# How do you engage your glutes?



## DCE

I'm interested to know what some of you do to engage your glutes while cycling?

Things like:
- body position on the bike
- pedaling technique.
- saddle position.
- stem length.
- bar height.
- off-the-bike exercises.
- etc.


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## phoehn9111

This is mostly one of those subjective instinctive pedal technique
situations. I am sure more experienced riders will explain it better,
but for me the action involves recruiting the hamstrings less than
the quads and calves more of the time (not all of the time).
Usually this is facilitated by moving back slightly in the saddle.
Very much an intuitive learned technique.


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## kbiker3111

DCE said:


> what some of you do to engage your glutes while cycling?


Position position position


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## jajichan

Just pedal, dude. 

Seriously.


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## crowaan

Engage your core and tilt your pelvis forward.

If you need some help with that check out The Sufferfest's "Elements of Style."


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## Srode

For me I focus on not using my quads by lowering my heal and rotating my pelvis forward. There are some off the bike exercises and stretches that help 'activate' your glutes at the right time in your pedal stroke also. Core Advantage by Tom Danielson is a good read and has routines that help.


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## woodys737

Having suffered through a pretty extensive and painful back issue I am now a bit skeptical of the word "engage" in the context of core or glutes while pedaling a bike. Perhaps I am stuck in physical therapy land but, engaging glutes or core is an autonomic response while riding. No? Said a different way the time to train muscles to engage is in the gym which can yield an autonomic response on the bike. 

Further, when people reference core, what exactly are they referring to? To me very broadly it means stabilizing the spine which can be aided by good posture on the bike, but actively engaging "core"? I don't think I could. Same with glutes? Is it a part of the group that is not engaging because I can assure you if you are pedaling a bike with out using any glutes you are doing something very wrong.

Any PT or medical experts out there want to chime in?


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## 41ants

Shoe scrapers... Imagine scraping the poo off of your shoe .. That engages both gluts and hams for me


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## crowaan

woodys737 said:


> Having suffered through a pretty extensive and painful back issue I am now a bit skeptical of the word "engage" in the context of core or glutes while pedaling a bike. Perhaps I am stuck in physical therapy land but, engaging glutes or core is an autonomic response while riding. No? Said a different way the time to train muscles to engage is in the gym which can yield an autonomic response on the bike.
> 
> Further, when people reference core, what exactly are they referring to? To me very broadly it means stabilizing the spine which can be aided by good posture on the bike, but actively engaging "core"? I don't think I could. Same with glutes? Is it a part of the group that is not engaging because I can assure you if you are pedaling a bike with out using any glutes you are doing something very wrong.
> 
> Any PT or medical experts out there want to chime in?


No medical expert, but I think your comments are spot on. Your glutes are always working while pedaling but you can get them to work a little more. And you can engage more of your core by sucking your belly button in towards your spine (easiest way to think about it).

So to get more glutes in your pedal stroke: tilt pelvis forward and suck belly button in.


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## dir-t

In addition to what else has been said, and based on a presentation from the guy from Kirk Frameworks (I forget his first name, used to build bikes for Serotta);

At the point where you are just starting to begin your downstroke, the angle between your torso and quad (the one that is about to push down) should be close to 90 degrees.

So, I guess my thought is that if your position on the bike is correct, you can't help but use your glutes to pedal a bicycle. However, I do find it a little odd that after ANY ride, no matter how grueling, my glutes don't feel fatigued at all. My quads or hamstrings might but never my glutes. Perhaps that's because the glutes are such a big muscle or maybe they are just so well conditioned due to biking?


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## nOOky

As far as core, it's best not to work it so much that you have a 6 pack, it can be detrimental to belly breathing 

As for engaging the glutes, I only worry about proper position on the bike, and whatever muscles I'm using are the ones that should be strengthened imho

Six pack abs have a negative effect on breathing | Natural Health 365


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## Srode

woodys737 said:


> Further, when people reference core, what exactly are they referring to? To me very broadly it means stabilizing the spine which can be aided by good posture on the bike, but actively engaging "core"? g.
> 
> Any PT or medical experts out there want to chime in?


