What to do when one glute won't fire



When one won’t fire, make it fire. Here are a few to help you wake up the…

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43 thoughts on “What to do when one glute won't fire

  1. I am now wondering if/why, you would have a microphone – god forbid a camera – in my living room while I gripe about asymmetry in my glutes as I follow some of your other videos about hips & hip flexors. My right butt has forgotten what to do. Perfect timing, adding this to my saved list. Thank you, I love this channel & recommend it quite often.

  2. Is it possible that one glute can't activate because of an injury? From what I remember, my right glute won't activate since I got an injury last week. I noticed in my second session that it wasn't activating, and I've tried everything! What should I do about this? Will the activation come back after the injury is healed?

  3. Off setting my body to the weaker side HELPS SO MUCH!!! My right booty cheek doesn’t activate but when doing an exercise I have to off set my body to my right side so it has to work:)

  4. Very thoughtful. I squatted 630 in competition, yet have discovered i can barely do a lunge for lack of glute engagement. As I have traveled the remediation path, all of the setbacks you describe have happened (ITB, lateral hamstring, adductor all pulling at knee, etc), so be prepared that the path to glute activation is not a straight line!

  5. Your videos are so helpful in my quest to self rehab. Thank you for this! I have AK, and had two torn labrums, weak glutes. Left is stronger. I also am dealing with my hips getting stiff/tight often. I have a few items that I use to keep them loose when I work from home, but recently, have been experiencing major stiffness, bursitis, cramps in my adductor, weak right hip, etc. due to the sitting. I've been using a NuStep to try to strengthen, a resistance band, using my Bose ball, and a hand held deep tissue massager. These help, but once In up and moving around the cramps start again, and hip/adductor is popping. I've purchased a seated elliptical to help keep hips loose and do full range of motion of joints. Im going to incorporate the side leg lifts, one leg bridging, plus the block between the feet….AND the foam rolling. I'll post if these things work.

  6. I guess I'm too far gone for this video to help me. I can't flex a single muscle in my whole left rump zone. When I try to get in the bridge position I can't straighten my pelvis, I can only twist it to the right. If I let go of my right side my knees tip over. Same with the clamshell. I can't lay on my left side at all without wobbling around and tipping over.

  7. When doing kickbacks or donkey kicks, I only feel one butt (right one) cheek activated or that's "burning".
    Also, when doing said exercises I feel it in my hamstrings not on my glutes.

    Or I also feel it more on the resting leg rather than on the one doing the kicks

  8. Hey Matt, ty for all of your dedication to helping people. My leg is falling apart. I feel like my femur will snap in half, and I am unable to squeeze my glutes… Is this common?
    Also, my knee is falling in and my feet are pronated. Can this be repaired 🙁

  9. I know this is an old video, but hot damn. I've been struggling with this issue for years and I never thought to get into a bridge position and THEN go into a single leg bridge vs just doing a single leg bridge from the get go. You, sir, may have saved my gains. I can feel my glutes working harder than I've ever felt.

  10. What can you do to activate the weak glute when you can't tolerate doing the bridge on just 1 leg because it revs up SI joint pain on the working leg (the same leg as the weak glute)?

  11. I'd just add to also make sure you keep your hips straight. In my case I have a pelvic tilt so my hips were cheating by going on the strong side to compensate the weak side. Also to really feel your butt as you squeeze it and not any other muscle.

  12. Hi…I'm a bit confused…I've been doing some heavy lifting and find that my right glute is incredibly sore (with some sciatic pain) while my left is completely fine. Does that mean my right glute is weak? Or does it mean my left glute is weak and the right one is only sore because it has been compensating for left? Thank you!

  13. I can activate my left side but this is my weaker side and struggle with my right side. Would it be bc my right side quad is stronger and my left quad weaker?

  14. Great Youtube channel. I'm an old lady and a life-long athlete; I have a lifetime of movement patterns that I need to correct. Oh, inefficient movement worked just fine when I was young and strong as a horse. Now, age is catching up with me. I have used several of your videos to reprogram movement so that my body works for me, instead of against me. Just a couple weeks in, and I can report that my soccer game is getting better, more fun, way less pain, and I look forward to a great winter of skiing.

  15. Hello, I just tried this single leg bridge and felt a workout I haven't felt in a long time in firing my left glute. A little history, my back has gone out on me a few times and has been extremely frustrating. When I walk, like others have said, I can noticeably see my right glute seems like superhero and is firing on all cylinders and my left is non-existent. I will also mention I have gone to chiropractor and am honestly very cautious in the idea of going regularly to just get cracked up by someone. I have lower back pain regularly. I understand there may be more to this and I have been to back specialists, chiro and physical therapy and my back issue has been manageable however, I can't help the fact that the single leg bridge you show felt extremely good in getting that side to fire. I feel like when my glutes are both engaged, my back is protected. If you are able to, I would love to see a youtube video on you opinion of multiple exercises in maintaining and building on a one-sided bad glute. It may also be nice for advice on core/ab strengthening. If you already have one, send a link. Thanks!

  16. I always thought that power-lifting was the answer to all physical problems. But, no matter how many squats I did, it was still difficult to go up stairs or do those one leg bridges or one leg squats (note: I'm 74 but like to compete in discus and shotput). So, now I'm doing more one limb exercises and forcing all the various muscle groups to fire and work. There seems to be something inherently "bad?" about barbell exercises as compared to dumbbell work. I think barbells allow the weaker side, arm, leg to hide as the strong side, arm, leg takes over to finish the exercise. Dumbbells create a better mind-muscle connection and forces the weaker muscles to do their full share of work.

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