Glute activation is waking up your glutes. It makes the connection from your brain to your muscle and gets the muscle fired up and ready to do some work.
Glute activation should be done prior to your workout, but it can also be done as an active rest between sets. And trust me when I say that doing some glute activation prior to your squats, lunges, and deadlifts will result in an excellent glute workout!
Glute activation is waking up your glutes. It makes the connection from your brain to your muscle and gets the muscle fired up and ready to do some work.
Glute activation should be done prior to your workout, but it can also be done as an active rest between sets. And trust me when I say that doing some glute activation prior to your squats, lunges, and deadlifts will result in an excellent glute workout!
No one needs to tell Mary Duffy, 71-year-old powerlifting champion, any of that because her glutes are wide awake and ready for action all of the time. So it would seem judging by this 185 lb deadlift she posted this weekend.
No, we didn’t just want an excuse to highlight Duffy’s awesomeness. But, it is awesome that she is kicking butt and inspirational because we know 20-year-olds who would have a hard time moving that weight (they don’t read Breaking Muscle, obviously).
Looking at the glute maximus, you will quickly notice the muscle doesn’t run just up and down, but fans out the pelvis. The muscle does several actions at once, versus a more linear set of muscles like the biceps.
We can think of the glutes as being “tri-planar,” meaning that they do work in all planes of motion, often at once. They also help develop great force in rotation.
If you are looking to develop high levels of athleticism or functional movements, you need to properly progress through rotational drills.
So, we salute Mary Duffy, we salute the glute work, and we salute functional strength.
