Gluteal Muscle Forces during Hip-Focused Injury Prevention and Rehabilitation Exercises

Abstract

PurposeThis study aimed to compare and rank gluteal muscle forces in eight hip-focused exercises performed with and without external resistance and describe the underlying fiber lengths, velocities, and muscle activations.MethodsMotion capture, ground reaction forces, and electromyography (EMG) were used as input to an EMG-informed neuromusculoskeletal model to estimate gluteus maximus, medius, and minimus muscle forces. Participants were 14 female footballers (18–32 yr old) with at least 3 months of lower limb strength training experience. Each participant performed eight hip-focused exercises (single-leg squat, split squat, single-leg Romanian deadlift [RDL], single-leg hip thrust, banded side step, hip hike, side plank, and side-lying leg raise) with and without 12 repetition maximum (RM) resistance. For each muscle, exercises were ranked by peak muscle force, and k-means clustering separated exercises into four tiers.ResultsThe tier 1 exercises for gluteus maximus were loaded split squat (95% confidence interval [CI] = 495–688 N), loaded single-leg RDL (95% CI = 500–655 N), and loaded single-leg hip thrust (95% CI = 505–640 N). The tier 1 exercises for gluteus medius were body weight side plank (95% CI = 338–483 N), loaded single-leg squat (95% CI = 278–422 N), and loaded single-leg RDL (95% CI = 283–405 N). The tier 1 exercises for gluteus minimus were loaded single-leg RDL (95% CI = 267–389 N) and body weight side plank (95% CI = 272–382 N). Peak gluteal muscle forces increased by 28–150 N when exercises were performed with 12RM external resistance compared with body weight only. Peak muscle force coincided with maximum fiber length for most exercises.ConclusionsGluteal muscle forces were exercise specific, and peak muscle forces increased by varying amounts when adding a 12RM external resistance. These findings may inform exercise selection by facilitating the targeting of individual gluteal muscles and optimization of mechanical loads to match performance, injury prevention, or rehabilitation training goals.

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“…Several rehabilitation exercises have been recommended for gluteal strengthening. This study from Australia, also published in the April 2023 issue of MSSE , used neuromusculoskeletal modeling to evaluate eight commonly prescribed exercises for gluteal strengthening to rank their impact on gluteal muscle activity and force (2).…”

Hip thrust and back squat training elicit similar gluteus muscle hypertrophy and transfer similarly to the deadlift

“…The reliance on theory and acute measures to guide exercise selection is especially evident in the hip extension exercise literature, an area of particular interest with applications in rehabilitation ( Collings et al, 2023a ), aging ( Kulmala et al, 2014 ), performance ( Miller et al, 2021 ), and bodybuilding. The roles of various hip extensor muscles during different hip extension tasks have been studied in several ways, including surface electromyography (sEMG), nerve blocks, and musculoskeletal modeling ( Boren et al, 2011 ; Brazil et al, 2021 ; Collings et al, 2023b ). Based on these acute measures, investigators infer stimulus potency or exercise superiority.…”

“…Although mean and peak sEMG amplitudes favored hip thrusts, the ability of sEMG to predict longitudinal strength and hypertrophy outcomes from resistance training interventions was recently challenged ( Vigotsky et al, 2022 ). To help overcome some sEMG limitations, more sophisticated investigations integrate excitation into musculoskeletal models ( Collings et al, 2023b ). Yet, more comprehensive analyses of muscle contributions are still limited by their underlying assumptions ( Herzog and Leonard, 1991 ), and even perfect modeling of muscle contributions presumes a one-to-one relationship between tension and adaptations.…”

Hip thrust and back squat training elicit similar gluteus muscle hypertrophy and transfer similarly to the deadlift

“…The reliance on theory and acute measures to guide exercise selection is especially evident in the hip extension exercise literature, an area of particular interest with applications in rehabilitation, performance, injury prevention, and bodybuilding. The roles of various hip extensor muscles during different hip extension tasks have been studied in several ways, including surface electromyography (sEMG), nerve blocks, and musculoskeletal modeling (6)(7)(8). Based on these acute measures, investigators infer stimulus potency or exercise superiority.…”

“…Although mean and peak sEMG amplitudes favored hip thrusts, sEMG's ability to predict longitudinal strength and hypertrophy outcomes from resistance training interventions was recently challenged (12). To help overcome some sEMG limitations, more sophisticated investigations integrate excitation into musculoskeletal models (8). Yet, more comprehensive analyses of muscle contributions are still limited by their underlying assumptions (13), and even perfect modeling of muscle contributions presumes a one-to-one relationship between tension and adaptations.…”