Image Source: EliteTrack.com

If you spend a lot of time seated, or if you travel a lot in vehicles or in airplanes, then this post is for you.

Also, if you are an athlete and your sport requires you to be able to perform powerful movements with the lower body, like jumping and bounding, then this post is for you.

In addition if you run, whether in sprinting fashion or distance, then this post is for you.

And if you participate in strength sports or feats of strength, then this post is for you as well because today I am going to show you how you can get more power out of your glutes which will lead to better striding power when running, better leaping and jumping power, and better executtion of posterior chain strength movements such as deadlifts, cleans, throws, and braced bends.

Importance of the Glute Muscles to Sport, Strength and Power Movements

Your Glutes are some of the most powerful muscles in your body.

They are heavily involved in Power Movements like jumping and sprinting as well as directional changes.

Unfortunately, if you spend a lot of time sitting down, then you might be making your Glute strength disappear.

You see, when you are seated, your hips remain in a flexed position. Over time this joint angle at the hip can cause the hip flexors to shorten and tighten.

The image above from Human Kinetics shows the relationship between the front of the body and the rear. With tight hip flexors, generally comes weak lower abdominals and conversely, the muscles on the opposite side, the lower lumbar muscles and the glutes get weakened and can’t do what they are meant to do.

When the hip flexors shorten like this and become tight, they can actually hinder the amount of power your glutes can generate because they will keep your hips from extending correctly in the movements we mentioned earlier, such as jumping, running and other unilateral and power movements.

To illustrate this a bit better, imagine trying to jump up in the air, but attached to your waistline is a chain on either side, connecting you to the floor, and just as you are about to really get some drive going, the chains hit their maximum length and won’t allow you to explode. That is kind of what is going on when you have tight hip flexors.

Two of the main reasons to address this issue are stretching the hip flexors and activating the glutes.

Understanding the Hip Flexors

In the image above, you can see where the hip flexors are located, and where they attach. A lot of people don’t realize the actual articulations of the hip flexors.

Per Wikipedia:

Origins: The Psoas major originates along the lateral surfaces of the vertebral bodies of T12 and L1-L5 and their associated intervertebral discs. The Psoas minor, which presents in only some 40 percent of the population, originates at the transverse processes of L1-L5. The Iliacus originates in the Iliac fossa of the pelvis

Insertions: Psoas major unites with iliacus at the level of the inguinal ligament and crosses the hip joint to insert on the lesser trochanter. The Psoas minor inserts at the iliopectineal arch, the thickened band at the iliac fascia which separates the muscular lacuna from the vascular lacuna. femoral nerve, L1, L2

Common Hip Flexor Stretches

For individuals who have tight hip flexors, one of the ways to correct the situation is with stretching. Below is a commonly used stretch and some slight variations in order to intensify it.

Kneeling Hip Flexor Stretch

One common Hip Flexor stretch is the kneeling hip flexor stretch. Just getting into a position like what is shown above is not good enough, however. You must keep the torso upright and as you move forward, keep the pressure directed into the hip flexor muscles themselves. Improper angling here can result in stretching the quad. The quad originates on the ilium so its path is similar to the hip flexors. Not that there’s anything wrong with stretching the quad, but the purpose of this stretch is the hip flexor.

With Arm Raised

This stretch can also be intensified by raising the arm on the same side as the leg being stretched.

With Foot Elevated

As your flexibility increases, the rear foot can also be elevated to increase the stretch on the hip flexor and the quad as well.

Again, this is just one stretch that you can do for the hip flexors, along with a few modifications. In a bit I am going to show you another exercise to try that actually stretches my hip flexor even better while activating the glutes at the same time.

How to Activate the Glutes

When tightness on one side of the body inhibits a muscle on the opposite side of the body, we often have to retrain the muscle to fire properly. In the case of Glutes that have been shut down, the athlete has probably learned to use the hamstrings and muscles of the lower back to provide the force needed for hip extension. We have to get the body back in tune by training the Glutes to fire when they are supposed to.

