Glute Foam Roll

Glute foam rolling means using a foam roller to target your gluteal muscles or glutes (the butt muscles), namely, your gluteus maximus, gluteus medius, and gluteus minimus. Foam rolling is a type of what’s called “self-myofascial release” (SMR). “Myo” means muscles and “fascia” or “fascial” refers to the soft tissues. Self-myofascial release or foam rolling is a self-massage method to reduce muscle tightness, break up adhesions or stiffness in your connective tissues, and release pain points in the body caused by “stuck” tissues. When you do a glute foam roll, you use a roller to put pressure on your glute muscles, simply rolling your body weight on top of your roller. This releases tension and brings blood flow to the area. Regularly using a foam roller on your glutes can improve your muscle dexterity and mobility.s’ dexterity and mobility. It's particularly beneficial to enhance your glutes' flexibility after an intense workout or prolonged sitting. Foam rolling can make you feel less stiff, help your muscles recover, and increase performance in your future glute and leg day workouts.

Build muscle & lose weight fast with Flex.

Available on iPhone + Apple Watch

How-to Glute Foam Roll

Sit on the floor and place a foam roller on your upper glute. Lean back using your hands for support.
Slightly bend your knees and cross the leg being rolled over the other leg. Lift off from the ground, placing your body weight onto the glute muscle.
Slowly push your body backward until the roller reaches the lower glutes.
Slowly return to the starting position.

Muscle Worked

Primary Muscle Groups

Glutes

The glutes help you extend your thighs from the hips and drive you forward.

Pro Tips for Foam Rolling Glutes

Applying targeted pressure in specific areas is the most effective way to benefit from glute foam rolling. To do this, use your body weight to put pressure on any tender or knotty areas, and hold yourself in place for 20–30 seconds per trigger spot. Gently shift your body weight to try to lean into any “good pressure” that you feel. Chances are, that’s a spot that hasn’t had a deep release in a while.
You should never feel shooting or acute pain, but foam rolling can definitely cause a lot of soreness.
Rather than quickly rolling over your glutes, control your movement and try to move consciously. Moving slowly while foam rolling glutes lets the fascia (connective tissue) relax and helps break up adhesions, aka sticky points in your muscle fibers.
When you give your muscles time to respond to the pressure, you actually make the foam rolling session more effective. This gives you more results for the time you put in and you don’t overstimulate your muscles by rushing the process.
Try to lightly engage your core muscles throughout the whole process. Core activation helps you keep your body stable on the roller. It also lets you control how deep or shallow you want the pressure from the roller to feel. You can ease out of it more swiftly if you feel a spot that gets painful.
Core engagement also takes some of the load out of your arms and legs so your rolling is more balanced and efficient. A strong core also stops you from slumping or hunching over, which puts stress on your spine and lower back muscles.

Equipments

Foam Roller

Lie on the floor and place a foam roller below your traps and above your shoulder blades.

Benefits of Glute Foam Roll

A glute foam roll session not only sculpts and relieves pain in your derriere but also improves flexibility and range of motion in the surrounding hip area. Remember, your glute muscles play a significant role in the hip movement since everything down there is interconnected and powers movement like walking sitting, jumping, or standing.
When you start to release muscle tightness around the glutes, chances are, your hips will feel it too! This can lead you to smoother overall lower body and posterior chain movement, plus better functionality in athletics or everyday tasks.
After intense leg workouts or prolonged sitting, you probably notice sore quads, hips, hamstrings, and glutes. There’s even a condition called “dead butt syndrome” that you can get from sitting all day! You start to notice severe sluggishness in the glute muscles, numbness in the buttocks or even difficulty walking and standing. Foam rolling can be part of a plan to reduce this since it brings blood flow to the area. This helps with muscle recovery and reduces tension. Applying gentle pressure with a foam roller stimulates the release of muscle knots (painful or hard spots that accumulate in your muscles) and decreases lactic acid buildup (which can be partially responsible for muscle soreness). Regularly foam rolling your glutes can help you recover quicker and feel less stiff.
Tight glutes can give you bad posture. They shift your pelvis out of whack, pulling your pelvis out of its natural alignment. You can imagine this isn’t comfortable for the lower back and hips. Foam rolling the glutes helps release this tightness so your pelvis aligns more comfortably to keep your posture straight and neutral.

Warm Up & Cool Down

Warm Up

Bodyweight Squats Squat down, pushing your hips back, and driving through your heels. Squats are some of the best compound glute exercises you can do to wake these muscles up. Try at least 10–15 bodyweight squats so your glutes are loose and warmed up before foam rolling. This prepares the glutes for deeper pressure. You can also use weighted squats as part of your regular leg day if you’d like.
Lunges Step one foot forward into a lunge, then lower your back knee toward the floor, aiming to bend both knees to 90 degrees. Try alternating leg lunges for 10–12 reps per leg so both glutes engage equally and are ready for foam rolling.
Plant your feet shoulder-width apart and draw large, slow circles with your hips, first in one direction and then the other. This helps loosen your glutes and hips so they feel limber before foam rolling. Do at least 10 circles in each direction to warm up your glutes.

Cool Down

Pigeon Pose From all fours, bring one knee forward bending it behind your hands, and stick the other leg straight back, keeping your toes pointed down to the floor. Lower your chest toward the floor for a deeper stretch. The pigeon pose releases glutes and hip tension for better flexibility. It can also help you relax after you foam roll the glutes.
Figure Four Lie on your back, cross one ankle over the other knee to make a 4 shape, then pull the bottom leg toward your chest to stretch your glutes and outer hip. Hold for 20–30 seconds each side.
Seated Forward Fold Sit with your legs extended straight out and slowly hinge forward from your hips, reaching toward your toes. Keep your back flat as you lean forward to feel a stretch in your hamstrings and glutes. Bend your knees slightly if you can’t come all the way forward. Hold for 20–30 seconds to help release tightness from your hamstrings, which work in opposition to the glutes.

FAQ

That depends on how much you’re moving them and how much tightness you’re feeling. For most people, it’s advised to train your glutes 2–3 times per week. You can include a glute foam rolling session after each leg day to help these muscles release. If you’re an athlete putting a lot of stress on your glutes, or you spend a lot of time sitting, there’s no reason you can’t glute foam roll daily.

Glute foam rolling can help you manage some types of lower back pain or sciatica, if tight glutes are a contributor to the problem. Your glutes frequently work together with the lower back muscles and often the tension you feel in these areas is interconnected. If you notice the positive effects of glute foam rolling on your lower back, then by all means, you can continue to do it. If you have sciatica or chronic back pain that doesn’t seem to get better, talk to a healthcare professional before you add glute foam rolling into your routine. Sometimes the cause of your pain may require more specific treatment.

Absolutely! Foam rolling can help athletes enhance their range of motion and muscle function by getting rid of localized glute tension. This is a great technique for explosive power moves like squats, deadlifts, running, and jumping. Foam rolling is also a great recovery technique for your muscles. Fast recovery is a key priority for many athletes especially if you follow a higher-volume training program.

Get fit with Flex

Build muscle & lose weight fast for free.

Download for Free