Take a moment and think about how much of your day you spend, well, sitting. The commute. The desk. The sofa. The car. For most of us, it’s the majority of our waking hours, and here’s the uncomfortable truth: the more you sit, the more likely you are to develop weak glutes.
They switch off. They forget how to fire. And because they’re the biggest, most powerful muscles you own, when they clock out, other muscles are left to do a job they were never built for.
That’s not an aesthetic problem. It’s a movement problem, and it follows you everywhere.
What your glutes actually do
Your glutes aren’t just there to fill your jeans. They power almost every meaningful movement you make: standing up, climbing stairs, walking uphill, running, picking something up off the floor. They stabilise your hips and your pelvis, and they protect your lower back by taking the load your spine shouldn’t be carrying.
When they’re strong and firing, you move with power and ease. When glutes are weak or lazy, the hamstrings, the lower back and the knees quietly step in to cover. Over time, that’s how the aches, the tweak knees and the tight hips creep in. You blame age, or the run, or the weather. Often, it’s weak glutes that stop showing up for work.
Why your core and glutes work together
Here’s the part almost everyone misses. You can’t train strong glutes on a weak, unstable core, and you can’t build a stable centre while your glutes are switched off. They’re a team.
Your deep core stabilises the pelvis so your glutes have something solid to pull against. Your glutes, in turn, support that same pelvis and take pressure off your lower back. Train one and ignore the other and you leave most of the results on the table. This is why squeezing out endless glute bridges or another ab challenge so often goes nowhere. You’re working half the system.
Get the two working together and everything changes: how you stand, how you lift, how steady you feel on your feet, how your back feels at the end of a long day.
Signs your glutes have gone quiet
- You feel your lower back during every workout or weight lift
- Your knees ache going down stairs
- You struggle to feel your glutes working, even during “glute” exercises
- Standing up from a low chair takes a push
- Your hips feel tight no matter how much you stretch
- One side feels noticeably stronger or steadier than the other
That last one matters more than people realise. Most of us are lopsided, quietly favouring one side, and no amount of two-legged exercise fixes it. That takes single-sided, targeted work, done properly. My article, Five Tips to Improve Your Core Strength, explores this in more detail and offers practical tips to help you build a stronger core.
How to wake up weak glutes: the Core & Glute workshop 14 November
This is exactly what I built the Core & Glute workshop around. It’s a 90 minute, hands-on session at the beautiful Agni Studio inside Oru Space in Sutton, kept to a small group so we can explore movement together.
We won’t just do the exercises. You’ll learn how to wake your glutes up, how to connect them to a stable core, and how to train both sides evenly so you stop compensating and start moving with real strength.
In 90 minutes you’ll:
- Learn how to genuinely activate your glutes, not just go through the motions
- Feel the core and glute connection for yourself, so your home workouts finally deliver
- Practise targeted core and glute exercises, including unilateral moves that even out the imbalance you didn’t know you had
This core and glute workshop is for you if you:
- Sit for most of the day and feel it in your body
- Get achy knees, tight hips or a tired lower back
- Do the workouts but never feel your glutes doing the work
- Are a mum rebuilding strength and balance
- Want to move with more power and protect yourself from injury
You’ll leave understanding your own body better and what to do to keep your core strength progress going.
Places for the workshop are limited, be quick to book your spot
The workshop on 14 November is a small group, and once the spots are taken they’re gone. It won’t run again for a while.
Book your place for the Core & Glute workshop in Sutton
Bring comfortable clothes and turn up as you are. Ninety minutes from now, your glutes will finally know they’re back on the payroll.