Why are my glutes not activating when I walk?

Author: Willow Dickens  |  Last update: Tuesday, June 3, 2025

Weak glutes can occur for several reasons; the primary cause is an increasingly sedentary lifestyle. With many people sitting down for large portions of their day, glute activation is reduced, and these muscles become weaker than they should be.

Why are my glutes not firing when I walk?

One of the main reasons for lack of glute activation is due to lack of hip extension. There are a lot of people who compensate for poor hip extension by leaning forward or arching their back. This can cause a lot of pain as well as increasing tightness in your hip flexors.

How do I activate my glutes while walking?

You can activate your glutes a little bit more on your walks by increasing the incline and walking with your shoulders ahead of your hips. It won't build what squats or RDLs would but it's a little extra.

What causes poor glute activation?

One of the main reasons for lack of glute activation is due to lack of hip extension. There are a lot of people who compensate for poor hip extension by leaning forward or arching their back. This can cause a lot of pain as well as increasing tightness in your hip flexors.

How do you force glute activation?

Some of the best exercises for glute activation include the following:
  1. Full Extension Step-Up.
  2. Resistance Band Kickbacks.
  3. Wall Single-Leg Glute Bridges.
  4. Hip Drop and Lift.
  5. Toe Stab Hip Raises.
  6. Toe Up Hip Raises.
  7. Toe Down Hip Swings.
  8. Toe Up Hip Swings.

3 Big Reasons Your Glute Muscles Won't Work Well For You

How to fix lazy glutes?

  1. Glute bridge. The glute bridge will help you activate and strengthen your glutes before working out. ...
  2. Crab walk. For this exercise, you may want to use a resistance band. ...
  3. Squat with side leg lift. This exercise fires up your glutes and specifically targets the gluteus medius. ...
  4. Clam. ...
  5. Fire hydrant. ...
  6. Donkey kick.

What activates the glutes the most?

#1 Hip Thrust

The hip thrust has been found to induce high amounts of glute activation (8). It is primarily a hip extension exercise with a high potential for a posterior pelvic tilt, one of the four functions of the glutes. The posterior pelvic tilt is an important part of the lockout, or end, of the hip thrust.

Why won't my glute muscles release?

The most commong reason is that most people sit for long periods of time. The glute muscles tend to stop firing due to a lack of oxygen and tightened hip flexors. This, in return, puts more strain on the lower back, hamstrings, and knees, that imbalanced and stiff feeling when you head out for a run.

What are the symptoms of weak glutes?

Watch out for the following symptoms to determine if you have weakness in your gluteus medius:
  • Chronic muscle pain in the joints and groin area.
  • Internal rotation of the knees.
  • Abnormal movement pattern due to weak abductor muscles.
  • Muscle tightness as the body compensates for the lack of hip stability and control.

How to increase blood flow to buttocks?

Kneading is a technique where muscle tissues within the buttock region are pulled and squeezed. Kneading is used to improve blood flow and loosen muscle tightness. The pulling and squeezing actions performed during kneading encourages an increase in blood flow to the buttock region.

How to fix dead butt syndrome?

Bridges, planks, squats, and leg lifts may all be done while lying down to keep your glutes in the greatest shape possible. Adding a band or an ankle weight for further resistance can be advantageous in some cases. If you have to sit for a good portion of your day, at least switch things up a bit.

Does squeezing buttocks make it firmer?

Researchers found that those who performed gluteal squeezes increased their hip extension—or glute—strength by 16 percent compared to an 11 percent increase in those who performed glute bridges. Gluteal girth also increased in the group who performed gluteal squeezes.

How do I activate my glutes when walking?

“Walking on an incline maximizes your glute activation,” he says. “The hill is your friend.” “If you add speed and resistance, [which will] get your heart rate up, as well as walking up an incline, then you will surely engage the glutes in a greater capacity,” he says.

What causes glutes to stop firing?

The two main reasons the gluteal muscles will show poor firing patterns is firstly that they are not being used. In our sit down society the glute muscles are rarely used. The hamstrings are then chronically shortened as they are flexed in the seated position and adopt this tightened position.

What is lack of glute activation?

With many people sitting down for large portions of their day, glute activation is reduced, and these muscles become weaker than they should be. For more active people, reduced glute strength and poor activation can result from an over-reliance on other muscles during athletic or everyday movements.

Does walking strengthen your glutes?

Glutes can get stronger—and rounder—with the right glute exercises, including walking, lunges, and hip thrusts. Read on to learn more about what to do to help lift a flat butt.

What causes a flat butt?

The appearance of a flat butt can be caused by several factors including: genetics, sedentary jobs or activities that require you to sit for extended periods. As you age, your butt may flatten and lose shape due to lower amounts of fat in the buttocks and loss of collagen in the skin.

How can I encourage my glutes to activate?

Stand just in front of a chair or bench, facing away. Lift your right foot with your leg extended forward so it hovers off the floor. Keeping your core engaged and left knee tracking over your toes, sit your hips back and down, lowering into a single-leg squat until your glutes touch the chair.

Is walking good for a gluteal strain?

During the early stages of your recovery, your hip may not tolerate much walking. But as you recover, walking can become a helpful tool to build your gluteal tendons' tolerance to weight-bearing and prepare them for a return to running. Walking can help prepare your gluteal tendons for getting back to running.

How do you activate dead glutes?

You can activate and strengthen the glute muscles with exercises like lateral lunges, marching glute bridges, and side-lying leg lifts. Stretching the hips and glutes can also be helpful.

What is the number one exercise for the buttocks?

If you want to build stronger and more performance-driven glutes, I'd recommend the following for a well-rounded routine:
  • Barbell Hip Thrust.
  • Step Up.
  • Reverse Hyper.
  • Romanian Deadlift.
  • Curtsy Lunge.
  • Sprinter Position Dumbbell Bulgarian Split Squats.
  • Single-Leg Hip Thrust.
  • Dumbbell Frog Press.

How do I know if my glutes are activated?

Prone Hip Extension Test is more to determine the quality of glute activation. As stated in the video, the gluteus maximus muscle should contract before the hamstring muscle. If the order is reversed, then the person would have some degree of glute dysfunction. The other part is the quality of the contraction.

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