How to Relieve Your Tight Gluteus Medius and Feel Relief Immediately
If you’re struggling with hip or back pain, a tight gluteus medius might be the cause. Luckily, this muscle is easy to stretch.
Ah, the gluteus medius. Most folks know about the gluteus maximus but aren’t even aware of the gluteus medius. This is a shame because a healthy gluteus medius is crucial for the overall wellness of your body.
The gluteus maximus is kind of the Marcia Brady of the gluteal muscles. It’s popular, showy, and front and center–especially compared to gluteus medius and gluteus minimus, which are literally off to the side.
Although gluteus maximus is important, gluteus medius is the body’s real hidden gem. Its strength is the key to keeping your entire body pain-free!
So, if you’ve got a tight gluteus medius, you’re probably struggling with pain right now. Whether you’ve got neck pain, back pain, ankle pain, whatever–a tight gluteus medius could be the cause.
Below you’ll find the answers to all your questions about your tight gluteus medius (including how to tell if your gluteus medius is tight or just weak) as well as a quick list of five exercises you can do to relieve your gluteus medius pain ASAP!
Psst! If you’re tired of struggling with pain, you can download your free copy of The Secret to Immediate + Lasting Pain Relief right now. Just click here to get your copy now!
How do I know if I have a tight gluteus medius or weak gluteus medius?
If you suspect that you might have either a tight gluteus medius or a weak gluteus medius, I have great news for you–you probably do. When it comes to muscles, tightness and weakness are the same thing.
Where is the gluteus medius located?
When you’ve got a muscle that you suspect is causing pain, it’s important to understand exactly where this muscle is in your body. If, after reading this description of where the gluteus medius muscle is, you don’t think that sounds like the area that’s causing your pain, you can move on to checking out a different muscle.
The origin (or starting point) of the gluteus medius is on the upper outer surface of the ilium. It inserts on the lateral surface of the greater trochanter (top notch) of the femur.
In plain English: If you put your hands on the top, back part of your pelvis and then scoot them away from each other a little bit, you’ll be on the start of your gluteus medius muscle. It might even be a little tender if you push on it.
Slide your hands on a slight diagonal line to the very tops of your thighs. You probably can’t feel it, but your femur (or thigh bone) has a little bony knob that sticks out. This is where your gluteus medius inserts.
Why is your gluteus medius tight?
First of all, it’s important to understand that, when it comes to muscles, tightness and weakness are so closely tied together that you can pretty much think of them as the same thing.
Is what you’re experiencing tightness or weakness? You don’t have to put too much thought into it because either way, your course of action is the same–stretch and strengthen your gluteus medius!
But, maybe you’re wondering Well, what the heck did I do to get myself into this pain? I sure don’t want to do it again!
Long story short, the gluteus medius is responsible for a lot more action in the hip joint than you might realize. It works when you reach your leg in front of you (like when you take a step forward). It works when your leg is behind your body (like when you extend through your stride).
So, unlike other muscles, whenever you’re walking or on the move, your gluteus medius is continually working–without a break! This is part of what makes the gluteus medius get too tight or quit working altogether–it’s overworked.
Of course, it’s always possible that you actually did something to anger this important muscle. Maybe you have a guess about why your gluteus medius is on strike or maybe you just woke up one day with pain. Either way, you’ve got the same task ahead of you–strengthen and stretch your tight gluteus medius.
What can you do about tight and sore gluteal muscles?
If you have tight and sore gluteal muscles, don’t worry. Most of the time, you can cure glute-related aches and pains yourself.
If you know you have done something specific and injured yourself, you should ice the area for the first 24 hours after your incident. After that (or if you’ve got more general aches and pains), I recommend taking a warm bath with epsom salts. It’s always amazing to me how much better I feel after a bath with salts.
Once you’re sure the gluteus medius isn’t stubbornly tight or injured, it’s time to start doing the stretching and strengthening exercises that you’ll find below!
Still feeling the pain? I want to take a moment to mention that if you don’t start feeling relief from the suggestions, you should contact your physician and talk to him or her about your pain. Also, if you start doing an exercise and the pain worsens, stop doing the exercise immediately and contact your physician.
Why should you stretch the gluteus medius?
As you might already know, stretching and strengthening the gluteus medius are both equally essential in order for you to relieve pain.
When thinking about muscles in the body, I like to think about trees. During storms with strong winds, it’s often the large, strong, rigid trees like oaks that are more likely to topple than, say, a bendy willow. However, if you wanted your flexible willow tree branches to be strong enough to hold a tree house, you’d be waiting a long time because willows aren’t really known for their physical strength.
The key is to having a healthy, pain-free body is encouraging your muscles to alternate between being strong like the oak and supple like the willow.
