Glute Exercises For Lower Back Pain

Glute exercises when done properly can significantly reduce your back pain.  Truth is most of us sit on our behinds all day long.  That is terrible for proper functioning glute musculature.  What happens when we sit for long periods of time day after day?  Our brain perceives our glutes as not needed.  Therefore, our brain shuts the signal off to the glutes and it tells other muscles to work harder. 

The muscles picking up the slack are the muscles of the lower back.  Another thing that happens is the hip joint fails to move properly so we start moving at the lumbar spine (lower back).  This produces strenuous overuse of the lumbar spine (lower back) and surrounding musculature.  Are you seeing the pain pattern?

Most people think of the glutes as strictly cosmetic.  I’m here to tell you that they can be a significant pain reducer.  These exercises can be done for a better looking backside but for the purpose of this webpage we will stick with pain reduction.  Our goal is to wake the glutes up then get full activation and beyond.

To fully understand how to properly use our glutes we must first understand the anatomy involved as far as muscles and joints.


The major joint in question here is the hip joint.  The hip joint is a very important part of the kinetic chain.  A poor functioning hip can cause pain all the way up into the neck and all the way down into the toe.  Activating the glutes is the first step to properly function hip joints.

The muscles that make up the glute complex are gluteus maximus, gluteus medius,  gluteus minimus, and iliotibial band.

The muscles acting on the hip joint are the glutes to extend the joint, the iliotibial band to flex and laterally rotate the hip, and the psoas muscle to flex the hip.


Side note: If you are totally new to exercise the very best way to start is a walking program.  A walking program starts the process of getting into a routine while working the heart and lungs.  Walking actually really works the glutes as well.

Glute Exercises:

Body Weight Squats

Weight Squats

Swiss Ball Squats

Glute Squeeze

Glute Bridge

Glute Bridge with Theraband

Basic Lunge

Tri-Planar Lunge

Tri-Planar Lunge with Reach

Clam Shells

Standing Kickbacks

Quadruped Kickbacks

Balance Kickbacks

These glute exercises range from beginner to more advanced type exercise.  It's best to start beginner and go from there.  If you would like an explanation on one or more of the exercises above utilize the contact us form to your left and one of our Indianapolis chiropractors will get back to you within 48 hours.

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