-: Okay, as far as important hip extensors,
we've got several muscles here
that are responsible for that job,
but the primary one that we're mostly concerned with
is going to be this glute maximus
that's colored in green right here.
Now this one, it attaches, it has a very broad attachment,
goes all the way from the underside of this iliac crest,
this bone right here,
and it attaches right into the edge of the sacrum
all the way down to pretty much the coccyx,
and it's actually, if this extended further,
it would actually come a little bit further
than what I've drawn here.
But from the looks of it,
we would make an assumption that the glute max,
because of the fact that it attaches out here
that it's going to create this kind of like abduction.
And it's a primary like abductor as well,
but it's actually a little bit deceiving
when you kind of consider what it's actual function is
in three dimensions.
Because if we look on this pelvis,
I do have the other side here,
we not only have an attachment
that comes across from the outside
to this blue thing that I've drawn in here,
which is the it band, which is another soft tissue,
but there is a little gluteal kind of insertion,
a gluteal cubicle, and that's on the edge of this bone,
which is very lateral to
where this whole hip joint rotates around.
The thing is
it's going to have difficulty creating abduction
just because of this axis of rotation,
as any forces come upwards,
it's gonna force this bone to like rotate up and around.
And so what that leads to is
primarily a hip extension motion,
which is more straight back rather than all the way around.
And if we want to continue to talk about
this motion as like an abduction motion,
it really is going to end up in relative a deduction
by the time it comes around,
which if you think about it is really just
abduction taken to its very extreme.
At it's shortest position,
you're gonna see that this is gonna ball up nice and short,
and it's gonna end up with this
majority of hip extension motion back here.
Now helpers that help this guy do its job
are going to be the glute medius right here,
which is depicted in red.
And then you've got the light green,
which is the glute minimus.
Do have the other side of the pelvis here.
But if you'll notice
when this pelvis is sitting just like this,
you've got the outside of this iliac crest
that is still actually,
it has an angle where it faces back still,
which means that these guys also
are primary hip extensors of the hip.
They will also shorten into hip extension.
So this entire glute complex
is responsible for primarily hip extension.
And the other guys that are doing primarily hip extension
are going to be the long hamstrings,
which are these guys here,
this green one, which is the long head of the (indistinct),
then you've got this purple one,
which is the semimembranosus, comes all the way down here.
And then you've got this blue one,
which is the semi tendinosis,
which attaches right into
the issue tuberosity right down here,
this nice thick bone down the bottom.
These are known as your sit bones,
which is what takes the majority of the load when we sit.
Aside from these guys,
we just have Chelsea kind of spin around,
can you actually just flip over and just lie back this way.
We have also a lot of our adductors
that sit back in this area
and the fact is we call them adductors,
but based on where this leg sits in space
is going to determine what their primary function becomes.
So when the leg
is mostly centered in a relatively neutral position,
yeah, when these guys shorten up,
they're going to create adduction.
But the more that Chelsea comes into a hip flexed position,
you can see that starting from this orange guy here,
which is your adductor magnus,
these guys are coming into a very, very big stretch
as we come into here.
This position is going to approximate
what the bottom position of a squat looks like,
and in this position,
they're really not gonna be that great at adducting,
they're really gonna be amazing at hip extending.
Okay, so these adductors have a very variable role
as far as like stability of the hip,
but also as far as the motion that they can produce.
So when we're talking about the adductor complex as a whole,
we've got this entire spread of tissues
that goes from the back medial portion of the leg,
all the way to partially anterior,
starting with the fibers of the adductor magnus,
which come from back here from the issue tuberosity
and then they come down into the medial tubercle,
and also into the linea aspera of the femur,
which is posterior to the leg.
There are several fibers that,
one that runs more obliquely
and ones that run more vertically.
So some of these are already situated
in a position where from neutral,
they might be more apt to create a hip extension position,
or hip extension motion from neutral.
Then you've got the gracilis,
which is this one depicted in green,
comes across, attaches anterior too on the tibia,
into the pes anserine complex, excuse me.
And this one also can be set up as a hip extensor,
but also we'll create knee flexion
if it's in the right position,
if the knee is in the right position,
it will help to initiate or help to complete a knee flexion.
Then you've got your adductor brevis here in orange,
and then you've got your adductor longus in purple.
So these help one another,
they attach right on the inside of this femur
kind of halfway down.
And then you've got your pectineus,
which now as soon as we cross this axis here, these guys,
because from a neutral position, now when they shorten,
they can actually shorten closer into knee, or hip flexion.
So these can either be,
like I said, they're very variable as far as their function,
from a neutral position, some of these are more apt to flex
and from an extended position,
some of these are going to be more apt to extend.
So in reality,
you have all of these add adapters that are here,
they have a very broad function from every certain position,
every single position of the hip,
and they can adapt themselves to
a very big like stabilization role that kind of allows
the rest of these muscles to do their job.
