This was what Chatgpt advised me to figuratively do, while ‘activating’ my little-used glutes in an exercise called (unsurprisingly) The Glute Squeeze.
But why am I squeezing my glutes, you ask? It all started at my Physio’s office a few weeks back, when he told me a couple of things I had never once thought about; namely, cyclists don’t usually make good use of their hamstrings or glutes when pedaling, and rely mainly on their quads. The statement was made in the context of my knee injury, which he wanted to try and manage by strengthening the hamstrings, glutes and even quads – or more correctly, the red-headed stepchild of quads: VMO.
Then I started doing some research and I began running into a few key words that got me wondering: ‘activate’ is the main one, but I also see ‘fire’ and ‘engage’. I understood these to be kind of synonyms, but I think it’s more like one leads to the other. You ‘activate’ a certain muscle by working it with exercises, then it ‘engages’ and ‘fires’ (okay, maybe these last two are synonyms) when you need them on the bike.
And so it was that I found myself climbing in the Cévennes yesterday, willing my ass to work harder…and I think it did! It turns out that even if you ‘activate’ a muscle you still have to deliberately focus on using it (‘engaging’?) while pedaling. What I noticed immediately was that in order to get those glutes ‘firing’, you need to drop the heel on the downstroke, otherwise it’s your quads and calves, I think. AI has since confirmed this, so it has to be true.
Did I notice anything different? Only that it all felt pretty unnatural, but I can see the potential here. I mean, my ass is pretty big – if I can get it working for me on the bike, I will be going places.
I now have a full regime of strengthening exercises and even a pre-ride ‘activation drill’ to get those muscles primed for riding. If I remember to do any of this, I’ll report back with results.
The Vicious Cycle 
Gerry, this post intrigues me. As you will recall, I had an ankle fusion back in 2020 and my left calf is far less defined because we all need ankle usage to maintain muscle tone in the calf. Your “ass” activation post makes me think about this as an option for me too……as soon as the legislators leave me alone for the summer. Thanks for the thought exercise.
More interesting to me, Eric, might be whether you use those glutes (or at least ‘glute’) more because your ankle is fused? Maybe you are ‘firing’ already!
When we first learn a sport’s basics, we use and internalize a set of movement patterns. A kid learning to ride a bike, for example, does this. Most of us participants in sports at the recreational level make an assumption. The assumption is that improving performance through “fitness” is a matter of getting stronger and faster with those basic movements (“fortius altius citius”). That assumption is limiting. As you describe here, there is a TON of advantage to be gained through “technique.” Technique and fitness are not entirely separate things; they are deeply related.
Every year I do a week-long ski clinic at Taos, where they have one of the best ski schools on the continent. (You may have wondered where my bike tour money has been going!) We are always being asked to recruit new or forgotten muscles and move parts of our bodies in unfamiliar directions. As with cycling, it’s all about efficiency – being able to perform at a higher and more fun level for longer before bonking or landing in a heap.
Yoga, of course, is an entire discipline built around engaging specific muscles at will.
All this to say that I’m sure you’re doing a good thing there.
As always, a thoughtful and complete response, Tony. Actually any response with Latin in it must be a good one!
It’s the Olympic motto.