Whether you’re a fitness buff or the occasional jogger, there is one muscle that across the board doesn’t get stretched enough until it’s too late: your glutes. Although it might seem silly to have to stretch your butt, your gluteus maximus is actually one of the strongest muscles in your body. Your glutes are your sense of power that goes down to your hamstrings, quads, hips, and even your knees.
Because your glutes control so many other parts of your body, it’s really important to make sure it’s properly stretched. If you don’t stretch it, it can get really tight and give you a lot of problems, especially in your hips and hip flexors. If you’re prone to tight hips, you should think about stretching your glutes more and see if that helps the problem. If you’re also doing a lot of squats and other exercises to increase your quad or hamstring strength, stretching the glutes is a must.
Some good stretches to get you going is pigeon pose, which is actually a yoga position but feels great for tight hips and glutes. Another classic is lunges, which you can do with your leg straight off the ground or with a bent knee. Another really good one is to lay on your back, put your foot onto your opposite thigh to make a 4, and left up that leg to bring it close to your chest.