So the last one that, this is sartorius,
so this one is going to be more of like a hip flexion.
So these are your primary adductors,
some of which can take over some extension function.
And then we've got the hamstrings,
which the long ones are the extensors
and our primary hip extensors,
which is the entire glute complex.
When we look at the application
of hip extension in training,
a couple things that we need to consider
are some of these muscles, they are biarticular,
so there are things that are gonna be going on
at the knee joint per se
that are going to affect the hamstring's ability
to contribute to hip extension in terms of actual
load functioning as primary movers
in our compound movements like squats, leg, presses, lunges,
things like that.
And then some things that we should look for in exercises
that kind of give us an idea of what's going on
from both a recruitment perspective
and a strength perspective,
we will dig deeper into that role of the abductors
as hip sensors, and when that is helpful,
but also when we see that coming on,
what that means about the function
of the other hip extensors in that specific scenario.
So, we look at that glue complex as the hip extensor, right,
this is gonna be our main driver.
And if we're trying to focus on that,
our main thing is going to be to put it
at its best mechanical advantage
and maybe decrease some of the output
of these other exercises.
So the simplest way to isolate these in hip extension
is going to be doing stuff where we are at a bent knee
or the knee is bending as we go through those movements.
So in a bent knee,
we disadvantage the hamstring from a mechanical standpoint,
making them shorter, right.
And then in exercises where we're actually shortening
at the knee during the exercise,
which would be like a squat or lunge,
any sort of lower body press,
we're gonna be hip extending with the glute
and the hamstrings are gonna be functioning
as the knee stabilizer in that knee flexion.
So they're gonna form more of an isometric contraction,
kind of helping balance tension around the knee
while the glutes are gonna be the main thing
that allows us to increase torque around the hip.
Now, when we look at an exercise like a glute bridge,
we get the benefit
of like the shortened muscle position on the hamstrings
taking away from their ability to create as much tension,
which can give us more load on the glute
and less on the hamstring respectively.
And it can help mainly from an execution standpoint,
because our body's always gonna want to use
what has the best mechanical advantage.
It's gonna want to take the easiest route
to overcoming the load.
So in this position, it's not that,
okay, this is zero hamstrings,
it's that we're more prone to using glutes
because glutes are a better solution
to overcoming that resistance.
The other thing to look at is the leverage of the glute
versus the hamstrings in that short position.
So if we just look at this in 3D with Chelsea's glutes here,
we see the glutes have this round musculature
as they come around.
So in this short position,
they have more of an extension like pull
to be able to continue to drive the hip
into this extension up.
Whereas these hamstrings,
because they're starting to pull in,
as we get to a shorter hip position,
their mechanics as hip extensors really drops off.
So if you add in, okay, if we go to the short position,
the glutes have a mechanical advantage around the hip joint.
If we do this,
we disadvantage the hamstring via muscle length.
That's why the glute bridge
is such a very good and isolated glute exercise,
but anything that does hip extension
and is primarily loaded in that short position,
the glued is gonna be the better mechanical solution
between the hamstrings and the glutes.
Once we get into that lengthened position,
you're gonna see that there's a lot more equal opportunity
for these hamstrings to become involved.
So if we want to train the glutes
in a lengthened position,
we're gonna try and use exercises
where knee extension is a component like a leg press,
so the knee will be extending
while the hip is also extending.
And then what that will do is
it will be shortening the hamstrings of this joint,
or I'm sorry, lengthening 'em at this joint
while shortening them at this joint,
decreasing their ability to act as the hip extensors
and allowing the glutes to be the primary area of focus.
Okay.
So that just covers the muscles on this side of the joint.
If we have Chelsea do that little spin for me again.
So if we look at like our adductor complex.
So these muscles are gonna be incorporated in hip extension
in the lengthen position.
So if we have, for instance,
Chelsea's in the bottom of the leg press here,
it is gonna be very easy for these guys to be involved.
That doesn't necessarily take away from the glutes per se,
as long as everything is functioning properly,
but in an exercise like a squat or whatnot,
what we will tend to see if somebody's glutes
are not firing properly for whatever reason is,
if these guys are acting more as hip extensors,
even though they have a tremendous hip extension,
they do maintain a certain abduction type pull,
like so their extension pattern,
instead of it being this way is more of a path this way.
So what we will see is that can make
a tendency to want to pull the knee this way
if the foot is fixed on something.
So if the foot is fixed in the ground,
and these guys are doing too much of the work
on any hip extension mark,
'cause what you're gonna see is the tendency to do this.
Right, so when we talked about the ankle,
we talked about how the mechanics at the foot,
because of lack of ankle mobility
could lead to tibial rotation and whatnot.
