FIRM BUTTOCKS IN 3… 2… 1!

The dsire of many and many, the obsession of some. The glutes are the most frequently mentioned muscles when a trainer asks about training goals among women. However, they should be one of the most worked muscles by anyone: men, women, old, young, tall, short, ugly, handsome …

The glutes are the “walking” muscles. They mark a before and after in evolution. Do you know the difference in this respect between a monkey and a human? Humans have a much larger glute, supported by a wider pelvis, so they can walk upright. That is, this is one of the physical changes that bipedalism caused.

These muscles, so important for walking, should be the key to a large part of physical exercise programs, and not only because they are firm, but because they improve our performance in activities of daily living, in sports activities (running, for example) and its correct activation reduces back pain.

But well, if you have reached this article what you want to know is how to have a glute ten. Do not worry, I bring you the latest scientific evidence on which exercises achieve great muscle activations and what differentiates them from each other.

In the MacAskill ranking, Durant and Wallace (2014) studied the activation percentage, both in the gluteus medius and the gluteus maximus in 4 very common exercises, two with external load and two without external load.

Glute exercises

Gluteus medius:

1. 10RM of lateral decubitus abduction: approx. 100%.
2. Go up to the front step: approx. 60-65%.
3. Climb the lateral step: approx. 60-65%.
4. 10RM Hip Extension Prone: Approx. 35-40%.

Gluteus maximus:

1. 10RM hip extension prone: 100%.
2. 10RM of abduction in lateral decubitus: 35-40%.
3. Go up to the lateral step: 30-35%.
4. Go up to the front step: 25-30%.

These are a few exercises for which Macadam, Cronin and Contreras include in their review published in October 2015. Among the exercises indicated that produce the most activation are the “cross over step up” for the gluteus maximus. crossed foot) and for the gluteus medius the lateral bridge with abduction and the hip abduction standing with rubber to the ankles.This publication is a must-read if you want to know which are the exercises that most activate your gluteus. It is available to everyone at the following url address: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4595911/pdf/ijspt-10-573.pdf

On the other hand, many of the “fitgirls” that flood social networks show gluteal routines in which jumps predominate, and it is that popular wisdom has unintentionally observed that on some occasions the buttocks are activated more with exercises plyometrics. Sugisake et al. (2014) verified how the gluteus maximus was more activated with a “pliometricsquatjump” (jumped squats) with body weight, than with a “back squat” (squats with the load on the back) with an additional load that represented 60% of 1RM. Although in this case the gesture is similar, the execution speed and the load are different, which makes the muscles also act differently.

Another typical huddle comment is “squeeze your ass while you walk.” Is this really effective? Well, it seems that it is, but not only on a day-to-day basis, but when performing exercises in which we are going to use a hip extension. As indicated by the “gluteus boy”, Bret Contreras, it is much more effective even to activate voluntarily tightening while standing up, than to perform an exercise in which we supposedly involve the gluteus but finally do not activate it to its full potential (Contreras et al., 2015). This means that when performing exercises we have to be aware that the gluteus is activated, accompany the movement with a “squeeze”, for example in the ascent phase of the squat.

Now you know some of the keys to having a firm glute: (1) use exercises that really activate it, (2) keep in mind that not only the movement is important, but also the speed of execution and the load, and (3 ) be aware that you get the maximum activation, that is, “squeeze”.

But this does not end here, I have better news, since, in addition to putting you in the hands of very good trainers who take these keys into account, with the FAST method we will achieve greater activation of your glutes. We add the voluntary contraction to the electrostimulation, with which this will help us to: teach you to tighten your muscles with force if you have not yet achieved it and also obtain better results due to the greater activation produced by the EMS Integral Activa .