a woman doing squats

Underactive glute muscles

Our glutes are one of the most commonly under functioning muscle groups we see at Dynamic Physio.

These problems mostly develop due to our sedentary lifestyle. Even if you train hard, if you sit down at a desk all day your glutes are not being used, and begin to get lazy.

Our gluteus medius muscle is used for walking, running, standing on one leg, dynamic stability of the pelvis, bringing the leg in to midline and rotating the hip.

When this muscle doesn’t fire properly you are at risk of lower back, hip, knee or ankle pain.

So how can you tell if your glutes need work?

An easy at home test you can do is to stand in front of a full length mirror on one leg with your hands on your hips and hold for 30secs, your pelvis should remain level or raise slightly. If your opposite hip drops towards the ground this indicates that your gluteus medius muscle is not working properly (aka – lazy butt).

If you think you may have underactive glutes or if you’re experiencing any kind of muscle or joint pain, book an appointment with your physiotherapist today and we’ll do a thorough assessment. We’ll then put together a plan to get you moving and feeling great again.