The effects of gluteal squeezes compared to bilateral bridges on gluteal strength, power, endurance, and girth

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Authors
Lehecka, B.J.
Turley, Jessica
Stapleton, Aaron
Waits, Kyle
Zirkle, John
Advisors
Issue Date
2019-07-08
Type
Article
Keywords
Endurance , Girth , Gluteals , Hip , Power , Strength
Research Projects
Organizational Units
Journal Issue
Citation
Lehecka BJ, Turley J, Stapleton A, Waits K, Zirkle J. 2019. The effects of gluteal squeezes compared to bilateral bridges on gluteal strength, power, endurance, and girth. PeerJ 7:e7287
Abstract

Background: Hip extension weakness is correlated with low back, hip, and knee pathology. Isometric gluteal squeezes have been shown to elicit high electromyographic gluteal activity. However, there is little research regarding the specific effects of isometric gluteal squeezes on hip strength and functional outcomes. The purpose of this study was to identify the effects of gluteal squeezes on hip extension strength, vertical jump, broad jump, single-leg bridge endurance, and gluteal girth compared to bilateral gluteal bridging. Methods: A total of 32 healthy university students (mean age 23.28 ± 2.15 years) were randomly assigned to perform either gluteal squeezes or bilateral bridges daily. Subjects were tested at baseline and after 8 weeks of training. Subjects' hip extension strength, vertical jump, broad jump, single-leg bridge endurance, and gluteal girth were tested. Results: No statistically significant differences were found between the bridge and squeeze groups after 8 weeks of training. Both groups significantly improved hip extension strength bilaterally (p = 0.000-0.011). The squeeze group significantly increased gluteal girth at the level of the greater trochanter (p = 0.007), but no significant girth increase was seen in the bridge group (p = 0.742). Although increases were seen in both groups for the endurance and jump tasks, no statistically significant changes occurred for those outcomes. All outcome measurements demonstrated high reliability (ICC = 0.93-0.99). Conclusion: Gluteal squeezes were as effective as bilateral bridges for increasing hip extension strength. Gluteal squeezes also significantly increased girth at the level of the greater trochanter. These results provide clinical and aesthetic reasons to perform gluteal squeezes.

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This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, reproduction and adaptation in any medium and for any purpose provided that it is properly attributed. For attribution, the original author(s), title, publication source (PeerJ) and either DOI or URL of the article must be cited.
Publisher
PeerJ Inc.
Journal
Book Title
Series
PeerJ;vol. 2019:no. 7
PubMed ID
DOI
ISSN
2167-8359
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