In this instructional video the presenter recounts how frequent lower‑back spasms from heavy lifting led him to discover that his glutes were not activating properly during compound lifts. He explains that insufficient glute recruitment forces the lumbar spine to compensate, increasing injury risk. To address this, he demonstrates a ground‑based, equipment‑free glute‑mobilising and activation sequence designed as a preparation routine before heavy deadlifts, squats, kettlebell swings, or any activity that demands strong hip extension. The routine consists of alternating leg movements—forward‑backward slides, clockwise and anti‑clockwise circles, and “bicycle” pedalling—performed for 10 repetitions per movement, two rounds per leg, with a 6‑inch foot spacing. He offers progression options (increasing reps, adding ankle weights or bands) and practical tips (use after prolonged sitting, before sports, or as a quick daily activation). The video emphasizes the biomechanical rationale, the simplicity of the protocol, and encourages viewers to adopt it to protect the lower back and improve performance.
Chapters
Day 28, Restorona. The theme for today is preparation. Now, after a lot of trial and error, when I used to be a weightlifter or bodybuilder and whatever, and I used to lift heavy weight every, basically every session, I found myself, I ran into a lot of lower back injuries. So, I had lower back spasms and all that sort of stuff because I was just, I would just basically go into the gym and just start lifting as heavy as I could as quickly as I could. And eventually got to the point where I couldn't do that. And so I kind of figured out, okay, maybe I'm getting all these injuries because my body's not doing things right. And so physio sessions, a lot of reading and whatever, and basically just trying to figure out my own problem. I learned that my glutes didn't activate well enough when I was doing heavy lifts. So picking something heavy off the ground. And my lower back was compensating for it all because Glutes, fairly big muscle, and when that's not activating correctly, fairly— some other— not that the lower back is a smaller muscle, um, but when it doesn't have the aid of the glute and you're trying to put all the strain on just lower back, you're going to run into issues. And so this session is, because the theme is preparation, it's a, a little glute mobilizing slash activating little series of movements that I like to do whenever I'm going to be doing lifting heavy objects, so as in doing heavy deadlifts, doing heavy squats, maybe some kettlebell swings, or I just want to start using my lower body, I'm going to try and activate my glutes first. So, let's follow along. Get on the ground. It's going to be completely ground-based. There's no rest. We're just going to go one leg and then into the other leg, and then we do it twice. So each leg gets done twice. By the end of it, we're doing 10 reps per movement. By the end, you should feel a little pump in, in your butt cheeks. So, let's go here. We're gonna start on the ground, elevate, keep about a 6-inch distance between your two feet. Now you can have a little rest up here like I am, and we're gonna start with the first movement. It's just forward by 6 inches. Coming back to center, here's center by the way, so when I say center, that's center. Now this whole time, I'm trying to switch on my glute here, so you can even poke it. We're just going to go forward and back for 10 repetitions. That's about 10, so come back to center, and now we're going to go back for 10 repetitions. Again, Just squeezing, squeezing. It's a lot easier for me to squeeze, squeeze my glute on the way back. So keep going. That's about— I'm not really keeping count, but that's about 10. And now we're going to go all the way from the back, past center, to forward for 10. So it's 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10. All right, now we're going to do 10 circles clockwise, still keeping that distance from our bottom foot, just drawing it as best you can. 9, 10. Now, anti-clockwise, 10, 10 circles. Concentrate. 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, one more for good luck, beautiful, 10. So now, we're keeping it there, no rest yet. We've elevated it. Now we're doing 10 bicycles. So pretend you're pedaling a bicycle here. Wonderful. 7, 8, 9, 10. Excellent. Now I'm already— my right glute is already on fire. So now If you wanted to make that a little bit harder, if you found that easy, you can of course up the reps to 15, 12 or 15 or something like that. I've just found that 10 suits me pretty well. Now, or even add an ankle weight, but I don't have an ankle weight, so. We're gonna do the left side. Now this one will probably be a little bit harder because even though, remember, start at center, and now we're gonna go forward for 10. Just forward and back to center. Even though we, we only used our right leg, it's still going to use some of the other, uh, other part of the hip, other part of the glute to compensate, to help out, to help lift that leg up. So I always find the second one's a lot harder. There we go, that's 10. Now 10 back. And again, each time you do it, you could probably just go first with your left and then go first with your right, whatever you want. Keep going back. Yeah, I'm feeling this one already. We're lighting a little fire. Keep it up. This is going to get your glutes nice and activated. Now, 10 back and forth. 