Glutes and Gains: The Key to a Healthier Lower Back
We’ve covered the core and its role in protecting the lower back. We’ve also covered the importance of keeping your lower back healthy. Let’s talk about glutes in this article!
If you search for good glute building exercises, then you’ll find all sorts of YouTube videos and articles presenting all sorts of ideas and philosophies. Two things must occur to build bigger and stronger glutes: a solid stretch and contraction of the glutes and sufficient resistance to spark muscle growth. You don’t need fancy equipment and to do exercises at crazy angles to work your glutes. In fact, these only came to be so that trainers could help (or sell) their clients on better exercises to encourage glute engagement. I’m not against all of these tricks, but I’ve found that the more complex a movement, the less weight is used and that can also be detrimental to your progress. Whichever exercise you choose, focus on form and a strong glute contraction first…then increase weight up to the point where you feel your form start to break down and you get less strong contractions in your glutes. Working with maximal weight while maintaining perfect form is required no matter the exercise that you are doing.
Here are my preferred exercises to help strengthen the glutes and help protect the lower back. NOTE: All of these exercises can injure your lower back if you do them incorrectly with improper form. However, if you do them with correct form then you’ll add strength and stability to your lumbar while building bigger and stronger glutes.
Squat
This is the king of all exercises for a reason. The squat will mostly work the legs but can be considered a full body movement. With relation to stabilizing the lumbar, the squat will strengthen the glutes, erectors, and core. When done properly, this is one of the best movements to help strengthen your back/hips as a whole.
Deadlift
If there was an exercise to give the squat a challenge for top honors, then it would be the deadlift. This posterior chain movement will absolutely hammer your glutes and erectors while also working your core. That said, if you do these with bad form, then you’re actively trying to injure your lumbar. Know this with the deadlift…if you do this movement properly then you’ll make your back harder to injure. If you do them improperly, then you’ll injure your back. FORM FIRST!
Stiff Leg Deadlift
Everything I’ve said about the deadlift can be applied here. With correct form, this movement will really target the erectors, glutes, and hamstrings. This movement will force you to use a lighter weight, which can allow you to focus on the contractions of your glutes. If you don’t feel the glutes much on the traditional deadlift, then you will most likely feel them working here. Don’t think of picking the weight up with this movement. Think of pushing your hips backwards while maintaining rigidity in your spine that causes you to hinge at the hips. You should feel the hamstrings stretching as the weight is closer to the floor, and you should feel the glutes contract the higher you lift the weight. If you think to drive your hips backwards as you perform this movement, then it becomes easier to keep the correct form.
Good Morning
This is a great movement when done properly, but it’s not the easiest to execute. I suggest keeping the weight light to moderate until you get the form and contraction down. When done properly, this movement targets the glutes and erectors much like the deadlift, but it takes the “pulling” out of the movement, which can allow you to focus more on the targeted muscle.
GHR (Glute-Ham Raise)
This machine isn’t easy to find in most gyms, but if your gym has one, then consider yourself lucky. This is one of the best movements for your posterior chain and takes top honors as the best accessory movement for strengthening the posterior chain and protecting the lumbar.
Hyperextension
This is a great movement if you don’t have a GHR in your gym. This exercise will target the erectors, hamstrings, and glutes. That said, if you have a GHR, then you should use that instead.
Hip Thrust
If we are talking glutes, then it should be no surprise to see this movement on here. It’s hard to find a better movement that will almost isolate the glutes, and it’s become a staple in all of the glute building programs out there. I prefer to set this up in the power rack with bands (if you have band attachments). I like the strength curve of bands compared to free weights (one of the few times I’ll say that). That said, a traditional hip thrust will work just fine as well.
Glute Bridge
If you want one of the simplest ways of protecting the lower back, then add glute bridges as the final exercise to your workouts a few times per week. Want to take it a step further? Add a pause at peak contraction for a 5-second count or more. This is like a hip thrust without weight (or less weight depending on how you do them). This is a great movement to target the glutes and increase strength, which will ultimately help protect the lower back.
REMEMBER…many of the movements on this list can actually injure your lumbar if you do them incorrectly. However, if you take the time to learn proper form and then execute perfect form on these movements, then you’ll only strengthen your body and further protect your lumbar with time.