Soreness in Glutes with Squats

[sepandee]

Hi Mark

I usually don't get any pain in my glutes when squating. But since hitting 200lb I can definitely feel it in my glutes, a soreness that usually lasts for 24-48 hours and is felt immediately after each working set. Is this a good thing (indication of good form) or a bad thing (bad form)?

Thanks Coach

[Mark Rippetoe]

Good or bad I don't know, but it probably indicates that you are using a fairly upright torso which leaves out the hamstrings, and is therefore not a low-bar squat.

[Brandon Oto]

Hey Mark,

What exactly is the difference in what's done by the glutes and the hamstrings in a squat?

[Mark Rippetoe]

Both are hip extensors, along with the adductors. The three form the posterior chain. When they all work together to extend the hip a very powerful contraction results. But when the hamstrings are removed from the work -- as they are when the knee is flexed and the hamstring shortened from the distal end, as in the front squat position -- the glutes have to do the whole job by themselves. In a front squat, the hamstrings function is isometric: they just hold the back angle constant. Since they are already contracted into a short position because of the knee and hip angles and cannot contract much more, the adductors and glutes are the only remaining hip extensors. That is why your ass gets so sore when you do a lot of front squats correctly.

[Brandon Oto]

So the important difference is that the hamstrings also have a distal function across the knee (and are therefore contracted when the knee is flexed), whereas the glutes only cross the hip and are unaffected by the knee?

If you're doing a movement that involves only the hip (a back extension, say), they would both be engaged in one big mess, yes?

[Mark Rippetoe]

Exactimundo squared.