1, 2, and I've probably got dirt on my feet because I've been walking around in the backyard, feeling the earth, feeling the grass under my Oh, this is good, we're getting a burn. That's about 10. Now, 10, I'm going to start anti-clockwise this time, trick my black brain up. 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10. Now, clockwise. 1, 2, 3. How well can you draw circles with your left foot? 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10. Beautiful. Now, 10 bicycles. The slower the better. We're not going for, for speed here. We're going for trying to prepare our glutes for what's to come. Lifting heavy, heavy weights if we need to. Or it's just good if you— a lot of males, I found through my research, apparently, uh, don't activate their glutes for, for heavy lifts and just in general. So it's always good to— that's 10, by the way, if you're counting along. Um, so it's always good to, to be able to switch them on. I mean, if you spend a lot of time sitting, your hamstrings and your glutes probably don't get much attention. So you could do this at any point during the day, really, if you want to go for a run and you want to switch those legs on. So let's go down. Just a great way to get warmed up. So now, same thing, just on the other side. I go through this 2 rounds, and I find that's enough for me. Maybe you need to go for 3 rounds. Again, we're just starting from middle, from center, we're going forward. We've done about 5 already. And trust me, once you learn this sequence off by heart— like, I've probably done this hundreds of times now— once you learn this sequence off by heart, you can, you can adapt it to how you need. Maybe you, you find it's better if you just do circles, but I found this is like back and forth because there are 3 different heads in the, in the glute. I don't know them all off by heart. I just find that this is a pretty good or rounder warm-up. Now, all the way back and forth. Another great one is if you have a band is to do squats with a band and step side to side. But since we're just focusing on no equipment for this little movement series, we'll use no equipment. Oh yeah, the second round, we're really lighting these on fire now. Circles. We'll go clockwise. 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10. Anti-clockwise. Beautiful. When I first tried to do this, I couldn't do it all in one hit with no rest. And still sometimes, depending on how fatigued my legs and muscles are, I'll have to put my leg down like this and take a chill out. So feel free to take a chill out whenever you need. Since I've had a little bit of practice, I can usually go the whole session. That's about 10. Let's go, 10 cycles. Oh yeah, we are really feeling the burn. Leave a comment below, when did you start feeling the burn? Usually for me, it's by the back end of the second session, so this is perfect timing. Keep it going. We got a little fun little challenge after this. That's about 10. Okay, now that right one is well and truly activated. And what I meant by the— if you have a band, uh, one you could accelerate, like just do this after. We'll do the left leg in a second. Is put a band just while I remember and just step side to side like this with the band. And of course, each time you're stepping side to side, you're stretching it out using your glute to step sideways. Now let's go. So I might do this as well if I'm going into like a Brazilian jiu-jitsu match or something like that, because a lot, a lot of it is a hip bridge. Keep going, center to forward. Anytime you need to use your glutes, basically, it's always good to get them active, help out that back. That's about 10. Oh, the last one's always the hardest. 8, 9, 10. I might have missed a few here and there, but again, we're cooks, not chemists here. When it comes to movement, sometimes, yeah, you want to get sets and reps down, but other times you just want to move. You just want to— oh, this is great. Keep it going. That's about 10. Clockwise first this time on the left. I can feel my face going red here. Means we're, we're, we're using, using our concentration, you know. Keep it up. Now anti-clockwise. You could even use this as a full-blown glute workout. Just do this for 3 or 4 sets. 6, 7, 8, 9, 10. Maybe one more in case I missed one. Now bicycles. One, two, that's it. Again, just all the time maintaining that distance. That's— by maintaining that distance, you go higher if you want, but I found that About 6 inches, about shoulder width apart is best for me. Any lower, it's too easy. Any higher, it's— I'm getting too deep into the hip. Beautiful. Oh, feeling alive. Your butt feels alive, your body feels alive. Now you can— another one is you can go like this, hold a squeeze there for a bit. But I think for me that's usually enough. Like, if I just go through those two, that's usually enough for me to, to say that my, my glutes are nice and active. Give that a try, leave a comment below. Remember, just 6 inches apart, 10 reps forward, 10 reps back, 10 reps back and forward, 10 reps clockwise, 10 reps anti-clockwise, and then 10 bicycles. And of course you can upgrade the repetitions if you like, or downgrade them. Maybe start with 5 if you can't do 10. So if you're going to lift something heavy, or if been sitting down all day and you want to, you want to utilize probably the biggest muscle in your entire body, your butt, for lifting something heavy rather than just getting your lower back to take all the weight. Do that little warm-up prep at the start and then you'll be ready to move. So as always, keep moving, stay safe, and I'll see you tomorrow.
