Over long-term, my gluteus muscles became very tight and deactivated. It got to a point where they barely functioned at all. This happened mostly from sitting (on my glutes) in a desk chair for 8 hours a day.
The glutes are made up of 3 muscles: gluteus medius, gluteus minimus, and gluteus maximus. I won’t get into the specific functions of each muscle. Instead, I’ll be explaining how I built glute strength in the easiest terms possible.
I don’t have a background in exercise science or physical therapy. Oftentimes, those experts go way over my head when they’re explaining glute hypertrophy tips anyway. I’m a lifelong athlete who is also a computer user. I have an intense desire for high-performance. But I like explaining my articles in the easiest terms possible.
When I used to work in sitting posture at a computer desk 8 hours a day, my mental energy leftover to consume new practices was limited. I wanted to learn the least possible information that would make the biggest difference in my performance over time. I created this website to be a resource I wish I had back in 2002, when I first started sitting posture at a computer for long periods of time.
This article is not professional medical advice. It’s based off my personal experience and opinions. For years, my poor computer posture caused muscle tension, inflammation, and chronic pain. Bad posture also decreased my mental clarity, energy level, and work productivity.
All the workplace ergonomic tips I write about are directly related to improving posture at a computer. We are our own primary caretakers. Do your research. Make good decisions. And be the best advocate possible for your own healthcare.
How to Build Glute Strength
Glutes are the weight-bearing foundation for most of our upper body when we sit at a computer. Sitting in an office chair for 8 hours a day caused overused, deactivated glute muscles in my experience.
Functional Glute Training
I used to rely on deadlifts and squats to strengthen my glutes. This used to work well. But eventually, my glute strength decreased due to deactivation while in sitting posture.
Since then, I’ve started doing glute isolation workouts. I build my gluteus muscle with intention, 2 to 3 times per week. I noticed an increase in glute strength and activation within a few weeks.
Here are the best exercises for glute gains that have worked for me.
Glute Drive
The glute drive is my favorite exercise to load up some weights and build glute strength. It allows me to progressively overload my glutes.
This glute drive has also increased my hip mobility and strength. The hip flexors work in union with the glutes.
Here is a video showing me do a few glute drive reps. It’s one of the best exercises for glute gains in my experience.
Glute Kickbacks on a cable machine
Glute kickbacks are my favorite glute activation exercise. It really activates the glutes because each glute is isolated by standing on one leg. The glute on the standing leg is stabilized and activated. The glute on the active kickback leg is a glute press motion. Both glutes are working, but one is more stable while the other is pressing. It’s a great glute isolation workout.
Here’s an example of me doing a few glute kickback reps. The right glute is stabilized and activated, while the left glute is doing presses.
In order to do glute kickbacks on a cable machine, I purchased my own velcro straps to go around my feet. The straps have metal D-rings that connect to the cable. They cost about $15.
Glute Bridge Yoga Pose
This is my favorite body weight, home glute exercise. It’s the best way I’ve found to strengthen glutes without weights.
How to do glute bridges for strength.
- Lay flat on your back (Position A).
- Place your feet flat on the floor.
- Pull your feet towards your glutes until in a comfortable position.
- Lift your pelvis toward the ceiling.
- Focus on activating and driving the glutes upward (Position B).
- The finished position of my torso and upper legs is about a 45 degree angle.
- Adjust feet as necessary between reps to get this 45 degree angle in Position B.
In Conclusion
These 3 exercises for glute gains have improved my good computer posture. As I said earlier, the glutes are the foundation of our torso’s weight when we’re in sitting posture. Gravity is pulling down on our torso at a high rate each second we are sitting in an office chair. Everything in our bodies is connected. Muscles, bones, tendons, ligaments. If our foundation is weak and deactivated, it will cause a chain reaction of poor computer posture throughout the rest of our bodies, not only in our glutes.
Good computer posture is just one of the crucial health benefits I’ve gotten from these functional glute training exercises.
THANKS FOR YOUR INTEREST IN COMPUTER POSTURE.
If you’ve read this far, congratulations! You’re taking valuable steps to reduce computer-related injuries by improving your posture. That’s something to be very proud of!
If you liked this article on how to build glute strength, check out my free ebook titled 3 Ways to Improve Computer Posture Immediately!
>>> Click here to download your free copy
This ebook is a great supplement to the article you just read. In this ebook, you’ll learn 3 of the most painful, poor computer posture mistakes. Then, you’ll learn how to fix those mistakes immediately with 3 simple changes to your ergonomic computer desk setup.
Go to SittingPosture.com/ebook to learn more.
Take care,
Todd Bowen