The Best Gluteus Minimus Workout For Women’s in GYM

Your buttocks are made up of your glutes. Three muscles make up your glutes: gluteal, Medius, and gluteal.

The largest of the gluteal muscles, the gluteus minimus, is responsible for most of the body’s shape, strength, and explosion. Because of this, it’s often overlooked.

The gluteal minimus is the smaller of the two muscles. It’s located on the outer hip and works parallel to the gluteal medius to rotate and abduct the thighs.

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How Do You Activate Your Gluteus Minimus?

Lying on your side, lift your top leg towards the ceiling. Lift out of your glutes—not your inner thighs—and feel the gluteal contractions as you lift your leg.

Hip abductions (pulling your leg out to one side) activate your gluteal muscles. To get a feel for how to engage the gluteal muscles, place your hand next to your butt just behind your ball and socket hip joint.

Adrian explains that these cues can strengthen the neural pathways between the brain and the gluteum and help activate the gluteum during exercise. “When you’re working out, use cues like squeezing the glutes at the peak of the movement and making sure you’re maintaining good form to make sure the gluteum is activated,”.

5GLUTEUS MINIMUS EXERCISES FOR GROWTH & STRENGTH

SIDE PLANK WITH HIP ABDUCTION

Side-lying hip abductions are one of the most effective lateral glute exercises. As with any side plank, the glutes and core work together isometrically to keep the side bridge in place.

Then your hip abductors fire to lift your leg, with the added benefit of hip abduction. This exercise works almost all your core and gluteal muscles, but it concentrates on your side butt muscles, including your glutes (gluteus minimus) and gluteus medius, helping to strengthen these muscles.

How To Do The Side Plank with Hip Abduction:

Place your elbow on the floor and place your lower leg on the floor.
In a side plank position, rise to your elbow and side of your lower leg.
Keep your torso straight and don’t let your hips droop throughout the entire movement.
From this side bridge position, lift your top leg as high as you can.
Squeeze your side glute muscles as you lift, then slowly lower your leg.
Do this leg lift 10-12 times and switch sides.

SIDE LYING HIP ABDUCTION

Side lying hip abduction is about the closest thing you’re going to have to a glute isolation exercise. It’s going to be a hip abductor exercise, and although it may feel a bit easier than other exercises in the glutes, it’s a great way to strengthen your gluteal and medius muscles.

If you’re not sure where to start with this exercise, here are some progression ideas.

Wrap your legs around a resistance band, above the knees, or hold a weight on the side of the thigh (weights or dumbbells work well).

How To Do The Side-Lying Abduction:

Lie down on your side.
You can either put your head on the floor or rest your elbow on the floor.
The bottom leg can be straight or bent, with your feet shooting backwards.
Lift your top leg up as high as you can, squeeze your glutes, and lower it back down.
Keep your top leg straight the whole time, really focus on your side butt.

CURTSY LUNGE

If you’re looking for a full-body exercise that targets your whole lower body and effectively works your glutes minimus, look no further than the Curtsy Lunge.

The Curtsy Luge is one of the most effective lunging and lower-body exercises, in general, to work your lateral glutes because it moves through the front plane of your glutes (laterally).

As you move through the exercise, hold onto dumbbells, kettlebells, or barbells for more resistance.

How To Do The Curtsy Lunge:

Stand up straight with your back to the wall, your chest up, and your feet about an inch apart from each other.
Place your right foot to the left and place your left foot to the right. As you lower your right foot toward the ground, both your knees will bend. Ensure your left knee stays above your ankle while keeping your back straight and your spine neutral.
Before your right knee hits the ground, use your left leg to push back up with the planted foot. Return to your starting position, both feet hip-width apart, and repeat on the opposite side with the right foot planted while the left leg moves back and toward the right.

FIRE HYDRANTS

Fire hydrants are a great way to strengthen your gluteal and gluteal abductors. If you’re looking to make this move more challenging, add a resistance band. The fire hydrant without the band is ideal for beginners, and for stronger individuals, the band will challenge your glutes enough.