There's lots of different reasons
that we can end up losing some sort of glute
like firing or activation or ending up in this position
where we're getting this like less efficient
leg path through hip extension of that valgus move
or that knee caving in.
And a big part of that usually is gonna say that,
well, if the knees are going in,
the glutes likely are not working.
And we're probably predominantly
using some of these abductors
to make up for that lack of glute activation.
So if we're relying more on glutes and hamstrings,
the two things that we will tend to see is knees caving in,
the other thing, if Chelsea tilts back over for me,
The other thing that we will see
is the hamstrings are having to do too much work,
the glutes aren't doing the work.
If the glutes are working, what they're gonna do
is they're going to post tilt the pelvis,
right, they're gonna drive it this way,
but if I need to use more hamstrings,
what I'm actually gonna do is I'm gonna try
and create a lever for these hamstrings.
So what you will see is people will hyper extend,
they will anterior tilt the pelvis
at the bottom of the squat, even though that's the reverse
of the motion that you're trying to create.
And that is happening because the body is trying to give
the hamstrings a greater moment
to be able to work as hip sensors,
because the glute is not working,
which is deceiving because in this position,
Chelsea is technically sticking her butt out, right,
so which gives the illusion to some people
that the glute may be working
because it's protruding more into space,
but in reality, if these fibers are contracting,
the pelvis is gonna be post tilting down,
which is decreasing the mechanics for the hamstrings,
but it is a sign that the glutes
are actually functioning in their line of pull.
So anytime you see somebody at the bottom of the squat,
and we want to know if those glutes are working,
we want to see that we are not getting excessive,
adduction causing the knee to cave in,
and that we are not seeing a tilt at the lumbar spine
and an anterior tilt of the pelvis,
suggesting that we are switching to favor mechanics
for the hamstrings in that position rather than the glutes.
And we have to look in both directions for what the causes
of what that inhibition of the glutes may be,
because it could be all the way up to head position
and the chin being up and the cervical being extended,
or it could be all the way down to the foot
with a lack of dorsiflexion
and we're getting mechanics at the foot
that are working their way up,
or it could just simply come down to either a strength
or execution imbalance
and the load or the exercise that we're doing
is inappropriate for the client at that time.
Another common mistake that we see with hip extension,
or I should say glute training is that people focus too much
on either abduction or external rotation,
just because misunderstanding of anatomy
in the way that the joint works.
So when we look at the glute, right,
as Chelsea kind of brings this glute into full shortening,
what you're gonna see is all of this tissue
is actually going to ball in this way,
and it's gonna take these fibers
and it's gonna line them up
straighter into straight hip extension.
So as she goes through that,
there's a slight external rotation,
but that happens not necessarily
because this is creating a lot of external rotation force,
that happens because remember the femur has that neck on it,
right, that creates basically a lever
that it's gonna externally rotate as it extends,
and it's gonna internally rotate as it goes out in front.
So that's just lining up the back of the femur here, right.
So when she's in this position,
this is extension what I'd actually have to do
without pinching her is pull this stuff over this way,
so that's more vertical.
So in this plane, right,
there's actually more of a kind of like
coming across an in vector.
And so those glutes are kind of extending this way,
but as soon as she comes out of that,
it becomes more of a straight extension,
as she gets around, there would be just a slight actual,
like slight abduction like this.
So if you think of like somebody sprinting
and they're running,
you're meant to kind of have a swing to your gait,
your legs, don't just move in this plane.
And that's because from biomechanics perspective,
we need to be able to account for all of this motion,
this swing is kind of how we like create passive tension
and we use that to rebound
and actually like conserve energy
and conserve kinetic energy as we go through like a sprint,
like that whole gait motion
depends on this kind of swinging gait rocking,
and our structures are built to facilitate that,
that neck of the femur, right,
and the shape of the pelvis,
all of that facilitates that motion.
So when we look at exercises like adductor machine
where we're just doing straight hip extension.
If Chelsea turns on her side and flips around for me.
So if we were to take her into like a seated position,
right, and we were to look at these fibers,
these fibers are now getting a fulcrum around the hip
to be predominantly extensor still, right.
And for her actual full hip flexion
is gonna be up in this position
and you can see that's gonna bring the greatest moment,
like if we could get our shorts
to follow her glute completely,
they'd be coming down and through here.
So if she were sitting like in one of those
abduction machines,
and going through this type of a motion,
the thing that's actually gonna take the blunt of that
is gonna be this piriformis muscle,
these external rotators that run underneath
because they have a lever to do this, right.
Whereas the glute is only gonna function in this pattern
if it is carrying through hip extension while doing so.
Right, so it has a very minimal abduction track,
and it's not because so much of the pull of the glutes,
but because of the mechanics of the joint, right.
And so that is very subtle.