Glute Bridge

Perhaps the most common of Glute activation exercises is the glute bridge. This movement can be done with one or two legs, and can be modified by extending a leg or by adding resistance, such as chains.

Quadruped Hip Extension

Quadruped refers to being on all fours. One leg is then lifted upwards by means of the Glutes. Very simple to perform, but attention must be put forth not to cheat or use momentum.

Fire Hydrant

Named after a dog lifting its leg to mark a fire hydrant, I learned this movement from Joe Defranco, and in particular, I learned that you don’t half-ass this movement (sorry for the pun, but I had to). The way I heard Joe describe this movement is to imagine you’re sneaking into a house through a very large window. Perform the exercise by carefully pulling the hip around the full range of motion, slowly and deliberately. Doing the exercise like this REALLY helps you feel it. Don’t just go through the motions.

How to Do Both at the Same Time

There is absolutely plenty of value in performing the above exercises. I have done all of them and they have worked for me in varying degrees.

However, recently, when shooting footage for a DVD on Braced Bending, I stumbled onto an exercise that actually is highly effective at stretching the hip flexors while getting an extremely intense contraction from the glutes. In fact, of all the Glute exercises I’ve ever tried, none of them can compare to the heightened contraction of this maneuver.

I call this move the Knee Driver, because I was using it to demonstrate the initial kink used when braced bending things like steel bars, wrenches and other odd objects. In the initial kink, you use the strength of your glute to drive your knee into the bar to get it to bend, thus the Knee Driver.

Knee Driver

For me, I have never felt a Glute Exercise that caused such a deep and hard contraction of my Glute Muscles. I mean, this exercise balled my glute up so tightly when I first tried it that I could not believe it, plus it stretched my hip flexors at the same time, and I have done it just about every workout since then in order to get my Glutes ready to go.

I like to perform this exercise for two sets with each leg and to do at least 6 to 8 good solid contractions per set. I don’t even bother with a lot of the other glutes exercises I used to do, because the contractions pale in comparison to what I get out of the Knee Driver.

I encourage you to give this a try and report back what you have found and how it compares to other exercises you have tried.

All the best in your training.

Jedd

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If you take out questions about Grip Training, one of the most common questions I get is how to set up a program in order to put on muscle.

With this post, I want to list a few principles I follow in my training. Next week, I will cover some how to select the right movements and how to program them.

3 Keys to Building Muscle

These are the three main keys I follow in my training when it comes to exercise selection. Now, of course there are other things that go into it, but these are the main three things.

1. Multi-Joint Movements

If you want to put on muscle and develop strength, then you have got to get lots of muscle involved in order to do so. The best way to get lots of muscle involved is to select exercises that involve movement over more than one joint. Examples are Bench Press, Overhead Press, Squat, Deadlift, Bent Over Rows, Clean, Snatch, and other movements that are similar in movements to these.

Now, if you take a look at the exercises I listed, you will see that there is often movement taking place at two or more joints. For instance, with the Bench, there is movement at the shoulder and at the elbow, plus if you approach the movement like a Powerlifter does, you are using even more muscle across other joints as well.

Movements such as the Squat, Deadlift, Cleans, and many Olympic lift breakdown drills involve even more joints. With these we are working over the knee, hip, back and possibly the ankle, shoulder and elbow, meaning even more muscle is being involved.

In other words, select movements that are working larger portions of your body and keep isolation movements to a minimum.

2. Train for Power and Speed

I like to incorporate exercises of increased speed in my training. What I am referring to is explosive movements that produce an increased power output, such as Cleans, Jerks, Snatches, Stone Lifting, and other movements where virtually the entire body is working together in order to move large loads very quickly.

Another way I like to accomplish this is with Accommodating Resistance using exercise bands. I have bands of many different strength levels in order to be able to use this concept on different movements.

