{"id":9308,"date":"2021-12-17T15:23:52","date_gmt":"2021-12-17T14:23:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.physiotutors.com\/?post_type=wiki&#038;p=9308"},"modified":"2026-10-15T19:04:06","modified_gmt":"2026-10-15T17:04:06","slug":"top-5-gluteus-maximus-exercises","status":"publish","type":"wiki","link":"https:\/\/www.physiotutors.com\/wiki\/top-5-gluteus-maximus-exercises\/","title":{"rendered":"Top 5 Gluteus Maximus Exercises"},"featured_media":0,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":""},"class_list":["post-9308","wiki","type-wiki","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":{"free_access":"","app_link":"","sections":[{"acf_fc_layout":"page-header-detail-page","background":{"background_image":9312,"background_image_alt_text":"Gluteus Maximus Exercises"},"heading":"Top 5 Glutes Maximus Exercises","subheading":"Hip rehabilitation","content_editor":"","button_type":"url","button_label":"Check our shop","button_style":"button-five","button_internal_link":"","button_anchor":"","button_url":"https:\/\/study.physiotutors.com\/course\/running-rehab-course-2\/","button_file":null,"label":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"submenu","links":[{"button_type":"anchor","button_label":"Learn","button_internal_link":null,"button_anchor":"section-number-3","button_url":"","button_file":null},{"button_type":"anchor","button_label":"Free sample","button_internal_link":null,"button_anchor":"section-number-5","button_url":"","button_file":null},{"button_type":"anchor","button_label":"Assessment E-Book","button_internal_link":null,"button_anchor":"section-number-6","button_url":"","button_file":null}],"dropdown_label":"Go to","button_right":{"button_type":"internal_link","button_label":"Try Premium free","button_style":"button-three","button_internal_link":26802,"button_anchor":"","button_url":"","button_file":""},"button_description":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"content-content","section_options":{"vertical_alignment":"top","column_right_box":false,"column_left_width":"col-12 col-lg-4 offset"},"column_left":{"content_editor":"<h4>Learn<\/h4>"},"column_right":{"content_editor":"<h6><strong>Top 5 Glutes Maximus Exercises<\/strong><\/h2>\nThe gluteus maximus is a powerful hip extensor and lateral rotator and our most important muscle when we try to accelerate our body upward and forward from around 45\u00b0-60\u00b0 of hip flexion. On top of that, it plays an important role in plant and cut maneuvers to the opposite side. Hip dysfunction is one factor that has been associated with low back and various lower extremity pathologies and there's a strong association between lateral rotation weakness and patellofemoral pain syndrome.\n\nWhen designing a strengthening or rehab program\u00a0for patients there are multiple factors that play\u00a0a role in the exercise selection. One of those\u00a0factors is the degree of muscle activation that\u00a0can be achieved by a certain exercise and measured\u00a0by EMG. Reiman et al. (2012) did a systematic review in\u00a0the year 2012 and evaluated the activation of the\u00a0gluteus maximus in several exercises. Here are\u00a0the top 5 with the highest activation from\u00a0low to high:\n<div class=\"embed-container\">\n\n[embed]https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=WHDdm0Yxh-o[\/embed]\n\n<\/div>\nTop 5 Exercises at a glance:\n\n1) Retro Step-Up\n\n2) Wall Squat\n\n3) Single leg Squat\n\n4) Single Leg Deadlift\n\n5) Step Up\n\n6) Our personal favorite: Weighted Hip Thrusts\n\nBe aware that EMG activity is only one factor that you should take into account when designing an exercise program. So while it can be a good basis to know how well a certain muscle is targeted, you should further analyze your patient's functional needs and take other factors into account like joint angle, open and closed chain, coordinated demands, sensorimotor feedback, level of irritability and skill of your patient to select suitable exercises.\n\nIf you are curious about the 5 best exercises\u00a0to target the gluteus medius which is our most\u00a0important hip stabilizer in the frontal plane,\u00a0check out the post here!\n\n<h4><strong>References:<\/strong><\/h4>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/22007858\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Reiman MP, Bolgla LA, Loudon JK. A literature review of studies evaluating gluteus maximus and gluteus medius activation during rehabilitation exercises. Physiotherapy theory and practice. 2012 May 1;28(4):257-68.<\/a>"}},{"acf_fc_layout":"content-content","section_options":{"vertical_alignment":"top","column_right_box":false,"column_left_width":"col-12 col-lg-4 offset"},"column_left":{"content_editor":"<h4>References<\/h4>"},"column_right":{"content_editor":"<a href=\"https:\/\/pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/22007858\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Reiman MP, Bolgla LA, Loudon JK. A literature review of studies evaluating gluteus maximus and gluteus medius activation during rehabilitation exercises. Physiotherapy theory and practice. 2012 May 1;28(4):257-68.<\/a>"}},{"acf_fc_layout":"cta-form-v2","content_editor":"<h2>Get the <strong>21 most useful<\/strong> orthopedic tests<\/h2>\r\n<p>Download our <strong>free<\/strong> e-book with the 21 most useful orthopedic tests per body region, to help you reach the right diagnosis.<\/p>","form":"39","image":29349,"image_alt_text":"Free e-book with 21 orthopedic tests"},{"acf_fc_layout":"cta-image-v2","layout":"","background":"transparent","heading":"","content_editor":"<p class=\"subheading\">Like what you\u2019re learning?<\/p>\n<p class=\"heading-two\">Get the full Physiotutors <strong>Assessment Book<\/strong><\/p>\n\n<ul>\n \t<li>600+ pages on orthopedic assessment<\/li>\n \t<li>Video demonstrations and direct links to the PubMed studies<\/li>\n \t<li>Statistical values for every special test, from the latest research<\/li>\n \t<li>Free lifetime updates<\/li>\n \t<li>Available in English, German, French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese and Turkish<\/li>\n<\/ul>","button_type":"internal_link","button_label":"See the Assessment Book","button_style":"button-two","button_internal_link":4646,"button_anchor":"","button_url":"","button_file":null,"side_button":{"side_button_content_editor":""},"bottom_button":{"bottom_button_content_editor":""},"image":22705,"image_alt_text":""}]},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Top 5 Gluteus Maximus Exercises | Hip Strengthening Exercises<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Here are our top 5 glutes maximus exercises: The gluteus maximus is an important muscle that is one of the main hip stabilizers\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.physiotutors.com\/wiki\/top-5-gluteus-maximus-exercises\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" 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