4 Ways to Train your Side Butt
I love talking about the glutes. After all, the glutes and the pelvic floor are BFFs, and a HUGE piece of training in the postpartum period.
Your glutes are POWERFUL, but when we sit frequently and our center of mass shifts during pregnancy, we need a little help getting them back on board. The pelvic floor muscles run between the sacrum (bony bit at end of spine) and the pubic bone. You can visualize the pelvic floor like a bowl at the base of your torso.
The glutes should act as a counterbalance to the pull of the pelvic floor muscles on the sacrum. When they’re not strong enough to counterbalance the pelvic floor, the pelvic floor gets tight AF and pulls the sacrum forward at the bottom and into the bowl of the pelvis. Quite literally, your glutes keep the pelvic floor in check. One secret to a strong and happy pelvic floor is strong glutes. If you are on a kegels only pelvic floor routine, it’s time to expand your options ;)
Let’s meet the Glutes
The lower body has multiple muscles that attach to the pelvis and influence its position and movement capability. The main muscles include the quadriceps, hamstrings, adductors, hip flexors, pelvic floor, and the glutes.
The glutes attach on the lateral and posterior side of the pelvis. There are three main muscles to consider: the glute max, medius, and minimus.
Glute Maximus: external rotation and hip extension. The largest of the three glute muscles, the biggest job is keeping us upright and pushing/propelling us forward as the primary hip extensor. Important for walking and running. My favorite glute max exercises include squats, staggered hip thrusts, split squats, and and step ups.
Glute Med + Minimus: work together for abduction, internal rotation, and pelvic/hip stability. They help stabilize the. hip and help us balance. I love leverage single leg activities (more below).
Training the Side Butt
When talking about the “side butt” I’m referring to the glute medius. The go-to exercises prescribed have often been clamshells, lateral band walks, and hip abduction movements. While these movements aren’t “bad” and definitely have a place, I love to explore biomechanics and other ways we can train the glutes in a functional way.
Many people characterize the glute medius as a hip abductor (leg away from body), but the muscle has several roles and is active during much of gait and running. It’s also important to note that the glute medius has different fibers.
- Anterior glute medius: internal rotation and preventing excessive abduction of hip + foot pronation.
- Posterior glute medius: External Rotation, abduction, extension of hip in late stance with big toe / inner foot reference. Think of the big toe pushing away as you’re about to transition to the other leg.
Considerations for the glute medius:
As the pelvis moves over the femur in mid-stance, the glute med and other hip internal rotators like the TFL position the pelvis directly over the femur, and prevent the pelvis from excessively falling out to the side. During this phase, the opposite leg is swinging through. Without enough glute medius support the pelvis may drop towards the side of the swinging leg (hip drop).
The glute medius’ role is dependent on the level of hip flexion. The glute med has more leverage as an internal rotator at 90 degrees of hip flexion (mid-range of a squat).
With this in mind, a lateral band walk may not be the most optimal movement to train the glute medius. We are often sitting in the 90 degrees of hip flexion while “pushing away” and living on the outside edges of our foot (lateral side), while abducting the hip (moving away).
What are some great ways to train the side butt?
I love integrating movements that incorporate positions that mimic mid-stance.
Banded Step Down: Holy cow this one is hard. A position that mimics more mid-stance. Spending more time in ~90 degrees of hip flexion, and training the anterior glute to resist abduction (moving to the side) while keeping the pelvis over the femur in internal rotation.
Front Foot Elevated Split Squat with lateral resistance: another option to the banded step down I find a bit more accessible.
Side Plank with Leg Lift: including both abduction and extension
Rear Foot Elevated Split Squat with same side (ipsilateral) weight: the posterior glute med is working here in hip extension in a position mimicking late stance. This one is tough and you really need to focus on finding the inner foot and not rolling out to the side.
Check out my post on Instagram where I review these movements too!
Questions on training the side booty and getting the most out of your training program? Let’s chat!
xoxo,
Erica