However, if you’re not really interested in relieving your pain and keeping it gone, by all means, just try one or the other. It won’t take long for you to realize that you need both stretching and strengthening for your gluteus medius muscle to work 100% correctly.
Keep reading to learn my five favorite exercises to relieve your tight gluteus medius and deliver pain relief immediately.
How to Relieve Your Tight Gluteus Medius and Feel Relief Immediately
Admittedly, there are tons of exercises out there to stretch and strengthen the gluteus medius. After all, the muscle is working with every step you take.
However, I’ve whittled down my list of go-to stretches and exercises for a tight gluteus medius to these five winners. Here are my top five favorite gluteus medius exercises to deliver both stretching and strengthening.
1. Roll
My favorite rolling tool is a foam ball called The Orb. (This is a sales link that takes you to Amazon.com. I earn a small commission from your purchase at no extra charge to you.)
Although I think The Orb is the best, you can actually use any ball you’ve got lying around to help you relieve your pain.
Results will vary based on your ball size and density, but you can use a tennis ball, softball, baseball, lacrosse ball, or even a golf ball to help you relieve your pain. It’s important to understand that the smaller your ball is, the more pressure you’ll have on your painful spot. Therefore, I always recommend you start with a bigger ball at the beginning.
How to Roll Your Gluteus Medius
When you’re rolling to relieve a tight gluteus medius, it’s important to also roll across some of the possibly-tight neighboring muscles. Here’s a step-by-step guide to roll your glute area.
- Take a seat on the floor, and put the ball in the fleshy part of your gluteus maximus.
- Rock back and forth so the ball slides along your glute muscle. You can also scoot from side to side, but just make sure you don’t roll across your tailbone.
- Then, when you feel like these muscles are relaxing, scoot the ball toward the outside of your hip (further away from your tailbone). Tilt so you’re sitting with more pressure on the ball. It might feel like the ball is sinking into your hip socket.
- Roll around this area.
- Open and close your bottom leg.
- Switch sides and do everything you’ve just done on your other side.
2. Tadasana
I love yoga poses and exercises that look like no big deal but really pack a punch–and that’s what Tadasana is. If you think about it, the gluteus medius has to work really hard to help keep your femur (thigh bone) in exactly the right place in your hip socket.
If your gluteus medius is tight or weak, all of a sudden you start to sink into your hip sockets. This can cause hip pain and instability. Plus, you’ll notice your posture starts to crumple.
Here’s exactly what you want to do to get the most bang for your buck when you’re practicing Tadasana.
- Bring your feet so they’re about a fist’s width apart.
- Make sure your toes (especially your second and third toes) are all pointed straight in front of you.
- Push your feet into the ground and lift your toes. You should feel the 4 corners of your feet–a point under your big toe, under your little toe, and at the inside and outside of your heel–pressing down into the earth. By lifting your toes, you are engaging the muscles in your feet and ankles.
- Keep pressing the floor away. Notice how as your feet push the floor away, your body naturally lengthens toward the ceiling.
- In particular, think about how your hip sockets feel. You should notice that your hips feel nice and open, like there is plenty of room for your femurs. When you feel this spacious feeling, it’s a sure sign your gluteus medius is working correctly.
- Next, notice how there’s plenty of space between your pelvis and rib cage.
- Relax your shoulders away from your ears and let your head lift toward the ceiling.
- From your shoulders, open across the front of your chest and rotate your palms to face your hips or face forward.
3. Crescent lunge
Crescent lunge is a fabulously therapeutic yoga pose. It stretches and strengthens so many different muscles around the hips that it can be tough to tell exactly which part feels better.
But, rest assured, your gluteus medius is going to get some of the stretching and strengthening that it needs!
- Begin with your knees bent, fingertips touching the floor on either side of your feet.
- As you move, inhale and exhale through your nose.
- Reach your right leg back quite a distance so that you have a large space between your right and left feet.
- Make sure that your legs are running parallel to each other like they are on train tracks, not the same rail of a train track.
- Reach through your right heel, like it is reaching for the wall behind you. Take a moment to make sure that your right heel is in a straight line and not falling in or out.
- Check to make sure that your left knee is in line with the center of your foot. It’s okay for the knee to come forward toward the second and third toes, but it should not go past the toes. Also, the knee should not drop toward the inside or the outside of the foot.
- Feel your inner thighs (adductors) scissor and draw toward and past each other.
- Draw the low belly to the spine so you can feel yourself lift off of your left thigh without lifting your fingers from the floor.
- As you reach through your right heel, feel yourself reach through your leg, spine, and out through the top of your head. Get yourself aligned, and you can feel energy run through you like a current.
- Draw your belly button to your spine and lift your upper body.
