What’s the Best Exercise for Your Glutes?
The Single Leg Deadlift is one of the best exercises to recruit the gluteal muscles around your hips. Not just my opinion, its been shown here (reference below*).
But your MOBO adds another level to this exercise to sync your FEET with your HIPS. The whole goal is to improve the way you steer and control your body to build durability, + put some pep in your step.
This newsletter has everything you ever wanted to know about how to set up your single leg deadlifts, progressions, and dosage.
*COLLINGS, T, et. al. Gluteal Muscle Forces during Hip-Focused Injury Prevention and Rehabilitation Exercises. Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise 55(4):p 650-660, April 2023.
Why are Your Hip Muscles Critical?
In my book Running Rewired, we dive into this much deeper but here’s the cliff notes. The muscles in the hip complex do 3 things:
1. Steer your leg straight – if you feel like a wobbly giraffe, improving hip control goes a long way towards minimizing injury.
2. Propulsion - strong hip muscles improve our walking and running economy, acceleration,+ cutting on the field and court.
3. Postural control – think of a bucket – the sides of your bucket (your core muscles) need to be solid, but every bucket has a bottom. If you build the sides of the bucket and the bottom of the bucket it helps minimize postural issues – especially when you get fatigued. This move helps keep your form in check.
MOBO Builds a Better Foundation for Your Single Leg Deadlift
Almost anyone who has used a MOBO can tell you that they definitely feel their feet, but they feel their hips light up too! The reason is simple biomechanics: you can’t work the transverse plane in the feet without ALSO working the transverse plane in the hips.
We always say “we don’t just treat feet, we treat people”. When you place the FINS in the EVEN slots on your MOBO for this exercise, it demands more from the external rotators in your hips. Solid movement depends on building a better movement skill and strategy, and doing single leg deadlifts on a MOBO really builds the connection between your hips and your feet.
The Banded Single Leg Deadlift
Grab your board and put your FINS in the EVEN SLOTS.
Next take the included resistance band and loop it through the empty #1 slot in the front of the board.
Options: for a lighter load, you tie one loop in the band, and loop it through the #1 slot. For more load, loop the band through double ply. Grip the band higher up for less load, and lower down to increase the resistance.
Stand up on the board – the band always goes in the hand OPPOSITE your foot. there’s a reason for this! The band will pull you not just down, but also work to twist your hip inward, requiring even better recruitment from your hip muscles with no extra training time. Set up matters!
Keep your knee SOFTLY bent through each rep, keep your back straight so that all this movement comes 100% from your HIP.
You’ll feel a double challenge here – as your hips do the bulk of the work, your foot needs to work to keep the board stable and quiet.
Aim for 2 sets of 15 on each leg.
Single Ply Set-up
Tie a loop in one end of the band, and loop the other through. You’ll be pulling one ply of the band. This is the easier version.
Double Ply Set-up
Pull the band through the open #1 slot, and grab BOTH ends of the band with ONE hand. This has more tension for more challenge!
Everything in training is progressive. The Banded Single Leg Deadlift goes a LONG way, but we all know there’s a time and a place for IRON. The Landmine Deadlift is a staple in our athlete’s weekly training plans – for good reason! You get to put real loads through your hip while getting your foot in the game at the same time.
fins in even slots
grab the ed of the bar in the hand opposite your foot
same rules apply - hinge the hips front to back as you keep the board stable.
aim for 3 sets of 8 on each foot. The load should be “challenging” but doable. Stack some weight plates on the bar when ready.
Hint: If you feel your back get tight, keep your eyes looking down throughout the movement to help you move from your hips and not your low back. Also - think “hips move back to front” instead of up/down.