The side lying clamshell exercise is one of the most prescribed exercises for people with weak glutes. Clamshells are a favourite exercise of most physical therapists and featured in nearly every group class as the best way to strengthen your gluteus medius muscle. While the clamshell is intended to have good activation of the gluteal muscles there are several problems this exercise can create in the hip and pelvic region, and in some cases can even make the glutes weaker! In this article, I will explain how to use this exercise correctly and ensure you avoid the common mistakes many people make.
To Fully Strengthen The Glutes You Need A Wide Variety Of Exercises
If there is one an area of the body that I receive a stack of questions about it is the hip and the glutes. Even people I work personally with each week in the gym this can be a challenging set of muscles to improve their strength and function. For such a massive group of muscles it can be amazingly lazy and frustrating to work with when it comes to strengthening exercises. Some of the exercises that work tremendously well with one person, either do nothing or create harm in the next person. A classic example of this is with piriformis syndrome or SIJ dysfunction where the weakness in the glutes is the main source of the pain. If you choose the wrong exercise, or do too much too soon, you will risk creating more pain as the glutes switch off and compensatory muscles take over. In this article, I am going to share with you a detailed analysis of 15 exercises explaining exactly the purpose of the exercise and who it is best to. I will also provide a video explanation of exercise so you can implement this in your training straight away.