Strengthen Your Glutes on the Eagle NX Glute Machine

It is important to balance upper body exercises with lower body exercises, and the Gluteus Maximus is the largest muscle in the body. As we age, it is increasingly important that we focus on our glutes to help us remain upright and stable.

Activities Using the Glutes

The Gluteal muscle group is made up of 4 major muscles:

• Gluteus Maximus
• Gluteus Medius
• Gluteus Minimus
• Tensor Fasciae Latae

Gluteus Maximus

The Gluteus Maximus is the largest muscle in the body and the Gluteus Maximus is responsible for most hip movements and aids in activities like climbing stairs and rising from a sitting position.

Gluteus Medius & Gluteus Minimus

The Gluteus Medius and Minimus are responsible for side-to-side stability with movements like bringing your leg from the outside to the inside and back again, as well as leg rotation. All of these muscles work together and play a significant role in sports activities, such as basketball jump shots, baseball batting, soccer kicking and downhill skiing.

Why it is Important to Exercise your Glute Muscles

The Gluteus Maximus has been making headlines as of late, with pop culture icons, Nicki Minaj, Meghan Trainor, Beyonce, and Kim Kardashian flaunting theirs all over the place. It seems like now more than ever it is fashionable to have well developed glutes. While you may be spending a lot of time in the gym trying to achieve this new body ideal, it is important to remember that these exercises are not only done for aesthetic reasons, but also because the glutes play a huge role in your quality of life, especially as you age.

In a study by Inacio et al., who studied muscle composition in elderly people prone to falling, they found that “while fallers were generally differentiated from non-fallers by muscle composition, the most affected muscles were the proximal gluteal muscles of the hip joint accompanied by lower hip abduction strength, which may contribute to impaired balance function and increased risk for falls.”

The Gluteal muscles are responsible for stabilizing the hips and helping us stay upright. If we don’t focus on these muscles when we are younger, we may possibly have increased chance of falling when we get older. So, not only will doing these exercises make you look fabulous now, they may also help you retain your independence, enhance your quality of life and help you be all about that bass for years to come.

Eagle NX Glute Machine Set-up

The Eagle NX Glute machine allows each individual user to choose the amount of knee extension for the desired movement and create a custom fit. There is an additional abdominal support pad that ensures correct posture with minimal stress on the back, allowing for isolation of the Gluteal muscle group. This means that the Eagle NX Glute machine encourages full gluteal training without requiring the user to realign the hip joint after every movement.

Below is a video on the proper set up of the Eagle NX Glute Machine, as well as some beginner and more advanced exercises to add variety and versatility to your strength training routine.

Trainer Tip

You can incorporate this into interval training preceding or following a shoulder exercise. Make sure to pair with other leg exercises, like the leg press, calf raise, or leg curl to create a balanced and strong lower body.

Try this interval workout that exclusively uses the Eagle NX Glute Machine:

• 10 rounds beginning every minute on the minute, alternate legs every other minute by shifting the knee pad
• 7 repetitions using the Eagle NX Glute machine at a weight that you can move quickly but is still somewhat challenging
• 5 sit-ups
• 3 push-ups (scale as needed, such as doing the push ups from your knees, or using a ledge or a box)

Cybex Eagle NX App for iOS and Android

Use our new Eagle NX app to guide you through set up and exercises using our complete line of Eagle NX strength equipment.

Download the Eagle NX App

Citations
Inacio M, Ryan AS, Bair W-N, Prettyman M, Beamer BA, Rogers MW. Gluteal muscle composition differentiates fallers from non-fallers in community dwelling older adults. BMC Geriatrics 2014;14:37. doi:10.1186/1471-2318-14-37.

Eagle NX Glute Video Transcription

The Cybex Eagle NX Glute targets the muscles of the hips and buttocks.

Select your desired weight by adjusting the yellow pin. On all Cybex machines, the adjustments are easy to reach, easy to see and are highlighted in yellow.

Adjust the knee pad to the non-exercising side.

Adjust the abdominal pad for comfortable support.

Set your foot bar to the desired position.

Rest your knee and forearms on the pads and grasp the handles. Place the foot of your exercising leg on the foot bar. Push back as far as comfortable and return to the starting position.

Repeat this movement until your desired reps are achieved.

Switch legs by moving the knee pad to the opposite side.