The Bench Press is a good example of how to employ bands in your training. Remember when using bands that the purpose is to move the bar quickly against the resistance in order to train the fast-twitch muscle fibers to fire quickly. These muscle fibers need to be stimulated like this, but most guys are missing this aspect. I say this, because when I ask people who email me about this they say they have either never heard of this type of training or haven’t bought into it. I am a firm believer in it and have been experimenting with how to incorporate it in different ways aside from just with barbells in my training and with my clients (these guys kick ass).

3. Work in Balance

One of the recent times someone wrote in, they wanted to know how to put muscle on their chest and shoulders and I asked them what they were currently doing. Their answer? Bench Pressing two days a week and Shoulder work on another day. Essentially three Upper Body Pushing days and each one was balls to the walls intensity.

One of the things I always tell people is that if you are trying to fill out your shirt, you’ve got to remember there are two sides of it to fill. You don’t want to be like Tom Cruise in the movie Knight and Day and look like your back muscles are non-existent.

There needs to be a balance between your pushing and pulling exercises in order to pack on muscle on the upper body, and do it safely. Remember, we are doing something that is supposed to be good for us, not something in order to set ourselves up for imbalances, poor posture and pain down the road.

What I suggest people do is for every movement where you are pushing something, try to also incorporate a movement where you are pulling. If you can pick out complementary or contra-specific movement patterns, that is a bonus as well. For instance, a complimentary movement pattern for the Bench Press would be Bent Over Rows or Seated Cable Rows (although, I’d suggest the Bent-Over variety in order to have a Ground Based Movement – another post for another day).

One other thing to think about with Balanced Training, keep in mind that if you are going all out for maxes on the Bench every time you do it and then you do Bent Over Rows with a fraction of the weight, that doesn’t count as balanced. The loading and effort need to be similar in order to realize benefits.

One good way to do this is to perform your Upper Body Push and Upper Body Pulling movements on the same day and match up the loading and effort that way. If you do it like this, it is easier to monitor than if you do it on different days.

Do You Have Muscle Imbalances, Currently?

If you have been following traditional programs and have not taken things such as antagonistic balance into account with your program, you could be headed for some issues. Unfortunately, imbalances can develop from more than just the way you program you workouts and your exercise selection.

Time seated in a car, time at your desk, time at home in chairs, and other considerations that affect posture can really do a number on you.

If you think you run the risk of having imbalances because you slouched in your seat in high school for years (like me), spend a lot of time at a desk at your work (like me), or have muscular imbalances due to an injury or something else, you should consider checking out Rick Kaselj’s Muscle Imbalances Revealed – Upper Body Edition.

I recently made Rick’s acquaintance on-line and began following some of his work and he has an impressive background. A few months ago he came out with a 2.0 Program for lower body and now he has updated his Upper Body Edition as well.

The sizable clientele he has worked with and the expert backing he has gotten is unbelievable. I strongly suggest you give his program a look if you are a candidate for imbalances. Here is my link: Muscle Imbalances Revealed by Rick Kaselj.

All the best in your training and look for Part II coming next week.

Jedd

When I first began delving into Strength and Conditioning literature after I got out of college, I was given a copy of a strength training documentary about Werner Gunthor called, L’heritage d’une carriere, by my friend Dan Cenidoza

At the time, I was reading a lot of the materials from the NSCA, and even though they were much more geared toward strength training than the bodybuilding magazines I read in college, even the NSCA manuals did not prepare me for the type of training I would see in this video.

To my dismay, I somehow lost my copy of the tape and had not watched it in years, but I was able to find it recently, in its entirety on YouTube.
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Hello DIESELS!

I hope you are kicking ass so hard in the gym that the PR’s are paying you to take it easy on them.

First off, I am sorry for starting the earthquake earlier this week. I was working Two Hands Pinch using some black-hat, ninja-style, Outlaw-Diesel methods of training and it accidentally slipped out of my grasp.

The weight was so tremendous that it set off a tectonic plate collision in the Richmond, Virginia area. Jay DeMayo tried to take the credit, but he is not the one to blame.

