I’ve had this question asked a few times by clients, and I see many coaches saying you should not squeeze your glutes at the top and that it’s “pointless” to do so. I’m afraid I have to disagree because context is always key.

The rationale behind saying not to squeeze your glutes in Squats and RDLs all the mechanical tension is at the bottom as the muscles are in a lengthened position and under load. So as you stand, there is less and less tension, and at the top, there is the least amount of tension. So squeezing your glutes isn’t increasing mechanical tension or aiding the contraction’s effectiveness. Also, people might drive their hips forward to squeeze their glutes which could overextend the spine and place more compression into the back. So in this situation, I agree with telling someone to stop squeezing their glutes. 

Peak hip extension-based exercises such as hip thrusts and back extensions are exercises where someone maybe should focus on squeezing at the top. But I would say there is only weak anecdotal evidence that internal cues such as “squeeze your glutes” does anything at all. So there is an argument not to squeeze the glutes in any exercise because there is no evidence to suggest it does anything.  

Why you might want to do it 

What if someone wants to stack the hips over their feet and get a better abdominal brace by bringing the ribcage down to create the “canister” of the spine? In that situation, I see a reason to get a bit of a tailbone tuck at the top by squeezing the glutes. Or, if you’re the kind of person who finished the squat in a forward lean and can’t go heavier because it hurts your back? Learning to stack the hips over the feet and under the bar is a smart thing to do. Thinking more of a tailbone tuck vs just a glute squeeze is probably a better internal cue.

Squeezing your glutes has its place. But the context is key. 

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