Glute "activation": What does it mean? Is this a myth?

Do not listen to Coach D or anyone else who is telling you that glue activation is a myth or the sign of a charlatan.

I'm a mid-40's lifelong runner, and a few years ago I had a bad case of runner's knee. My ortho recommended quad strengthening isometric exercises, which I did diligently to no effect. When that didn't work, he told me all he could offer was semi-annual cortisone shots.

I then was fortunate to find a really good PT who took the time to diagnose my muscle imbalances and weaknesses. It turns out I had very weak (or "inactive") gluteus medius, which allowed my knee to "collapse" inward under load, causing my kneecap to track improperly and lead to my knee pain. A concerted program of glute strengthening completely eliminated the pain. Furthermore, I can now feel those glute muscles working when running, which I never could before. I also just feel stronger, more stable, and springier somehow in my stride.

A simple test to see if you have the same problem is this: Do a single-leg squat, trying to keep your kneecap pointed directly over your second biggest toe. If your knee tends to move medially as you do your squat, or it takes great effort to prevent it from moving medially, your gluteus medius is weak, and you will probably benefit from strengthening it. Good luck.

It's a catch phrase.

The issue is tight and overactive hip flexors caused by sitting all day.

It's more an issue of improper muscle firing caused by a lack of mobility.

Another common problem is "valgus knee". This could be a hip issue, but in a population of chronic runners it's probably chronically tight calves/soleus.

In general most people need to stretch and foam roll: delts, chest, hip flexors, it band, calves.

Alan

You got duped twice. First runners knee is caused by quads being overworked and tightening up. Doing the extra quad work never allowed them to recover.

You quads were finally able to rest and recover while you were doing glute work which probably had little to do with your common OVERUSE injury.

Entirely wrong on both counts. But thanks for sharing your baseless opinion.

I had a very similar issue... lower leg injury but a muscle balance test showed I was overcompensating by over-using my quads and calves vs my glutes, hamstring, and hip flexor. My knee would rotate inward in a one-legged squat.

Strengthening exercises included squats, lunges, clamshells, and knee-dips.

I observed tangible biomechanical improvement after working on glute and core strength. In super slow motion, I noticed less pronation and less crossover. I had a similar problem to buffalo, and glute exercises alleviated the pain in my knee.

It's no pseudoscience. Most runners overuse their quads (as such, hamstring strengthening is important, too.) To the OP, I apologize for the nasty, arrogant trolls. I've gone through similar emotional suffering about injuries and not being able to run. Hang tough: you can solve your injury problems with the proper care. I'd also recommend a chiropractor to diagnose any structural issues.

Best of luck.

Two pages in, and 90% of the posts come from self-proclaimed experts who haven't done a single little bit of research and are calling it pseudo science. LR at its best.

I think you need to do some reserach. There was just another published study on hip thrusts and sprinting. I agree the core stuff is nonsense, and maybe glute activation if presented poorly. BUT activating your glutes is a standard principle in running and sprinting. The hip thrust is a great exercise. I have been using as my base leg exercise it for a few years now and gone away from squats and deadlifts as my base. Great results. And there are now several studies that back it up specifically with sprinting relatively short distances 10-30 meters some at 100M.

I'm sure coach D and other coaches do warm up drills to activate certain muscle groups. The days of just foing a slow jog are long gone.

See Strength and Conditioning Research July 2016 Over 100 references to published journals and 63 pages of analysis with sprinting.

My "deletion of this thread" key is not working.

Yes. wrote:

Two pages in, and 90% of the posts come from self-proclaimed experts who haven't done a single little bit of research and are calling it pseudo science. LR at its best.

40 years of experience but I never heard of "glutes not firing" until about 3 years ago!

When runners (and those who treat them) come to the realization that virtually ALL injuries are from overuse then they will quit trying to "treat" them with a bunch of useless strengthening exercises. Nothing wrong with doing those exercises, but they aren't why you got over your injury. Your body is amazing in its ability to repair itself, but it takes time. Most are impatient and want a magical quick fix.

I went through that in college when I had a simple psoas overuse injury. Gave up after a year of seeing "specialists" who had me doing all the wrong things that made it worse. Didn't run for many years. Amazing 35 years later most still don't know any better.

If you feel better by wasting a bunch of money on doctors or specialists for your running injuries, then you can believe anything you want about how you got over it.

total nonsense. my injuries rarely heal from rest. I rested 15 years without being able to walk up stairs normally or run more than half a mile without my knee locking up. exercises fixed the tendonitis and I have gotten in a mostly healthy last ten years thanks to those and lots of other periodic exercises. you are always having to counter various imbalances and weaknesses so it takes some experimentation with what activates, yes, fires, the muscles at issue. this is not about the theory or the explanation but about doing what helps. the piriformis issues that I began facing several years ago have been solved on the rt side but are still a bit of a problem on the left side this year but exercises such as deep squats, backwards walking, lifting foot over bathtub edge and back, bridges (on one foot and both, with arches as well), and so forth have helped and would cure this if I did them more frequently.

Yes. wrote:

Two pages in, and 90% of the posts come from self-proclaimed experts who haven't done a single little bit of research and are calling it pseudo science. LR at its best.

I only read mine and your messages, and skip the rest of them.

You´re one of those "Oh, Pre, Shorter, Bill Rodgers and the old school runners with hairy chests never did those fag exercises" type of guy.

Folks, your debates make interesting reading. My main objective is injury prevention. I do not care about aesthetic aspects/benefits of exercises. I will get back to you with more detail after trying out some of the tests suggested.

Regarding weaknesses/imbalances, what can you infer from shoe wear patterns? My shoes wear out on the forefoot area. I can post a few pictures if needed.

This is the right thread to introduce a simple exercise that strengthens all muscles from the hips to the tips of the toes.

I call the exercise "slide in place":

https://youtu.be/FcPhLSbBiFI

I have a 50/50 cm track surface covered with a slippery material.

The exercise is done in socks only, because I need to slide easy.

It is a sort of running in place, but because you slide the feet on the ground, all muscles from the legs are very challenged.

It may seem easy to do the exercise, but 20 minutes only are enough to feel how strong the legs will become.

The exercise basically replicates the exercise done by Kiprop in this video, @9:40:

https://youtu.be/ZUMqOEDhLkU

Zatopek ran in the bathtub and for some reasons I believe that his exercise was also a sliding in place, because it was slippery.

What,,? wrote:

You´re one of those "Oh, Pre, Shorter, Bill Rodgers and the old school runners with hairy chests never did those fag exercises" type of guy.

+1

Let's be real - this is what all the "controversy" on this thread boils down to.

Skips Arm Day wrote:

What,,? wrote:

You´re one of those "Oh, Pre, Shorter, Bill Rodgers and the old school runners with hairy chests never did those fag exercises" type of guy.

+1

Let's be real - this is what all the "controversy" on this thread boils down to.

That would be lame. Even all the hairy chests guys were innovators in their generation.