Anatomy of the Human Body - Gluteus minimus & medius / small and medium gluteal muscles

Often we see that an article mentions a muscle, but not every reader knows what muscle it is. Based on this, we have decided to create a series of articles in which we will discuss the basic anatomy of the human body and introduce the muscles more closely

Among other things, we will also show you which exercises to use to exercise a given muscle part correctly and, conversely, which exercises to avoid. We decided to dedicate the first two parts to perhaps the most famous muscles of all - triceps and biceps. Then followed the frontalis pilus, the large pectoralis, thedeltoid, the trapezius, the rectus abdominis, thelarge gluteus and in this article we will focus on the small and medium gluteus!

The small and medium gluteal muscles

The gluteus medius muscle is partially hidden underneath the gluteus maximus.

The gluteus medius is fan-shaped, starts on the outer surface of the hip bone below the crest of the hip bone, tapers and attaches to the greater tibialis.

The gluteus minor is fan-shaped like the gluteus medius, but is smaller.

Where is it located? It starts at the hip bone just below the gluteus medius. It tapers and attaches to the front of the greater tibialis anterior.

Their function: the Small and Medium gluteal muscles, due to the different direction of the muscle fibers, perform all movements except pulling the thigh and from the sides help stabilize the pelvis during walking.

What to avoid when exercising the small and medium gluteal muscles:

This is what we asked Robert Humpál from the Supertrener.cz project.

These are not as visible muscles as the large gluteal muscle, but they are an essential part of basic strength exercises, as weakening them can limit you when performing exercises such as squats and deadlifts. It is these muscles that are often neglected in training, which is a mistake. We target them with isolation exercises such as: side lunges with the rubber band, unbending with the pulley, and by using short expander exercises for squats and leg presses. I know, not very popular exercises for guys, but they shouldn't be missing from your workout.

Basic exercises to strengthen the small and medium glute muscles:

Pull-ups with pulley

Sideways steps with expander

You can find more exercises for glute development in our section - Exercise Database.

Sources: image - Kenhub.com, Anatomy of the Body and Movement (Theodore Dimon)