Posterior power: How glute strength improves long-term health outcomes
June 22, 2026
If you’re spending time in the gym building up your glutes, some people might assume it’s all for looks. But improving your glute strength can help with a lot more than just your appearance.
As more people pursue strategies for healthy aging, they are discovering the importance of glute strength. These muscles that form your backside do much more than just look nice.
They are the primary stabilizers of your entire body. All of your muscle movements from the waist down depend on your glutes.
Three distinct muscles make up the glutes:
- Gluteus maximus, the biggest outer muscle that makes up the buttocks. It’s also the strongest muscle in the body.
- Gluteus medius, a thin muscle on the outer surface of the pelvis that connects to your hip bone.
- Gluteus minimus, the smallest and most protected glute muscle, which connects to your hip bone.
The glutes are essential for basic movements such as sitting, standing, and using the bathroom as well as exercises that require pelvis stability and hip mobility. This muscle group works together to move your legs and provides shock absorption that helps preserve your spine, hips, and knees.
Injuries to this muscle group are common among athletes. But sports aren’t the only source of glute injuries. Sitting too much can cause dead butt syndrome, which is more commonly known as diminished gluteal syndrome. It has a goofy name, but it can cause long-term problems such as hamstring injuries, shin splints, and low-back pain that can significantly reduce your mobility.
That’s why building glute strength now is important to help you retain mobility and independence as you age.
How do the glutes support mobility?
The three glute muscles work together to move your legs. Without the gluteus maximus, you wouldn’t be able to walk, run, jump, or rotate your thigh. The two smaller muscles help to stabilize the pelvis and upper body, as well as bring your leg to the side, which are key for posture, mobility, walking and balance.
If you have weak glutes, you’ll be at higher risk of developing musculoskeletal problems, such as:
- Overloading other muscles, joints, or tendons due to poor posture. For example, leaning too much to one side can cause wear-and-tear injuries to that hip.
- Pain and stiffness in the low back, hips, and knees.
- Tendinitis or bursitis in the lower extremities, which are caused by inflammation.
- Increased risk of falls due to poor balance.
- Difficulty with daily movement such as standing, walking, sitting, driving, or cleaning the house.
Good glute strength is essential throughout life, especially as we age. As your joints begin to wear down over time, you may consider getting a hip replacement. The work you put in now to build strong glutes will aid in your recovery in the future.
What women need to know about strong glutes
Women generally have better hip flexibility and range of motion than men. However, women are at increased risk of weaker glute muscles because we tend to have wider pelvic areas, which causes more hip swinging and tension across the buttocks with movement.
Hormone changes during perimenopause and menopause can also reduce the body’s ability to repair and strengthen muscle tissue. Also, women tend to favor cardio exercise over weight and resistance training compared with men.
Fortunately, more women are realizing the long-term value of strength training earlier in life. Olympic athletes such as Simone Biles and Ilona Maher are prime examples that femininity and strength go hand in hand. And research has shown that weight training can improve:
- Bone health
- Body composition
- Heart function
- Mental health
- Overall health and longevity
Building glute strength throughout your lifetime can pay off with greater mobility and a better quality of life.
How do I know if I have weak glutes?
If you want to evaluate the current state of your glutes, start with some basic strength testing:
- One leg balance: If you cannot stand on one leg for several seconds without tilting, your body may be attempting to compensate for weakened glute muscles.
- Hip bridge: Lie on your back with your knees bent and your feet flat on the floor. Raise your pelvis – if you feel the resistance in the back of your thighs instead of your rear end, you may have weak glutes.
Other signs of weak glutes include:
- Low-back pain
- Hip or knee pain
- Discomfort in the rear end
- Balance problems
- Difficulty bringing your legs to the side
- Poor posture such as overarching the back or a forward-tilted pelvis
- New pain in your feet, such as plantar fasciitis
How can I build glute strength?
Weightlifting and strength training
Historically perceived as a young man’s activity, strength training is attracting a wider range of people who embrace the benefits of building muscles. These are some of the main exercises that can help build your glute strength:
- One-legged deadlifts: Bend forward with a flat back and lift one leg behind you while keeping your hips squared forward and balancing on the other leg. Hold a light weight on the same side as the lifted leg, letting it move toward the ground as you bend.