Sorry, Washington Monument

My bad about the damage to the Washington Monument. I’ve heard they’ve been looking for a reason to shut that thing down anyway, so I guess I did them a favor.

(In all seriousness, I hope everyone is safe and that damages can be taken care of soon.)

Anyway, I wanted to share a video with you guys that I took last Saturday in Scranton PA at the USA Powerlifting Nationals.

I went down to watch my buddies, Paul Tompkins and Mike Turpin compete. Paul and Mike have submitted a lot of videos to my Weekly Grip Challenge, so i wanted to go down and give them some support!

Speaking of the weekly challenge – have you entered the Classic Strongman Feats Tournament? If not, get on it!

Back to the Powerlifting Meet…here is the video…

According to Paul, he lifted 451 in the Bench, 644 in the Squat and 655 in the Deadlift, totaling 1750.

Mike got 358 in the Bench, 391 in the Squat and 557 in the Deadlift, totaling 1306. Awesome job guys.

I also wanted to mention that Mike Turpin is developing some of the nastiest forearms I’ve ever seen. He showed me his freaky Brachioradialis and I had nightmares for two straight nights. According to Mike, he has done no direct forearm work from this. It has all come from Grip Training, like Gripper work, Pinching, and lifting Hex Head Dumbbells by the Head.

So there’s yet another reason to start Grip Training if you haven’t already done so. The time under tension packs serious muscles on your lower arms!

Also, Mike told me that several months ago, Paul attempted a near-600-lb Deadlift and could get it nowhere near lockout. Judging by the fact that I watched him pull 659 with EEEEEASE, the Grip Training must be paying off.

Mind you, these guys are doing a variety of stuff. They are trying the challenges I put out each week and they are doing some other stuff on their own. Hitting the hands from multiple angles like this has improved their General Grip Strength tremendously.

Mike says he used to not be able to close a #1 Gripper, and now he is mashing the #2 each workout. Also, between his lifts and Paul’s there was about a two-hour break in the action, so Turpin, another buddy of mine, Mike Puchalski, and I went out to my car and did some work with the Vulcan-2 that I had for Puchalski. If memory serves, Mike toyed with the Level 10 like he was reading a newspaper on the toilet, and that is with the new Silver Black-Dipped Spring. AWESOME. I can’t wait to see what he can do at World’s Strongest Hands on September 10th. If you are in the neighborhood, you should come by. It is going to be a good time.

Who Wants a Vulcan 2 Gripper?

Speaking of Vulcans, I am completely sold out right now, but I am looking to get another order around. If you are interested, please post in the comments section below. The Vulcan V-2′s cost $99.

I am also looking to bring in some extra Orange Springs that are quite a bit lighter than the standard Silver Black-Dipped Springs. Also, I want to get some Thumb Screws thrown in as well.

All I am looking for is for you to post below that you are interested and I will add you to the list. Please do so as soon as possible so I can get with David Horne. This time, I am keeping one of the sets of Thumb Screws.

OK, DIESELS, that’s it for now. My new Grip Training Freak, Eric Loyd is coming over soon and we are going to work on the Vulcan, Two Hands Pinch, and maybe even try bending a horseshoe.

All the best in your training,

Jedd

Random Ramblings from Jedd

Please read this post and put in your thoughts / comments in the comment box below…

Hello Diesels.

As I have posted before, I am a huge baseball (and especially New York Yankees) fan. I watch them every chance I get. I stay up to date on the Yankees’ rumor mill, trades, signings…all of it in-season and out.

However, putting all that drama aside, I also like to study what they do for strength and conditioning, and what other industry leaders are saying about strength and conditioning for baseball. I have a handful of baseball players that come to train every so often, and I like applying the stuff I learn to the training I do with them, plus I try to apply it to my own training. Although I will probably never play baseball again, I do indeed suit up for Slow Pitch softball during the summer and enjoy playing to the best of my ability because it is fun as hell and it is a good break from the “hardcore” training I am normally doing in the gym.
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