Glute work

Glutes tend to be undertrained I think.

They have a ton of carry over benefit for speed, explosive power, balance ect.

Barbell Glute Bridge

Low Trap Bar Deadlift

Glute Ham Raise

 I love the Glute Ham Raise.  It takes some practice to do this correctly.  It is easy for the leg to "slide" back if you are on a machine doing this.  You can start doing a vacation of the glute ham raise on the floor on the floor. 

I agree with all the exercises that Leftside provided. I'll add some more of my favorite glute exercises.

 

Supine body weight glute bridge - I like to use these in my warm ups, especially if you're working out after school and you've been sitting in class all day. Great exercises to get the glutes activated.

 

Barbell hip thrust - The best bang for your buck glute exercise. You can really load up the weight on these.

 

Single leg hip thrust - a little more advanced. The unilateral aspect adds some core stabilization to the exercise.

 

Lateral band walks - great for building lateral strength which is important for baseball players

 

Kettlebell swings - emphasize exploding the hips through and this exercise turns into a great one to build strength in the posterior chain.

 

Romanian deadlifts - same as above. Emphasize squeezing the glutes and getting full hip extension.

 

 

If you want strength and power then you should squat and deadlift (powerlifting moves and not body building or shaping / conditioning moves).  Look up periodization.  No drugs, 8 week cycles, once a week on each lift as heavy as you can in the cycle while maintaining your form.  Done correctly, you will gain power and speed.  I never bought into the single leg anything because you can not lift as much weight, are at a greater risk of injury, and thus delay your progress. You have to be careful to not overdevelop a specific muscle group or you risk injury.  Squatting and deadlifting will work all muscles the way the body was designed.  Ever wonder why kids pull hamstrings?  Typically related to overdevelopment of the quad and not enough development of the hamstring.  They are out of balance and one will tear.

Can you provide any evidence that single leg exercises put you at a greater risk of injury? I'd be willing to bet that there is zero evidence out there backing up that claim. Unilateral exercises provide a great benefit and I suggest that all athletes implement single leg training into their programs. In fact, look up some articles by Mike Boyle. He's one of the best minds in the business and he his athletes work almost exclusively with single leg work instead of bilateral leg work.

 

Baseball is an incredibly asymmetric sport. Unilateral exercises can help balance out asymmetries throughout the body.

http://johnalvino.com/the-real...ingle-leg-exercises/

 

My opinions come from power lifting for over 15 years, no injuries, great strength, flexibility, and speed improvements (I played in a professional soccer program, but the core work is great for baseball as well). Pick a muscle and a power lifter will have a much stronger muscle and body over someone doing lateral strength movements or swinging kettle bells (I do like some of the kettle bell exercises and the Romanian deadlifts - anything that builds explosive power will translate into explosive movements in sports. The guy in the article explains it much better than I can.

Power lifters and baseball players are two completely different animals. With that being said I have all my baseball players perform squat and deadlift variations. Nowhere in my reply did I negate the benefits of bilateral training. I just think it's extremely bold, and extremely wrong to claim that single leg training increases an athletes risk for injury.

 

Well designed programs will have a good balance between bilateral and unilateral work. Since we're on a baseball forum it should be noted that we need to incorporate movements and exercises in all 3 planes of motion. Baseball is a frontal/transverse plane dominated sport. You can squat, bench, and deadlift with baseball players all day but if they don't have any ability to move outside of the sagittal plane then you need to change some things in your program.

The lateral band walks are great too.  For a couple of reasons in my humble opinion.  I use them a lot at the beginning of a work out, after a quick warm up and foam rolling, to get the glutes "turned on".  I have found it beneficial for guys that are having low back pain or stiffness.  I have found a lot of people don't use their glutes a lot and end up compensating with their lower back.  

 

Don't try this at home (or anywhere else)

Awesome stuff. I think we'll work in the barbell hip thrust on a regular basis. Working on securing some bands for the lateral band walks as well.

 

Trying to revamp the offseason program for our high school kids.

 

 

Glutes are the power driver of the lower body. They allow max force production to be created through the relationship with the ground. Before starting to strengthen in the weight room- focus on getting them to activate by doing body weight squat holds, split squat holds, and glute bridges on the floor. 

With the band walks I have seen a lot of people who toes will start to move "out" as the glutes start to tire.  Try to keep the toes in line, the foot pointed straight not "duck walking" out at all and usually will get a good burn in the glutes.  

Good advice, thanks. We've been doing a lot more glute bridges and glute work all around.

 

Is there an "opposite muscle" of sorts that we need to focus on training in conjunction with glutes? Core? Quads? 

In terms of opposite muscle- focus more on releasing and stretching the hip flexors. If you don't, you won't be able to truly engage the glutes. Tight hip flexors will act as a brake and pull on low back and inhibit range of motion. Core planking is also a good support.

Anything in particular y'all do to stretch hip flexors out? We've done hurdles and some basic yoga stuff, but looking for more.

My old chiropractor taught me to stretch the hip flexor and the quad ( he traveled with the US Olympic track team).  Go into a position like you are doing a lunge.  Front foot out, front knee at 90 degree angle. On the back leg, rotate the hip forward - u will feel the hip flexor stretch.  This same type of hip rotation can be used to stretch the quad when warming up and will take the majority of the stress off of the knee.  If you want to stretch the quad, most people grab their ankle, balance on one leg, and pull the ankle to the butt, which compresses the knee.  Instead, grab the ankle, do not pull the ankle to the butt, instead push and rotate the hip forward (on the side you are holding the ankle).  This will completely stretch the quad with little to no pressure on the knee.

Some excellent stuff here, follow the thread above.

I have been. I started it.

Well done

Here is a short video that explains how to stretch the hip flexors and increase hip extension. https://www.youtube.com/watch?...XoHh4-W&index=49

I am not a fan of hurdles as they tend to create more "tightness" then actual mobility. Stretching hip flexors and internal hip rotators, as well as the external hip rotators are essential. 

We have been staying away from glute work using bands for those athletes with chronic back issues. We have studied a relationship between glute tension and episodes of lower back issues.