If you have an external rotation or a abduction intent,
likely what you are gonna be doing
is putting more tension in those small muscles,
creating a lot of joint instability,
possibly even jamming the joint up prematurely
and not getting to full hip extension.
If you just go on your stomach for me.
Okay.
If we were to try and take Chelsea here
into what would be a full glute position, right.
So we just let this arc around like it naturally would
and we kind of fix her here.
That's a fully shortened glute position here.
And all of this stuff is now gonna be lined up pretty good
for straight extension.
If we were to abduct her prematurely,
or with a little bit too much, right,
and then I try and come up,
there's a lot less hip extension.
And that's because this excess abduction
is gonna create a jamming of the joint.
The abduction that we do get is that femur neck
rotating along that pelvis fossa
and giving us this slight outward motion, right,
not the glue pushing the leg out.
So it's important that you understand that with mechanics,
you understand that when you're queuing clients
that to get more glutes,
they're not supposed to be trying to drive the leg out,
right,
they're trying to focus on getting to full hip extension.
That may require you to help them find
the appropriate path of motion to get there,
but that shouldn't include them forcefully pushing out
because even if I were to say,
okay, this is Chelsea's full hip extension here, right.
If I say, okay, just push out into me
and then try and extend as you do that,
you're gonna see that she can't get anywhere near that,
right because the same thing's gonna happen,
just the tension in those abductors
is going to create restriction in the joint
and going to limit how short we can get the glue,
it's gonna create less stability in the joint
when we're trying to load hip extension.
So things where that is overemphasized,
or if we look at something, another popular exercise we see,
which is like a frog pump,
which is gonna have the legs in this way, right.
So what you'll see is that the knees are out
and the ankles are in.
So you kind of end up in a position like this, right.
So now, instead of the glutes being lined up
to do this extension force, there's a force this way
that is pushing kind of relationally this way on the joint.
So the thing that has to counteract on again
is gonna be these external rotators of the hip,
which may give you the sensation
that this is working your glutes, or that it's difficult,
but really again,
what it comes down to being is this force right here
is actually going to create that jamming in the joint.
Right. And so what people will feel
is they will feel like they're working hard,
but it's not because they're getting more tension,
it's just harder to work because the jamming of the joint
and the co contraction,
and all of those small muscles are creating
is actually giving them more sensation,
but restricting their range of motion.
So these type of exercises that you see
that are being popularized for glutes,
because they give a lot of feeling
are actually probably creating more trauma to those joints
and decreasing the amount of tension
that you're able to build your in your glutes.
Probably the only thing that you're gonna get back here
that's gonna accumulate any size
is just a big pile of inflammation, right.
So if we want to load the glutes,
there is an appropriate amount.
So if Chelsea were to lay on her back
and we were to perform a bridge here,
so go ahead and just come up.
All right.
If she were to go through hip extension,
like we were doing a bridge on the floor
and she were to come up, right.
In order to get her to that fully shortened position,
there may be a slight queuing of getting her to finish
with just the slightest bit of abduction.
And what you'll see is it's not truly abduction,
the hip rolls to get those glutes
more lined up with the pelvis,
like to get more lined up for extension, and that's it.
Anything extra that I push in is actually gonna take away
from what she can put into the hip extension.
So there's nothing like,
I shouldn't say there's nothing wrong,
using a band on the knee,
like if you use a light band can be a teaching tool
to help somebody get into that position.
What I prefer, this is even better
since only the top position is what matters
would actually be to come in
and give a little manual resistance here,
just in that top position and see that as if I get this
and it's doing what its job is,
I should see that she is also able
to get more post tilt as she does.
If I don't see increased hip extension with this queuing,
then it's really not helping me get more glutes, right,
it's really actually taking away from what I'm doing.
The worst thing that you can do
is to continually progress the load pushing in this way.
So if you're gonna use a band for glutes,
it should be a very light band
that you're using to teach them to use more glutes
and maybe less abductors,
and to find that end range position appropriately
if you don't want to use the manual queue.
Adding extra resistance,
so going to increase resistance in a band
instead of increased resistance to the hip extension
is going to make the exercise progressively worse
instead of progressively more effective.
So instead of progressively overloading the glutes,
you're actually gonna be progressively overloading
the stabilizer muscles, and jamming the joint,
and what you will see
is that you'll reach a plateau with those exercises,
and you'll see range of motion of hip extension get less
and less and less and less.
And yet you will see that your other exercises where there,
your other compound exercises, your squats, your lunges,
your deadlifts, and things like that,
you'll see that your actually able to get less output
in your glutes, and usually then people start,
you start to see more valgus or more abductor development
and stuff like that. And then you get the thing
where people get massive thighs with no glutes,
because they're basically training their body
to not use their glutes in hip extension by using over
or too much tension in that band,
or too much a reduction intent,
or they're doing like the frog pump positions right here,
and they're loading the joint in a jammed position.