The glute medius has been the life of the post-run party for years. It’s without a doubt the most talked about muscle in the running universe. Everybody wants a piece of its celebrity, but does it deserve all the hype? Today we’ll explain this muscle’s role in the runners’ body and show you the best exercises to strengthen the glute medius so you can run more with less pain!
Why runners should strengthen the glute medius
First we want to be clear. Some glute gurus out there talk about the glute medius as if it’s the missing link for all running injuries. If the key to injury free miles was just hanging out beneath your back pocket, somebody would have found it by now. Unfortunately, the Gmed is not the only muscle where a runner needs strength, and making it stronger is not a cure-all. After all, the calves and the quads do several times more work than the glutes in the running stride (study). If that’s the case, why do we care about the glute medius in the first place?
Well, the glute medius helps position our femur relative to our pelvis when we run (study). It is also the hardest working hip muscle in the running stride (study). A strong glute medius won’t necessarily save us from running injuries, but it will help us manage the load of running mileage more effectively. Runners with knee pain often have reduced glute medius activation (review), and the most recent statement from the world’s experts on knee pain recommends knee (quad) and hip (glute medius primarily) strengthening as the best treatment for what’s commonly known as “runner’s knee.” Here’s a summary of the science in one non-dramatic sentence: if you’re a runner who wants to prevent or fix aches and pains, strengthening your glute medius is a good use of time but it is not the only muscle to strengthen.
Different exercises to strengthen the glute medius
If you want to make a muscle stronger, you need to expose it to difficult exercises. It’s easy to think, “I run for an hour, so I should focus on being able to complete lots of light reps,” but the research suggests that we should focus on gaining strength through a few sets of heavy exercise rather than lifting for endurance (summary of evidence). To do this, we need the right exercises. The glute medius actually has three parts (a front, middle, and back) and this giant (review) of the research on 30+ exercises found that the three exercises we’re about to show you load all parts of the glute medius effectively with minimal or no equipment.
You could turn this into glute focused-routine with 3 sets of 10 reps of each of these exercises. Add weight or resistance bands when bodyweight is no longer challenging.
Amazing glute gif from Wikipedia
The Total Glute Medius Routine
Exercise 1: Side plank with leg raise
This is probably the GOAT of glute medius exercises one can do at home. It recruits a lot of the muscle and is just plain hard. If this becomes easy (you have superhuman glutes), try adding an ankle weight or band around your knees.
Exercise 2: Single leg bridge.
This exercise is highly effective at loading the front portion of the glute medius. You can add a band around your knees to increase the difficulty.
Exercise 3: Single leg squat
The single leg squat has the benefit of challenging the quad as well. This exercise works the front and back thirds of the glute medius. Preventing your knee from falling inwards keeps the load moving through the glute, which is key.
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