The book I referenced Core Advantage was written by Tom Danielson and his PT - in the book core includes many muscles beyond abs and obliques - like glutes etc.


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## Alfonsina

I read that the TD book was very similar to army PT core exercises, these are free on line and have videos/pictures.


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## serious

jajichan said:


> Just pedal, dude.
> 
> Seriously.


I completely agree. This conscious "glute engagement" is pure BS.


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## Aladin

serious said:


> I completely agree. This conscious "glute engagement" is pure BS.


Can understand your view... your butt muscles likely work as they should.

Mine.. left one in particular... don't. I get pain down my left leg outside... outside of left calf is last area to be free of tightness after specific exercise to deal with it. P therapist said the muscle inside on this group doesn't fire.. showed me on a computer it's lack of electric signal per working. Why this happens they do not know. 

I will not attach my feet to petals.. hence platforms are my petals. My left foot does tend to slide out on the petal.. takes allot of conscious effort to prevent this. 
When I do the exercises frequently enough.. mostly it'll settle down and be fine.


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## ibericb

jajichan said:


> Just pedal, dude.
> 
> Seriously.


Was wafting for someone to say this.

Prexactly! You don't "engage your glutes". Your glutes become engaged or activated as they are needed for the function for which they exist, which is primarily to stabilize the hip joint, and to aid moving the leg rearward and outward. Your brain does an excellent job of this - it recruits the muscle fibers needed, and nothing extra, based upon your activity. If you want more glute effort during cycling, then focus on motion that triggers glute activation, and increase that effort. That is with femur driving effort, and with femur abduction (femur moves outward away from the hip joint, or rotates). The greater the effort or movement, the more activation. On a bike that will increase as you pedal harder, or the knees move outward during the effort phase in pedaling. But the knee movement can have other unintended consequences, so generally isn't recommended.

The short answer is pretty much what jaichan said, just pedal, and the more effort you apply to the pedal (drive harder down and rearward) the more glutes will become activated.


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## woodys737

Srode said:


> The book I referenced Core Advantage was written by Tom Danielson and his PT - in the book core includes many muscles beyond abs and obliques - like glutes etc.


I do many exercises OFF the bike just like illustrated in the book/youtubes that I could find (musettes, planks, supermans...). But, what I'm after is this engagement of core etc...ON the bike. I don't have the book and couldn't find youtube so I'll just ask...does Tom reference engaging core on the bike? If so, what exactly is he talking about (which muscles and why)?

I still am under the impression that you train the muscles with specific exercises off the bike (like planks) and they will fire automatically as needed on the bike. Perhaps one can tense up their obliques for a while but, in reality that's not engaging core. That's tensing up muscles that are using O2 which could be used elsewhere.


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## woodys737

crowaan said:


> No medical expert, but I think your comments are spot on. Your glutes are always working while pedaling but you can get them to work a little more. And you can engage more of your core by sucking your belly button in towards your spine (easiest way to think about it).
> 
> So to get more glutes in your pedal stroke: tilt pelvis forward and suck belly button in.


I mentioned posture on the bike...what I meant was precisely anterior pelvic tilt. Put another way, reducing excessive low back curvature. I got some tips on this years ago from some really good riders who are in the medical field and then my PT. We always talked about it in reference to saving my back (ie...discs). 

As far as anterior pelvic tilt and engaging core I think sucking your belly button towards your spine would inhibit your diaphragm and therefore effective breathing. Especially when going really hard. So I have learned to tilt my pelvis and try and relax everything else. Muscles needed to support and connect lower, mid and upper body will fire as needed to do their job.

Engagement to me is all about getting inactive muscles to start working again. Something that is done with specific exercises off the bike. I'm no expert. Just what I've picked up having gone through years of problems.


