Fun Facts About Your 3 Glute Muscles

As you no doubt know by now, I love the glute muscles!  And this month, I’ll be sharing information and tips all about them.

So let’s start with some glute basics. Your glutes are made up of three different muscles. What are they, and what do they do?

Glute Muscle #1 – The Gluteus Maximus (or “Glute Max”)

• It’s the largest muscle of your body, and it creates the shape of your buttocks
• It’s crucial for balancing on one leg because it helps stabilize the pelvis
• It’s essential in maintaining an upright posture 
• It extends and rotates your hips

You are using your glute max when you get up from a chair, straighten up from a bent-over position, climb a set of stairs, walk up hills, and run, jog or sprint. 

Glute Muscle #2 – The Gluteus Medius

This glute muscle is my personal favorite, because it’s the one for me that needs the most work.

• It’s a fan-shaped muscle located on the side of your hips
• Its key jobs are to help stabilize your pelvis so you don’t topple over and to move the hips away from the body (think side leg movements such as a side lunge or side leg lifts) 
• It also rotates the hips

A strong glute medius can help knees from caving inward, which can lessen the risk of injury. 

Glute Muscle #3 – The Gluteus Minimus:

• It’s the deepest and smallest of the glute muscles and is located behind the glute medius 
• Working with the glute medius, it helps to stabilize the pelvis and rotate the leg

You are using both the Glute medius and minimus when you’re standing, walking, running, doing lateral movements (moving your leg sideways), and when you’re off balance. 

The glute muscle group plays a critical role, and the three muscles all need to work together to do their job. That’s why it’s important to do exercises that will target each one. 

Throughout this month, I will be showing you specific exercises that will help you strengthen each of your glute muscles. There’s much more to come, so get ready! 🦋