- Split squats: Rest one foot on a low stool or block behind you as you squat on the other leg.
- Lunges: Step forward and bend your knee (don’t extend the knee beyond your toes), keeping your torso upright. Step back and do the same on the other leg.
- Kickbacks: While standing, lift one leg behind you, slowly and with control. Switch legs.
- Step-ups: Step up onto a sturdy, low box or bench with one leg, then the other. Then step down one leg at a time.
- Hip bridge: Lie flat on your back with knees bent and feet flat on floor. Press through your feet while raising your hips. At the top, squeeze your glute muscles and hold briefly. Lower and repeat.
All these exercises can be modified to be easier or more challenging. Talk with your doctor before you start a new routine to determine the appropriate exercises, reps, and resistance bands or weights to use at your stage of fitness, age, and overall health.
Many people struggle to fit exercise into their busy schedules. As an orthopedic surgeon, I’m definitely familiar with this challenge. Start small with movement snacks, which are 5- to 10-minute bursts of exercise, a few times a day. Every session adds up!
Nutrition
Your body needs adequate nutrients to maintain and grow new muscle – and protein tops the list. It’s trendy right now to consume a lot of protein, but the practice has merit. Protein is one of the building blocks of strong muscles.
Protein comes naturally in whole foods, such as beans, legumes, lean meats, and dairy products. There are also protein-enriched snacks and drinks that you can use sparingly as a supplement. For example, I add collagen peptides to my tea/coffee each morning. Collagen supplements may help restore and build skin, muscles, and other tissues.
Other supplements can help to reduce inflammation, boost muscle recovery, and maintain bone health during a strength training program. These include:
- Omega-3 fatty acids to reduce exercise-induced inflammation.
- Turmeric, which reduces muscle soreness, speeds recovery, and reduces inflammation.
- Magnesium to enable proper muscle contraction and prevent cramps.
- Vitamin D, which supports muscle repair and proper muscle contraction.
- Calcium to strengthen your bones.
- Potassium to help reduce calcium loss from your bones.
Talk with a doctor about whether supplements are a good option for you. Make sure that any that you choose do not counteract your other medications and are backed by scientific data – not just anecdotal evidence from influencers or commercials.
Staying hydrated and well-rested are also key components of a sustainable and successful strength training routine as well as your overall health. Beneficial exercise is not about pushing through pain or working out to exhaustion. Take a gradual, incremental approach to strength training to avoid injury and develop lasting results.
Strong glutes will help before and after hip replacement
Many people who have hip replacement surgery already have weak glute muscles because exercising has become painful. Stronger glute muscles help stabilize the new joint and will allow you to recover more of your range of motion after a hip replacement with less risk of developing a limp or other gait problems.
Participating in “prehab” – pre-surgery rehabilitation – can give you a leg up in recovery and reduce the length of time you may need to use a walker after surgery. Talk with your doctor or physical therapist about exercises you can do ahead of surgery to build glute strength.
Here are some exercises to get you started:
- Clamshells: Lie on one side with your knees bent. Lift your top knee while keeping your feet together. The motion is similar to a clamshell opening and closing. Add a resistance band to build more strength. Be sure to work both sides.
- Glute squeezes: Lie on your back with your legs straight and squeeze your rear end muscles, holding the position for a few moments and then relaxing. Repeat.
- Sitting knee flexion: While seated, extend your leg out in front of you as straight as you can. Then bend the knee to a 90-degree angle and return your foot to the floor. Repeat the exercise with the other leg.
While recovering from a hip replacement, your orthopedic surgery team and physical therapists will give you specific exercises to help you regain mobility and strength. These will include strength, balance, and mobility movements as well as functional movements such as going up and down stairs or getting in and out of a car.
Build strong glutes for healthy aging
Glute strength is foundational to remaining independent and active as you age. Not only can strong glutes prevent falls, the leading cause of injury in adults 65 and older, but they also allow us to do so many of the little things that make our daily lives enjoyable. Older patients who are just starting strength training often tell me, “I wish I did this earlier.”
If you would like to keep on climbing stairs, carrying groceries, or taking walks around your neighborhood, consider starting a simple glute strength training program. Gentle, intentional strength training can make a positive difference in your older years.
To talk with an expert about strengthening your glutes as you age, make an appointment by calling 214-645-3300 or request an appointment online.
