In our previous glute and core blog post, we explained why it was important to activate and strengthen your glute and core muscles during a workout. 

In today's blog, we share what specific exercises you can perform every day, either at home, work or at the gym, to strengthen your glute and core muscles. 

Firstly, it’s important for your body to understand and recognise the position that your pelvis is in (i.e. anterior/posterior pelvic tilt) and to be comfortable with moving between the two positions and neutral.

1. Lie on your back with your knees bent.
2. Contract your abdominal (tummy) muscles and glute muscles so that your back becomes flat against the floor – think about drawing your belly button towards the ground and hold for 3-5 seconds.
3. Slowly relax into the starting position.
4. Repeat for 10 reps

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Once you feel comfortable with doing this in a lying position, you can progress to completing the exercise on your hands and knees, sitting on a chair and then to standing. The key is to become comfortable moving your pelvis between the 2 positions.

Activating Your Glutes

Glute Bridges

1. Lie on your back with your knees bent.
2. Drive your hips off the ground by contracting your abdominal glute muscles – aim for a nice straight line from your shoulders to your knees – and hold for 3 seconds.
3. Slowly relax into the starting position.
4. Repeat for 8 – 10 reps.

When you become comfortable with this, you can progress to doing single leg (remember to do both sides) and/or placing your feet on an uneven surface such as a Bosu ball, balance pod/disc or a pillow.

 

Strengthening Your Core

In this context, we want to make sure we are targeting our deep core muscles. 

Toe Taps

1. Lie on your back with knees bent at 90 degrees and feet off the ground – ensure your back is nice and flat against the ground (think about drawing your belly button towards the ground).
2. Slowly lower one leg to tap the ground whilst maintaining the position of your back against the ground.
3. Repeat on other leg and alternate legs for 8-10 taps on each leg.

When you become comfortable with this, you can progress to doing both legs at the same time.

Dead Bugs

1. Lie on your back with knees bent at 90 degrees and feet off the ground and your arms straight up over your chest – ensure your back is nice and flat against the ground (think about drawing your belly button towards the ground again).

2. Slowly straighten out one leg and one arm (on opposite sides) whilst maintaining your back flat against the ground.

3. Repeat on other leg and arm and alternate for 8-10 reps on each side.

These are just a few exercises to get you started. Remember, you can do them at the start of your work out as part of your warm up, or at the end with the rest of your core exercises and stretches. You could even do them at work/home if you’ve been sitting in front of the computer/TV for a while and need a break!