The glutes are one of the most importance muscle groups in our body. This is not because most people want to have one that looks good. Don’t get me wrong, I like a nice looking behind as much as the next person, but the reality is a strong butt can help prevent all kinds of injuries and really is critical to many basic movements and sports.

The glutes are made up of the gluteus maximum, gluteus medius and gluteus minimus.

The gluteus maximus is a large, powerful muscle that enables us to bend and straighten the hip joint. This muscle gives you explosive jumping power and the ability to climb stairs, hills and mountains. It can aid in preventing low back pain and is critical to strong core. With the leg in neutral (straightened), the gluteus medius and gluteus minimus function together to pull the thigh away from midline, or “abduct” the thigh. During walking, these two muscles function principally in supporting the body on one leg, to prevent the pelvis from dropping to the opposite side, so they are very important when it comes to stabilizing our hips and our core.

Additionally, with the hip flexed the gluteus medius and minimus internally rotate the thigh. With the hip extended, the gluteus medius and gluteus minimus externally rotate the thigh. A weak gluteus medius can lead to knee pain and other lower body impairments. Runners in particular need to train this muscle to prevent and manage lower body injuries.

A colleague of mine, Bret Contreras, also known as “The Glute Guy” has made a living showing people how to train the glute muscles. According to Bret, the three most basic lower body exercises are the box squat, hip hinge and glute bridge. Each of these exercises is not only critical to developing strong glutes but also imperative to developing any sort of lower body strength. You can view these exercises on bretcontreras.com.

What I like most about Bret is he preaches the importance of mastering the basic movements and then progressing to more difficult exercises. We should never be doing weighted exercises until we can master the form without any weight.

In my experience most people place way too much emphasis on the amount of weight they are lifting and inevitably their form suffers and when that happens, injuries occur.