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## jspharmd

I learned a neat little trick to engage my hamstrings and gluteal muscles. I go out way too hard on a long mountain bike race. Then when my quads start cramping, the only way to pedal without locking up my quads is to use my other muscles...

It worked great! Oh, and it was pretty intuitive how to do this with cramping quads.


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## sandiegosteve

After loosing use of the muscles in my right leg due to a spinal injury, I had to focus on a lot of muscles. Glutes and hamstrings were major ones. For me, I did a lot of the core type exercises that got them to fire. As they got going again, I would start to use them more pedaling. Now I'm getting decent engagement from them and I can tell a huge difference.

If you are not actually using them, go see a physical therapist or a doctor to find out why.


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## Aladin

sandiegosteve said:


> If you are not actually using them, go see a physical therapist or a doctor to find out why.


The PT I saw stated they don't know why the interior butt muscles don't fire.. just that they don't per no or weak electrical signal on the computer screen.


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## t-wood

I can't say I had the same issue but sounds similar. I had been riding for 10 or so years and thought everything was fine. I would go out and do a hard ride or group ride and during the tough sections my quads would burn and my calves might cramp at the end of the ride but I never felt anything in my glutes...ever. I had a couple of blown discs and after PT I had a bike fit. Moved my bars forward as well as my seat up slightly and forward. The first ride back my glutes were on fire after the first hill. I thought it was strange because I'd stopped riding before and started again without the glutes hurting. It took a few months for my body to adjust and then on a tough climb, hard section, 20 minutes test..whatever, I now feel my quads and glutes burn and my calves never cramp or feel tired. I'm quite a bit faster and, not that I was slow before, but I don't think I was using my glutes much because of the bike position. 

I have no way to support this except the way I feel but I think my position didn't allow me to recruit those muscles. Either way, it sounds like bike position might help or core exercises as someone else mentioned. I also don't think you can actively engage them by trying..except for maybe a minute or two. You can also find a PT that works with cyclists, I know we have one here who can put you on your bike and see how everything looks.


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## stevesbike

Aladin said:


> Can understand your view... your butt muscles likely work as they should.
> 
> Mine.. left one in particular... don't. I get pain down my left leg outside... outside of left calf is last area to be free of tightness after specific exercise to deal with it. P therapist said the muscle inside on this group doesn't fire.. showed me on a computer it's lack of electric signal per working. Why this happens they do not know.
> 
> I will not attach my feet to petals.. hence platforms are my petals. My left foot does tend to slide out on the petal.. takes allot of conscious effort to prevent this.
> When I do the exercises frequently enough.. mostly it'll settle down and be fine.


have you had a fitter check for leg length differences (also see Steve Hogg's blog on pelvic tilt). Dynamic fitting tools like retul can also be used to determine these (e.g., differences in knee angle through pedal stroke). I'd worry more about these sources than pedaling technique (which has been shown to be a non-factor for the most part).


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## ncr

dir-t said:


> So, I guess my thought is that if your position on the bike is correct, you can't help but use your glutes to pedal a bicycle. However, I do find it a little odd that after ANY ride, no matter how grueling, my glutes don't feel fatigued at all. My quads or hamstrings might but never my glutes. Perhaps that's because the glutes are such a big muscle or maybe they are just so well conditioned due to biking?


 As Iberich said, the glutes are used mainly to stabilize the hip joint. Cyclists don't know how to use them to generate effective crank torque, that's why your's are not fatigued. Using a foot position with knee about 6 cms behind recommended KOPS position and saddle in a rearward position slightly higher than the bars, together with all other leg muscles (especially the lower leg) it's possible for the glutes to apply additional maximal torque at 12 and 1 o'c, reducing the workload on those muscles that are only capable of applying a vertically downward effective force. These combined maximal forward and downward forces are ideal for TT's where sustainable high power application is required.


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