- I like to put my hands on my hips to make sure that my pelvis is in neutral. Frequently, because of my tight hip flexors, it isn’t. To correct the tilt of my pelvis, I lift my rib cage away from my hips, rotate my pelvis to bring it to neutral, re-engage my core muscles, then move back into Lunge pose.
- Keep reaching your belly button toward your spine, and bring bent arms up so that your elbows are in line with your shoulders and your palms face forward. This is called Cactus pose, and it sort of looks like you’re saying that someone made a field goal.
- Soften the space in your upper back that is right behind your heart. As that portion of upper thoracic spine moves, so will your cervical spine (neck). The head and neck should not drop behind the body but should instead be a natural extension from the thoracic.
- Reach your arms straight toward the ceiling with palms facing each other. Your biceps (upper arms) should be beside your ears. Your hands should be close together as if you are holding a basketball above your head.
- Hold this side for 5-10 breaths.
- On your last exhale, bring your arms down on either side of the left foot. Keeping your core engaged, step the right foot up to meet the left.
- Reach the left leg back and do the other side.
4. Warrior 3
This yoga pose is one of the best ways to strengthen and stretch the gluteus medius muscle. However, because you’re balancing bent forward and on one leg, it’s not for everyone.
If you feel like you struggle with balance, complete the directions below with a goal of only lifting your back foot an inch or two off the floor–and maybe just for a couple of seconds at a time. You don’t have to have a big movement for this pose to pack a punch!
- Inhale and exhale through your nose.
- Begin in Tadasana with your hands at your heart center. Feel how your feet press into the floor. Imagine they are pressing the floor away from you.
- Lift your ribs away from your hips and draw your belly button to your spine. This should not change the placement of your pelvis.
- Bring your right foot a few inches behind you so that your weight is now mostly on your left leg.
- Think of pushing the floor away from you with your left leg as you lift your ribs away from your hips and let your upper body hinge forward from the waist. As you do this, your right leg raises behind you.
- Find the scissoring action of the inner thighs (adductors) and make sure your pelvis is not rotated.
- Flex your right foot so the toes point down to the ground.
- Feel a line of energy from your right heel through the top of your head.
- You don’t have to lift your back leg very high. It is more important that you feel your supporting leg press the floor away and feel your abdominals keep your spine in a straight line.
- Hold for 5-8 breaths.
- When you are finished, bring your upper body upright and place your right foot next to the left.
- Repeat on the other side.
5. Figure 4
This is one of the best stretches for a tight gluteus medius! Plus, it’s just as helpful and accessible for people who are bound up and restricted as it is for flexible folks.
- Begin on your back with your pelvis in neutral, knees bent, heels in line with your SITs bones. (Your SITs bones are those bones you can feel pressing into the ground when you sit cross-legged.)
- Take a moment to exhale and hug your abdominal muscles around your abdomen and low back. This will help support your hips and low back so you’ll get the optimal stretch.
- Lift your right leg and cross your right ankle just beneath your left knee on your thigh. Make sure the right ankle is off the left thigh. This way, the ankle bone doesn’t press into your thigh muscles (quadriceps).
- If you feel a stretch, hang out here and breathe. If you don’t feel a stretch, lift your left leg and lace your fingers behind your left thigh.
- Hold here for 5-10 breaths.
- When you are finished, keep muscular energy as you lower your leg and reverse sequence to do the other side. Be aware that the flexibility of your right side and your left side may differ dramatically.
How often should you do these exercises?
At a minimum, you should do a combination of stretching and strengthening exercises three times a week if you’re trying to relieve pain. However, once you’ve got your pain under control you’ll want to do a combination of these exercises at least two times a week.
Of course, if you are taking yoga class, you might find that your instructor is already working gluteus medius stretches and strengthening poses into your class. Just be mindful that you listen to your body and don’t over-do it.
How long does strengthening the gluteus medius take?
Once you start rolling, you should notice reduced tightness and stiffness almost immediately. However, to get the full benefit from your gluteus medius strengthening and stretching exercises, it will probably take around 4-6 weeks.
Searching for more gluteus medius exercises?
If you’re still searching for more gluteus medius exercises, check out “The 6 Best Exercises to Strengthen Your Weak Gluteus Medius” over on my other website, spinalrejuvenation.net. This article teaches you three completely different gluteus medius stretches and three new gluteus medius strengthening exercises.
Plus, if you’re serious about getting rid of your gluteus medius tightness and keeping it gone, you’ll want to check out my course, Spinal Rejuvenation. It teaches you how to get your hips and back pain-free–and keep them that way!
Or, if you want to learn more about the anatomy of the gluteus medius muscle, check out this article from Kenhub.com.
