadli"t =omanian deadli"t rack %ull single leg=BL good morning back e*tension reverse hy%er

#. Pick a $ent-%e& ip Extension Exercise and do ! sets of 10-20 repetitions

!%tionsC hi% thrust glute bridge single leg hi% thrust %ull through %endulum #uadru%ed

hi% e*tension

D!n these movements you 'ant shorter rest times and you 'ant to try to "orce as muchblood into the glutes as %ossible Think constant tension and think (%um%) @ou should

be 'addling like a duck a"ter these movements

How do I /er)orm 1ome o) t3ese Mo.ements>

Here are some videos that can hel% you out $ took some videos o" my niece 'ho trains'ith me once %er 'eek "or the %ast si* months or so $" a 0< year old girl can do it so can

youI

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