Strengthening the Gluteus Medius

Gluteus medius strengthening is recommended in many rehabilitation protocols especially for many hip & knee related pathologies, but which exercises activate the gluteus medius the most??

How often have you seen individuals perform a traditional BW clam shell prior to a lift with reasoning that they are increasing there glute activation? Are they choosing the most appropriate exercise? 

 Is the traditional clam shell the most appropriate exercise for rehab? Or glute med activation? If the individual has a low level strength then yes it may be… but if the purpose is to increase glute med activation then there are many more to choose from or the clam shell can be modified as shown above.

Adding a TheraBand to the clam shell will increase the glute med activation but adding a band to side lying hip abduction & plank w/ hip abduction for example will also increase it’s activation… 

By knowing the %MVIC of the gluteal musculature that occurs during various exercises, potential for strengthening of the gluteal muscles can be inferred. Additionally, exercises may be rank ordered to appropriately challenge the gluteal musculature during rehabilitation. 

By Lloyd Evans, Physiotherapy student at Exercise Thought

References:

Boren, K., Conrey, C., Le Coguic, J., Paprocki, L., Voight, M., & Robinson, T. K. (2011). Electromyographic analysis of gluteus medius and gluteus maximus during rehabilitation exercises. International journal of sports physical therapy, 6(3), 206–223.