TIGHT GLUTES ARE a common ailment of top sportsmen and women and the reasons behind them are myriad.

Runners and cyclists are particularly prone to having tight or weak glute muscles, which by the way, are the ones in your upper butt cheek.

Be it lower back pain or recovering from hip injuries, or simply having never activated your glutes, they can become weak over time.

But try this simple exercise every morning and you’ll notice a marked change in no time.

Starting position

• Lie on your side.
• Rest your head on your arm or hand.
• Bend your hips to approximately 45 degrees and bend your knees at 90 degrees.
• Make sure one hip is lying above the other. You should now be well aligned- your feet should be in line with your back.

Action

• Take a deep breath in and as you exhale brace your core muscles.
• Inhale and whilst exhaling float the upper leg upwards while keeping your feet in contact with one another.
• Inhale and as you exhale bring the leg down to the starting position.
• Repeat 5- 10 times each leg. If done correctly you should feel the muscles around the back of the hip bone (gluteus medius and minimus) working.
• Focus on not allowing the alignment of the body to be disrupted with leg movement.

Progression

To make the exercise harder, wrap a bicycle tube or thera-band around your knees so that when you open up your legs you’re working against a resistance.

Here’s a little demo to help you:

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