We need to squeeze more butts, guys. Not in a creepy or weird way, though. Because that’d be creepy. And weird. I’m talking about squeezing your own butt. I’m talking glute activation—something most people completely overlook in their training.
Glutes do a lot more than fill out jeans and yoga pants. They actually play critical roles in strength, power, function, and injury prevention.
Problem is, most people’s glutes aren’t working the way they should. They’re extremely under-active. They’re the root of dysfunctional movements. And they’re the weak link in painful muscle imbalances.
If your glutes aren’t functioning properly, you’re shortchanging your success in both health and fitness.
That’s why squeezing butts—preferably your own—is one of the first orders of business with everyone I coach. It helps activate the glutes, improve performance, and minimize nagging pain in the back, hips, and knees.
It isn’t anything fancy either.
Usually, I’ll have them do a 30-second butt squeeze in the morning. Just like it sounds, they’ll stand up and squeeze that booty—hard—for 30 full seconds.
Simple enough, right?
Well, most of us are really bad at glute activation. I’ll bet squeezing your butt is more difficult than it sounds. Here’s what butt squeezing looked like during the first week of Emily’s coaching program…
Day One:
“My glutes are incredibly weak; felt more like I was flexing my abs than glutes because of my poor muscle control with the butt squeeze.”
This is the case for most people.
If our glutes don’t fire when we’re specifically asking them to, they’re definitely not firing when they should be primary movers. That means dysfunction. Usually, your low back and hammies have to pick up the slack. And that sets the stage for chronic aches and pains.
Not good. But it doesn’t have to last forever.
Day Four:
“AH, I finally figured out how to do a butt squeeze!!”
It took four days.
Four days before Emily felt like her glutes were even firing. Four days of consistent butt squeezing before her glutes finally woke up. And four days before she could truly start correcting dysfunction, improving performance, and chasing booty gains.
Often times, the simple things we usually overlook make the biggest difference.
If you’re not squeezing your butt, you’re missing out.
Squeeze More Butts: Three Big Benefits of Glute Activation
The glutes—maximus, medius, and minimus—are all key players to keep your hips healthy and happy. When you’ve got healthy and happy hips, you reap major benefits:
Injury Prevention
Your entire body is literally connected by an intricate musculoskeletal system. (Think: bones, muscle, tendons, ligaments, and fascia.) It’s known as the kinetic chain.
When there’s a damaged or broken link in the kinetic chain, that dysfunction is rarely localized. That means it spreads and causes pain in more places than one.
For most people, glutes are a broken, even missing, link of the kinetic chain. That’s why we need to squeeze more butts.
Most of the time, we have a terrible imbalance between hip flexors and glutes. The flexors are way too tight and the glutes don’t fire. This leads to anterior pelvic tilt. And eventually aches, pains, and injury—most commonly in your lower back, hips, and knees.
If you squeeze more butts and activate your glutes, you’ll be able to correct hip dysfunction and minimize or completely eliminate these aches and pains.
Imagine a low-back that doesn’t scream at you when you sit down. Imagine bidding the bum knee goodbye. And imagine squatting deeper with better hip mobility.
It’s all possible when you squeeze more butts.
Optimal Performance
Hips are the powerhouse of your body. Powerful hips make for powerful people. Glutes are meant to be some of the biggest and strongest muscles in your body. When your glutes are strong, you’re strong. Period.
But when your glutes are under-active, they’re not strong and your performance suffers.
Poor performance isn’t just a problem for the pros. Anybody that exercises needs their body firing on all cylinders. Your progress depends on it. If you’re not performing well, you’re not going to stimulate change (read: get results).
On the other hand, you’ll maximize your results if you’re performing at your peak.
Doesn’t matter if you’re looking to shed pounds of fat, pack on slabs of lean mass, or set a new personal record in your favorite lift. Optimal performance will help you get there that much faster. And active glutes will immediately improve your performance.
Run faster, jump higher, and lift more.
Squeeze more butts and make it happen.
Aesthetics (Because #bootygains)
Fitness isn’t just about looking great in your favorite jeans. But looking amazing is definitely a fantastic cherry on top. And most people have aesthetic goals—bigger arms, flatter abs, or a shapely booty.
Honestly, I hear about these all the time. They’re all great goals. And when you squeeze more butts to correct dysfunctional glutes, you’re better equipped to achieve them. All of them.
Glutes that are active will help you keep healthy and train consistently, getting you better results. Glutes that are active will help you be stronger and train harder, increasing your rate of result.
Consistency and intensity will allow you to melt more fat, make more muscle, and look more amazing.
Squeeze more butts to get better results. The more active your glutes become the better you’ll be able to succeed—whatever your goals might be.
Here’s how to better activate your glutes and maximize your progress…
My Favorite Ways to Squeeze More Butts
Obviously, glute activation is an absolute must. (Well, assuming you want to feel, perform, and look better.) That’s why I’m about to show you how to seamlessly squeeze more butts with your current training program.
Below you’ll find the exact drills I use in my coaching.
And because I’ve included everything from bodyweight to barbell exercises, you can use these no matter where you are—at home or in the gym.
Bodyweight and band work are usually best for helping you squeeze more butts during neural wake-up calls, mobility/stability work, and warm ups. Weighted glute work is usually best for helping you squeeze more butts in your training.
A great program will include glute activation drills and exercises throughout.
Use these to make your program great.
Squeeze More Butts with Bodyweight:
Standing Butt Squeeze
Do it almost like that. (Hands optional.) Use a moderate to wide stance with slightly turned out feet to maximize activation. Then simply squeeze for 30 full seconds.
Glute Bridges (Especially Single-Leg Variations)
Hip Thrusts (Especially Single-Leg Variations)
Squeeze More Butts with Bands:
Clam Shells
Lateral Band Walks
Zombie Walks
Squeeze More Butts with Weights:
Goat-Belly Swings
KB Swings
Barbell Hip Thrusts
Now Go Squeeze More Butts
Glute activation is a key component of proper training and it’s often neglected. Don’t do that to yourself. It’ll hurt you and your progress.
At this point, you should probably stand up and do a 30-second butt squeeze. Like right now. Then, work the rest of those drills and exercises into your warms ups and training.
Bring your glutes to life. And start getting better results today.