The glute… much more than "a nice-looking muscle"

If the glute suddenly "switches off", walking, running, climbing stairs, holding the pelvis, or even staying upright would be chaos.

We're already a few days into 2026 and quite a few patients have come through FIMED with hip, knee and back discomfort, and one of the leading muscle groups has been the glutes.

My goal for 2026 is for you to understand why the glute is so important for LIFE. And ladies… being women it matters even more. Because I imagine you're fond of your hips and your legs, right? So let's start to understand all of this a little.

Why is it so important for life?

The glute is NOT one muscle, but a muscle group made up of THREE muscles.

• Gluteus maximus: gives you power, hip extension, climbing hills, getting up from a chair.
• Gluteus medius: pelvic stability, knee control, injury prevention.
• Gluteus minimus: fine movement control and hip support.

Without FUNCTIONAL glutes:

• We walk worse.
• We run worse.
• We get injured more.
• And the pelvic floor and abdomen SUFFER too.

That's why I want to ask you a question… do you train your glutes?

I can hear you say yes from afar, and I'm glad to hear it, because you'd better be training them!! And I'm sure you're thinking, "OF COURSE, IF I DO SQUATS, I'M WORKING THEM." But is squatting enough?

Maybe it's happened to you that you go to the gym, "train" glutes (or so you think) and even so both glutes don't work equally, you run and you get injured over and over…

What's going on here?

This is one of the mistakes I see most in the clinic. Many women:

• Do squats
• Deadlifts
• Lunges

And they believe they're working well, but the glute barely activates.

Why does this happen? Because these exercises don't activate the glute on their own. They need

technique, control and body awareness.

When the technique isn't good, the following happens:

• The QUADRICEPS takes almost all the spotlight.
• The lower back compensates.
• The PELVIS loses stability.
• The glute "hides" and doesn't "take part".

So bear in mind that A SQUAT IS NOT SYNONYMOUS WITH A STRONG GLUTE.

• Knees that cave inwards
• Loss of hip control
• Lack of drive from behind

And if the glute doesn't activate well:

• It doesn't protect the knee
• It doesn't stabilise the pelvis
• It doesn't prepare you to run

And to this we add the silent pandemic of the "switched-off" glute. No, don't think I'm crazy, I've had this feeling for years and I'm afraid it's getting worse and worse. We're living a reality that can't be ignored.

• Many sedentary jobs that keep us sitting for maaaany hours.
• Little real movement for most of the day.
• Little glute strength work.

And this has a super direct consequence: THE GLUTE BECOMES INHIBITED.

And the problem comes afterwards, when we expect the glute to perform at its best — for example, we go for a run — without having activated it first. From the chair to running many kilometres, without going through making it strong and activating it.

But DON'T WORRY, don't stress. Everything has a solution in this life.

Where can you start? I'm going to leave you a few small tips so you start adding glute work to your routine, in case you have some discomfort, or you're outright injured. And above all, so you keep it in mind, because you already know the glute is trained FOR LIFE!

1. First prioritise control and then increase load. Don't obsess over the weight you can lift with your glute — STOP and think about whether, when you do the exercise, what you activate is the glute or not.
2. Activate your glute before going out to run. Activation, mobility… pamper it.
3. Single-leg work, important, but again technique and activation matter more, much more than the weight.
4. The abdomen and pelvic floor are this muscle group's best friends. Just so you keep it in mind… We'll talk about these in the next newsletter.

Did you know that:

• The glute is one of the largest and most powerful muscles in the body.
• In women it tends to be more inhibited due to hormonal and structural factors.
• You can be visually "big", and it doesn't work well at all.
• A weak glute forces other muscles to work harder. Injury guaranteed.

PS: The glute and the knee are an inseparable triangle. If the glute doesn't control the hip, the knee pays the price. Do you feel identified?

I hope you've learned that, if you felt identified, everything has a solution. Start pampering your glute and you know that if you need it, I'll be delighted to help you.

And before I finish, I want to thank you for being here, learning with me.

This year a huge project is coming for us women, that you're going to like a lot — I hope to be able to give you more info soon, because I want you to be the stars of it. So excited!

I'm waiting for you at FIMED. We've come into 2026 full of energy with FIMED 2.0.

New colours, new goals and new approaches. Health, always balance. Nutrition, sport and mental health, as the core of caring for it.

Oh!! Keep an eye out, because we're starting training at our centre. Are you joining?

Thaaaanks ladies. You're the best! Tell me if you'd like me to talk about something in the next newsletter.