The #1 Cause Of Back Pain Is THIS MUSCLE!
- chelsie462
- Sep 23
- 8 min read
This article is a transcribed, edited summary of a video Bob and Brad recorded in September 2024. For the original video, go to https://youtu.be/UJtI91la99c
Mike: Now, your back pain may be caused by many different issues; however, one muscle group is often overlooked.
Brad: Now, most of us are aware that core muscles are really important to support the back and prevent pain.
Mike: But we're not going to be talking about the core. We're going to be addressing weak glute muscles, how to strengthen them, and why they are causing your back pain.
Brad: There you go.
Mike: Let's get into looking at glute medius strengthening and low back pain. So first, what we want to talk about is a study which has a long title, Brad, what is it?
Brad: Well, it's "Prevalence of Gluteus Medius Weakness...," and some information on why and how it contributes to low back pain.
Mike: So instead of going through this whole study, which will take forever and you will fall asleep, we'll just talk about a few highlights from it. So in the study, they looked at over 150 people who had low back pain, and one common denominator was that they all had weak glute muscles, specifically the glute medius, which is on the outside, but some of them had the glute maximus as well.
Brad: That's right, one of the things that often happens when you have weaknesses is the waddling gate or Trendelenburg, where you see someone kind of walking like this, and that's a key that will be addressed here.
Mike: So the first thing we're going to do now is talk about glute medius strengthening. Why this is important is that it supports your pelvis and the movement of the spine together. So the first exercise we're going to do is simply sidestepping.
Brad: Yeah, but you are not pointing to your glute medius. That is the quads.
Mike: Glute medius. There we go.
Mike: Glute max, your buttocks muscles.
Brad: Let's not confuse our viewers.
Mike: I just like to slap my legs a little bit.
Brad: All right, glute medius, sidestepping, there we go.
Mike: So, for beginners, or if you're an older person, poor balance, something like that, you can certainly do this, holding onto a countertop with a cane, just simply step sideways, focus on your feet pointing straight ahead. If this seems very easy to you, you could certainly add some type of resistance band like Brad has there.
Brad: Right, if you're standing still, this will work. We're working the same muscle. And again, for resistance, you can use a loop band like we have here. There's a different resistance. Red is actually a lighter resistance with this band set. The higher I pull, the more resistance I get. If you have problems with balance, make sure you're holding onto a table, countertop, or wall, and you're going to work it like we are doing here, not going like this, and not going fast, but slow, meaningful movements with your toe pointed forward versus like this.
Mike: You're going to want to do 10 to 15 repetitions per side. Make sure to do both sides. It's important, and it's also important to stand with a bent knee when you're doing this because you're actually working your glute medius on the leg that is standing as well. Now we have one more exercise we want to get into.
Brad: I wanted to show this one, Mike.
Mike: Okay, Brad wants to take it away.
Brad: Yeah, you can actually do it in your bed or lying on the floor. I'm assuming this is what you were thinking about.
Mike: I was.
Brad: So, lying on your side, we're going to lift the leg, which works the glute medius. Tighten up the core of the stomach muscles. We know they're important, and we're going to lift up like this and down to this level. Look at my bottom leg. I don't keep it straight because I'm a little wobbly. Bend the knee. What are you going to do with that stick?
Mike: I'm showing a nice straight line, Brad has with his spine and his leg here.
Brad: I get a little nervous.
Mike: He's not going forward. If you go a little back, you're just going to get your glute max a little more, but try to keep it in a nice straight line.
Brad: There we go. That was a good visual aid, Mike. I appreciate that, and already I can feel this really going to town, that glute media is starting to burn, and I'm going to give it a break. Make sure you do both legs on each exercise, whether it's standing with a band or lying on your side.
Mike: Now, the other muscle group we want to look at is still called the glutes, it's the glute max, also known as your buttocks muscle. If you have poor glute strength, it can compromise your lower back muscles, causing them to work even more, so we wanted to get your butt firing properly. There are lots of exercises to work your glutes; however, we're going to show just one, and we're going to do a couple of variations because not everyone is comfortable kneeling down.
Brad: Right, now these exercises, we didn't make them up ourselves. We got them from Rick Olderman, who has written books and taught many courses on back pain using this specific exercise for glute maximus strengthening. Go ahead, Mike. You are the pro.
Mike: So, this is a form of a glute pump exercise. A typical one, you'd bend to 90 degrees and kick up towards the ceiling. However, we don't want to go through the full range of motion. We just want to really isolate the glute muscles here, so I'm going to work my left leg, bring it up somewhere kind of in between, not too high, not too low. If you really want to isolate the glute even more, turn your foot in like this. I'm going to do little oscillating movements like this. I'm going to aim for 30 repetitions. If you need to do 10, rest, do 10, rest, 10, rest, that's fine, just try to get 30 reps. Make sure you are working it on both sides, feeling that gluten engage. If this becomes easy with a bent leg like that, you can leave your leg straight and do little oscillating movements as well.
Brad: Right there.
Mike: This becomes easy. You can take a cuff weight, slap it around your thigh region, and you're going to get in that same position again, and now you've got some more resistance.
Brad: Now I realize some of you may have the question, "Do I do it on a bed or a table like this?" You could do it on a bed that's soft. It's typically best to do it on a carpeted floor. And do you have to do it on your forearms or can you do it on your hands, Mike?
Mike: You can do it either/or. The forearms are going to get the glute up a little bit higher, but if you would like to do it on an extended arm, it's perfectly fine.
Brad: If you have problems getting on your hands and knees like that on the floor and the bed's not a good option, which I had mentioned, you can do it standing up. I'll demonstrate here. You can go up to a countertop, a piece of firm furniture about this height. Mike is going to use the armrest there. Okay. Again, 90/90-degree bend in the knee like I'm demonstrating here, and we go up, and we're going to get that mid-range motion. We're not doing this. This is nothing more than a teeter-totter; it will not work the glute, upper body is stationary. I could go on my forearms here. That middle range, just a continual motion, 10 reps, or you can go up to 20 or 30 repetitions, rotate it in like this if you want to isolate that glute muscle more, and I could definitely feel that butt muscle on the right side energizing and really working when I do this little bit of rotation.
Mike: Did you just say you had an energized butt muscle in there?
Brad: That's right. That's right. It's a family show, Mike, let's keep it on the up and up. Okay, good, wow. What else do we have?
Mike: I don't think we have much else, so if you are having some back pain and you notice maybe you have the waddle walk or you're struggling with your glute muscles, give these exercises a try. Pick which ones work for you and you feel like you can do on a consistent basis.
Brad: There you go. Anyway, enjoyed your time staying with us. Do we have another video that's gonna complement this, Mike?
Mike: Yes, if you happen to still be having some back pain, you can watch the video "6 Best Low Back Stretches for Max Pain Relief (Every position)."
Brad: All right, very good. Hope you enjoy the day, and hope your back becomes pain-free.
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