How To Do Fire Hydrants:

Put your hands and knees on the ground, your knees should be just below your hips, and your hands should be just under your shoulders. Make sure your back is straight.
Lift your leg as high off the ground as you can, keeping your knee bent. Ideally, your knee should be almost to the top of your back.
Bring your leg back down as low as you can, so it barely touches the floor, and then lift it back up.
Do this for 10 to 15 reps, then repeat on the other side.

LATERAL LUNGE

Lateral lunges (also known as gluteal lunges) are a great lower body compound movement. The gluteal muscles need to be activated to push you back up off the lunge. As you lunge down, the opposite side of your gluteal muscles get a little stretched out.

In summary, lateral lunges are a great exercise for people who want to build their gluteal muscles efficiently as it hits many other muscles simultaneously. We love including this movement in our home glutes workouts.

If you would like to continue with this movement after reading the directions, hold onto 1 or 2 dumbbells/kettlebells while doing this movement.

How To Do The Lateral Lunge:

There are a few different ways to do the lateral lunge. You can do lateral lunges where your feet are planted, alternating lunges by stepping your working leg out every rep from a hip width position. You can also do lateral lunges side by side in the same way (either with your feet in a wide stance, or coming up to hip width standing position every rep).

These directions are for the one side lateral lunge that requires you to step out with each rep.

Stand up straight, with your back to the wall, your chest above your head, and your feet at hip-width from each other.
Place your left foot out to one side, giving it some distance so you can lower down while still keeping your planted foot’s leg straight (on the right side).
Lower down so your thighs are parallel to each other (or as parallel as you can manage). Your knee should be parallel to your foot and not push out past your toe (again, you need good hip mobility so you can sit back).
Push up from your bottom position with your left leg, and return to your standing position, feet hip width from each other.
Repeat on the opposite side for the required 10 reps.
Do another 10 reps on the opposite side, and you can do this 20 times total.

Benefits Of Gluteus Minimus Exercises

If you haven’t considered the gluteus minimus in your glute training, now is the time to start!

Specifically training the gluteus minimus can bring about the following benefits:

IMPROVED PELVIC ALIGNMENT

When you walk, your glutes contract to support your pelvis. If you have weak gluteal muscles, your right hip can dip down as you lift your right leg to walk. Poor pelvic alignment can lead to chronic hip pain and poor knee tracking. Strengthening your gluteal muscles can help you prevent and improve your pelvic alignment issues.

BETTER ATHLETIC PERFORMANCE

Hip stability is a key component of almost every sport. Running, jumping, and lunging all rely on strong glutes for power and agility. If you don’t work on your gluteal strength, you’re wasting your athletic potential!

IMPROVED AESTHETICS

There is no such thing as a “one-and-done” glute. When you work your glutes, you’re also working your glute medius and other gluteal abductor muscles. This can help you get more toned glutes.

While it’s true that losing body fat is largely dependent on your diet, you can also add muscle to your glutes to enhance your backside.

Conclusion

The main point of the given text is that the gluteus minimus is an important muscle in the buttocks that can be activated and strengthened through specific exercises. Training the gluteus minimus can improve pelvic alignment, enhance athletic performance, and contribute to better aesthetics.

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FAQs

Q1: What muscles make up the buttocks?

A: There are three muscles in the buttocks: the gluteal muscles, the gluteal medius muscles, and the gluteal muscle.

Q2: Which muscle is responsible for most of the body’s shape, strength, and explosion?

A: Gluteal muscles are the largest muscles in the body and are responsible for most body shape, strength and explosion.

The gluteum is the largest muscle of the glutes

Q3: What is the gluteus minimus responsible for?

A: A smaller muscle on the outside hip joint that works in conjunction with the glute medius to turn and contract the thighs.

Q4: How can you activate the gluteus minimus?

A: Lying on your side, lift your top leg up towards the ceiling. Aim to lift out of the glutes, not the inner thighs. This will activate the gluteum minimus.

Q5: What is the benefit of hip abductions?

A: The gluteal muscles (gluteus minimus) are activated in hip abductions (when you pull your foot out to one side).

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