People tend to think our glutes - the largest muscles in the human body - are all about squats and lunges. While they do help perform these movements properly, they're also super important for helping with our posture and to stabilise the pelvis. If you spend a lot of time during the day sitting down, your glutes 'turn off'. Reminding them what to do by activating them again through specific training exercises can be helpful, even more so if you're about to do a full body workout. Learn more about:

• What are your glutes?
• What happens if your glutes don't activate properly?
• Exercises to target your inner glutes
• Ways to release glute tightness

What are your glutes?

When we talk about glutes, we're not just referring to the obvious muscle in our butt that you see on the outside - there are layers to it. Gluteus Maximus - This is the largest muscle that's also the most visible as it's close to the skin's surface. Their main roles are as hip extensors (translation: when you squeeze your butt, it helps open up the angle at the front of your hips), abductors (they also help lift your leg out and up to the side of your body) and rotate your leg outwards. The Gluteus Medius is the middle layer of muscle and Gluteus Minimus is the deepest muscle layer. They both help stabilise your pelvis and the top of your thigh bone, while also helping with posture. These muscles also help lift your leg outwards and upwards to the side of your body, and rotate your leg outwards.

What happens if your glutes don't activate properly?

This can cause pelvic alignment issues that can translate up and/or down the body. As they are important for our posture, it can lead to problems such as back pain or shoulder tightness. As our pelvic stability can influence the way we stand, it can lead to hip, knee, ankle or foot issues.

Check out these exercises to help target your glutes.

GLUTE BRIDGE

• Lie down in semi supine with your knees bent, feet flat on the floor underneath them.
• Lengthen your spine and have your arms at your sides, palms facing down.
• Press evenly into your feet to lift your hips off the ground while giving your butt a squeeze, then release your hips back down to the ground.
• Common mistake: Letting the knees go outwards as you lift your hips - keep the knees hip-width apart. Having a yoga block between the thighs and giving it a squeeze can help keep everything in alignment and strengthen this move.
• Make it more challenging: Add a resistance loop band around your thighs.
• Repeat 15 times.

GLUTE KICKBACKS

• Start in tabletop on all fours with a straight spine, middle ribcage lifted.
• Keep even weight between hands, extend one leg behind you with the foot flexed and lift the leg as high as you can without shifting your pelvis. Toes  point down towards the ground.
• Return knee to starting point (option to touch it back to the ground before doing the next rep or to hover it).
• Common mistake: Allowing your belly to soften towards the floor and the back to arch as you extend your let back. Keep the ribcage wrapping firmly towards the midline and keep the pelvis level.
• Make it more challenging: Add a resistance loop band around your thighs.
• Repeat 15 times each side.

SIDE LYING LEG LIFTS

• Lie on your side with your legs stacked on top of each other. Bottom hand can support under the head as elbow extends away from you in line with your body.
• Stack your hips and brace through your belly.
• Keeping your top foot flexed, lift the whole leg up to the sky while continuing to brace your belly to stop your body rotating, then return to the start position.
• Repeat 12 times each side.

CLAMSHELLS

• Lie on your side with legs stacked, knees bent to 90 degrees. Hand comes under your head for support with your elbow extended in line with your body.
• Stack your hips and brace through your belly.
• Keeping your toes connected, open your knees apart, away from each other, then return to a closed position.
• Common mistake: Losing the connection between your toes, keep them zipped together.
• Make it more challenging: Add a resistance loop band around your thighs.
• Repeat 12 times each side.

Ways to release glute tightness

When muscles don't activate in the way they should, it can create tension and tightness in other areas that take the load. For a balanced approach, we need to strengthen while also stretching and developing stability.

FIGURE 4 STRETCH

• Lie flat on your back with a long spine, knees bent, soles of the feet flat on the floor.
• Place one ankle with the foot in a flexed position on top of your opposite thigh just above the knee, then ease the bent knee away from you.
• To deepen the stretch: If you can keep the rest of your body relaxed with a long spine, the option is to put your hands around the thigh of the leg still placed on the floor (reach one hand around the side, other goes through the space between your legs) and draw it in towards you. Spine and neck should stay long with chin slightly down towards your chest.
• Common mistake: Reaching through to bring your leg in when things are too tight to be able to relax into the stretch or you feel you have to arch your back/tilt your head back to hold onto your leg, keep your foot on the ground instead.
• Hold for 5 to 10 even breaths.

FIGURE 4 FOAM ROLLING

• Sit on your foam roller with knees bent, soles of the feet on the floor. Place one ankle with the foot in a flexed position on top of your opposite thigh just above the knee, then ease the bent knee away from you.
• Think of the spot between the top of your femur (thigh bone) and the pelvis; we're trying to roll out this area between these two points.
• Placing one hand on the floor behind you and one hand on your top ankle, lean sideways to apply more pressure to the opened/stretched glutes on the top leg. Take small slow rolls back and forth over this area - if any areas feel particularly tight you can pause there. Try to relax until the tension eases.
• Common mistake: Rolling the wrong spot. Most people have tension somewhere in this area - if you don't feel anything, play around slightly with the angle and area that you're rolling out to see if you can find a spot that feels like it needs to be rolled!
• Perform 8 rolls forwards and back on each side.

Images / NZ Real Health