We have talked a lot about the glute muscle group, and how important it is that they are functioning correctly. The most common problems that people have are weak and tight glute muscles. If they are weak, you will be placing a lot of pressure on other areas of the body, if they are tight, then you are predisposing yourself to numerous hip injuries. Optimally functioning glutes need to be strong, and they need to be mobile. You need to incorporate a mixture of strength, mobility and flexibility work.
Check out bum exercises for the strength work, check out hip mobility to help you get mobile through the hips, and apply the following stretches to your routine to help you get some extra flexibility through the region. I am not so much for static stretching as a general rule, but some of us have some serious tight spots in the glutes, i.e the piriformis, that simply need to be stretched and massaged. Make sure that you do these stretches after exercises, it is better to be warm, and do them in conjunction with some trigger point work through the glutes.
Here are two of my favorite stretches:
This one is a common on you would have seen before. You can push harder and adjust the range as you get better.
This second stretch is a bit more advanced. It is quite a difficult stretch and takes a while to be able to get into that position, especially if you are inflexible. I love it because it really tests your hip mobility and will also give your hip flexors a bit of a stretch too. Be patient with this one, as it will take time to achieve this position if you are tight.
I found this while browsing for the videos. It is a combination of the glute stretch and some myofascial release for your piriformis. If you have a foam roller, try it. It will hurt!
[…] are many different glute stretches you can do, but this is a simple one to start […]