I was going through my blog stats and came across this thread on Sherdog, a forum about Mixed Martial Arts. Name of the thread: Most common mistake with squats and deadlifts: not squeezing the glutes enough.

I’d go further. Most common mistake in strength training & weight lifting: not squeezing the glutes at all. Squeezing your glutes is the best way to increase strength & safety. Here’s why.

Increased Strength. I first read about the benefits of squeezing the glutes in Pavel Tsatsouline’s book The Naked Warrior.

Your glutes are your strongest muscles. Squeeze them hard & you increase your maximal strength.

Simple test. Grab something with your right hand. Like barbell. Squeeze it as hard as you can.

Now do it again, but squeeze your glutes while squeezing the bar. Indeed. You can exert more strength.

If you’ve never done this before, squeezing your glutes will lead to strength increases in your lifts in a matter of workouts.

The original thread starter reported a 15lbs increase on his deadlifts in 3 workouts.

Increased strength is the first benefit of squeezing your glutes hard.

Increased Safety. Squeezing the glutes is safer on your lower back.

• You can’t arch your lower back if you squeeze your glutes hard. Try it.
• Squeezing your glutes brings your hips forward & minimizes pressure on your back.

Increased strength & safety is why you should always squeeze your glutes when lifting weights. Let me illustrate.

Glutes & Deadlifts. The deadlift is the best exercise for back strength. It teaches your low back to stay rigid against a load.

Staying rigid against a load is the only thing your lower back should do during deadlifts. The weight tries to bend your lower back. But you keep your back straight. This builds a strong back.

A common error is pulling back on the deadlift. The deadlift is not a pull back motion. It’s hip forward.

• Push from the heels.
• Bring your hips forward.
• Squeeze your glutes hard.

First thing you’ll notice when you deadlift this way: your lower back feels great. No pain. No soreness. Nothing. This is how it should be. If you got a hernia from deadlifts, you’re probably not squeezing your glutes.

I’m not saying your lower back will never be sore again. But definitely less often & less pronounced. You’ll feel the greatest soreness in your glutes, upper back & traps. Glutes because you’re squeezing them hard. Upper back because the weight will pull your shoulderblades down which you’re trying to keep back.

Glutes & Squats. Same as with deadlifts. Involve your glutes & you involve your strongest muscle while adding safety. Weight goes up. Lower back feels better. Bring your hips forward & squeeze your glutes hard. Totally new experience.

Glutes & Presses. Extreme arching of your lower back is as bad as extreme bending. Both put pressure on your vertebrae. Add to this unhealthy position heavy weight that you’re pushing Overhead & you risk injuries.

Not squeezing the glutes often causes lower back pain on the Overhead Press. By squeezing your glutes, you make it impossible to arch your lower back. So squeeze them hard. Bring your hips forward.

Glute Activation. What if you can’t squeeze your glutes? You try to, but you can’t? This happens a lot. Here’s what you can do:

• Glute Activation. Floor bridges, one legged bridges, birddogs.
• Hip Flexors Stretch. Stretch them if they’re tight.
• Lordosis. Check the mirror for symptoms.
• Sit less. The root of the problem. Do something about it.
• Focus. Build the habit of squeezing the glutes on every rep.