Use Yoga to Solve Marathoner Problems: Weak Glutes
PROBLEM: WEAK GLUTES
We asked for your biggest marathon problems. Coming in number 1: weak glutes. No surprise there! Weak glutes — specifically, sleepy glute max — is at the root of some of the most prevalent and avoidable chain reaction imbalances. Including your number 2 problem: tight hammies.
Weak glutes and tight hammies are often connected because of your posterior chain. If you’re a runner who’s seen a good PT, you’ve likely heard about the posterior chain. The muscles should activate sequentially to optimize your stride: core stabilizers, glutes, hammies. But in runners it often goes… hammies, quads, umm, calves… help! When your stride (for miles and miles) relies on what should be assistant muscles rather than the bosses of your stability and push off, it can lead to all kinds of compensation pain and injuries.
WEAK GLUTES CAN SHOW UP AS
Tight, sticky (aka stuck together) hamstrings
Low back pain
Knee pain
Piriformis pain
Tight calves
Stiff hip flexors
more!
And that list can set up its own chain reactions, like tight calves causing achilles or even plantar problems. It literally starts at your bottom! Let’s get your glute max back in the position of power it should be!
SELF-TEST: ARE YOUR GLUTES WORKING TOO HARD OR NOT HARD ENOUGH?
Weak glutes or hypertonic glutes, both will hinder your stride by causing a chain reaction of imbalance. The solution is finding that middle ground — balance.
But first you have to know which one you are! Tight or lazy?
SOLUTION: ISOLATE, ACTIVATE, STRENGTHEN
The following videos will help you use yoga to isolate, activate, and strengthen your glutes. Part of the work is physical and part is mental. You’ll find that with repetition your brain will begin to connect the dots and your body will more readily function as designed — you won’t have to constantly ask your butt to do its job when you’re running.
NOTE: When your glutes aren’t activating properly, strength work like loaded squats is counterproductive because other muscles will compensate and, ultimately, create more imbalance. Start small for big results.
WEEKLY | 2 - 4 x WEEK
HOW TO ACTIVATE YOUR GLUTES
DAILY | PRE-RUN ACTIVATION VIDEOS: DO BEFORE EVERY RUN
Continue to connect the dots — be sure to activate your glutes before every run. Warm up videos are all under 15 minutes, so make them non-negotiable. On days when you’re really time poor, hit one-off activations like Bridge Flow, All Fours Running, Chair Flow and/or Single-Leg Balance. OR steal a page from the Triathlete Playbook with the 5 minute Pre-Run Warm Up!
WORKOUT DAY WARM UP
This week we focused on glute max — the boss of your push-off — but your glutes aren’t one muscle, they’re three. Glute max is the boss, and glute med and glute min its helpers, there to stabilize your hips. We’ll unpack the hips in future weeks, but you can start with Running Efficiency Boost weekly to address all your glute muscles as well as nearly every strength related marathoner problem in one hit.
Next up we’ll unstick those hammies. Keep sharing how you’re using yoga with #athletesforyoga!