If you’re here today because you’re trying to relieve gluetus medius pain, I’ve created a guide to help you out. Just click here to download your free copy of The Secret to Immediate + Lasting Pain Relief.
Frequently Asked Questions about Tight Gluteus Medius
Even though you’ve learned so much about having a tight gluteus medius, you might still want to learn more. Below, I’ve answered some of the most common questions. If you have any questions about the gluteus medius that I haven’t answered, feel free to scroll to the bottom of this page, hit the link to contact me, and ask away!
1. How do you release a tight gluteus medius?
In my opinion, the best way to release a tight gluteus medius is to roll it with a foam massage ball. I prefer using The Orb. This link takes you to an Amazon sales page for The Orb. By ordering through this link, I earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.
Honestly, though, almost any ball that’s firm and smaller than your hand will work. You could use a tennis ball, lacrosse ball, golf ball, softball–you get the picture.
If you’re not using an Orb, I think the best way to release your tight gluteus medius is by rolling on the wall. Just so you know, when you use the Orb, you can release your gluteus medius either by rolling on the floor or at the wall.
- Take your ball and stand next to a wall where you have open space to roll and not bump into pictures or other decor.
- Stand with your back against the wall.
- Place the ball in the middle of your gluteus maximus.
- Rotate your body so your shoulder is next to the wall. Your ball should be on the outside of your hip now. Make sure your ball isn’t pressing into bone.
- Bend your knees to move the ball up and down along the outside of your hip.
- If you find a tight spot and feel like you want to pause and lean into it for a good release, do that.
- When you feel done, you are.
- Switch sides.
2. What causes a tight gluteus medius?
When trying to understand what causes a tight glutues medius, it’s important to understand that tightness and weakness are often the same thing. If you’re not doing anything to strengthen and stretch your gluteus medius, it’s going to get tight.
A tight gluteus medius can also be caused by over-doing it. Whether you used your gluteus medius for a long duration with a relatively small intensity–like say you’ve taken a very long walk–or whether you used your gluteus medius very intensely for a short period of time, this can cause your gluteus medius to tighten up in a jiffy!
Regardless of what caused your gluteus medius tightness, it’s best for you to rest the muscle. Then, stretch and strengthen it so you won’t have this issue in the future.
3. How do you relieve the pain of the gluteus medius?
You can relieve the pain of the gluteus medius by trying the following activities:
- massage,
- stretch,
- rest,
- ice,
- compress, and/or
- exercise.
In extreme cases, you might need to visit a pain specialist for a steroid injection.
Pain relief can be a trial-and-error process. Try one of the pain-relieving suggestions above and see how you feel. If you’re still in pain, pick a different suggestion to try next.
Remember, the key to having a healthy, pain-free muscle is a combination of stretching and strengthening it. I always start with stretching because it seems that most muscles that hurt feel tight. Once you’ve stretched, try a strengthening exercise.
4. Is walking good for tight glutes?
Yes, walking is good for tight glutes. However, it’s important that you use good form and you don’t over-do it. As you walk, try to imagine your pelvis lifting slightly away from the head of your femur (thigh bone). When you can feel that slight lift, your gluteus medius is engaged and doing its job.
If it starts to feel like your torso is sinking into your pelvis, you need to take a break and regroup. Your gluteus medius has stopped working. Rest, find that lifting feeling, and try it again.
5. Why does gluteus medius get tight?
Gluteus medius can get tight for a couple of reasons. One reason your gluteus medius can get tight is because you’ve asked it to work for too long of a time without enough rest to recover. For example, if you suddenly decide to go on a long but moderate hike just because you’re on vacation, you’re going to need to be inactive for quite a while to make sure the gluteus medius has enough time to rest and recover.
In this case, the gluteus medius was asked to do an activity that’s not particularly taxing, but still, it’s something the muscle’s not used to doing for a long time. Without the right amount of rest, gluteus medius will flare up, get angry, and hurt.
The other reason your gluteus medius can be tight is because you’ve asked it to work too intensely without enough strengthening and preparation. For example, if you decide you want to move a large piece of furniture upstairs, even if it’s a short flight of stairs, your gluteus medius might get angry.
This is because the gluteus medius works to keep a healthy relationship and position with your femur (thigh bone) and hip. When you’re holding a heavy weight and then lifting a leg, it can be too much for the gluteus medius on the supporting leg to handle.
Want to learn more about how to fix your tight gluteus medius yourself?
If you’re serious about getting rid of your gluteus medius tightness and keeping it gone, you’ll want to check out my course, Spinal Rejuvenation. It teaches you how to get your hips and back pain-free–and keep them that way!
If you’re here today because you’re trying to relieve gluetus medius pain, I’ve created a guide to help you out. Just click here to download your free copy of The Secret to Immediate + Lasting Pain Relief.
