Do you have squat problems? Do your knees ever cave in, or maybe you feel pain in your lower back, hips, IT Band, or knees? This could be due to weak glutes.
The Warmups
You can try to “warm up” your glutes with a hip abduction machine, banded side walks, or banded squats or focus on building up those muscles if they aren’t just “sleepy”.
You can also wrap a band around your knees and constantly push your knees outward against the band during your squat to help build up that glute.
Something similar to this issue can be the arches on your feet are caving. The hollow arch space on the insides of your feet may be shallow or nonexistent. This leaves your feet flush with the ground and shifts your weight towards the inside of your ankles.
Try doing some banded foot inversion exercises to keep the inside of your foot from dropping to correct it. The moment you lean forward, you’re immediately burdening your low back. That’s definitely not a good thing for most of us.
The first move of a squat is pushing your bottom back, and hinging at the hips. It keeps your weight centered and balanced while building your glutes without putting pressure on your lower back.
Why worry about form?
Whether you use a machine or band to help correct your squat, it is better to correct it as soon as possible to prevent any knee or hip injuries. These injuries can occur both suddenly and slowly over a long period of time; and although they may not be entirely avoidable 100% of the time, you most certainly can stay much safer and healthier for the long term by being conscious of your form and limitations.
Warm-ups from Co-Owner Brad Bromlow: Instagram @bbromlow
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