Yoga Glossary · Muscles
Gluteus maximus
The largest muscle in the body — the main engine of hip extension and a backbend stabilizer.
The gluteus maximus covers the back of the pelvis and inserts into the thigh bone and the iliotibial band. It is the body's strongest hip extensor: it drives the thigh backward, powers standing up from a squat, and helps externally rotate the hip. When you rise from a chair without using your hands, that is mostly glute max.
In yoga it stabilizes the pelvis in one-legged poses, extends the hip in Warrior III and Locust, and is a headline muscle in Bridge — lifting the hips is glute max work, which is why Bridge is taught as a glute strengthener, not just a chest opener. In backbends, balanced glute engagement supports the low back; clenching them to maximum, though, can jam the sacrum, so teachers cue firm, not squeezed.
In practice
- Bridge Pose: press the feet down and the hips lift — that power is gluteus maximus.
- Standing up from Chair without momentum uses it the same way.
- Firm in backbends, never clenched to the max — the low back should feel supported, not pinched.
Poses that engage it
- Chair Pose
- Warrior I
- Warrior II
- Extended Side Angle
- Crescent Lunge
- Runner's Lunge
- Dancer's Pose
- Cobra Pose
- Upward Facing Dog
- Locust Pose
- Bow Pose
- Camel Pose
- Bridge Pose
- Wheel Pose
- Half Pigeon
- Revolved Crescent Lunge
- Prayer Twist
- Plank Pose
- Shoulder Stand
Poses that lengthen it
Related terms
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The Yoga Glossary is an educational study reference. Definitions are standard yoga and anatomy knowledge in plain language; nothing here is medical advice.