The Imprtance of Glute Strength for Runners.

Why are strong glutes so important for runners?

Well, first let’s look at the basic biomechanics of running.

The glutes are made up of the Gluteus maximimus, medius and minimus. Their names indicate the size of the muscle. When we run, the gluteus maximus is responsible for hip extension, or raising your leg behind your thigh and knee behind you after pushing off with your foot. Good hip extension creates the energy of that leg swing into forward motion. Thus, Gluteus Maximus has more to do with the propulsion and deceleration jobs, whilst Gluteus Medius and Minimus have a lot more to do with stability.

Now that we know what the muscles are, we can see what a big role those muscles those muscles play when we run. Weak glutes can lead to the following injuries:

• Runners knee (Patellofemoral knee pain)
• ITB syndrome
• Achilles tendinopathy
• ‘Shin splints’ and medial shin pain.

So, as you can see it is of great importance to have strong glutes!

Strengthening gluteus maximus is easy enough as these are exercises that can be done in the gym with weights. Of course, Medius and Minimus are strengthened at the same time as they are stabilising maximus.
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Watch out for my videos on my website and on Instagram and Facebook showing you how to strengthen all of your glute muscles!