Engineering a Smarter, More Stable Take on Glute Training
Sometimes the best idea isn’t a new idea, but an old idea finally done right. After all, glute training has been around for a long time, and it’s only getting more popular as athletes strive to maximize their physical potential and club members work to transform their bodies. But glute training has never been as comfortable, accessible and effective as it is now thanks to the new Glute Trainer from Matrix Fitness. Find out how we re-examined the process of building and toning glutes and hamstrings and developed a smarter, more stable take on high-intensity glute training.
STRIVING & STRUGGLING TO BUILD BETTER GLUTES
After researching the potential for a glute-training product for years, we noticed the growing popularity of glute training in both athletic performance and club settings. We also noticed that the methods and equipment available for building and toning glutes were — to be kind — less than ideal. Since the glutes are powerful fan-shaped muscles, they’re hard to target under the best circumstances, forcing many exercise enthusiasts to complete large, compound motions like squats and lunges to put them to work. Others looking to exercise their glutes tried unrecommended machine modifications or resorted to hip thrusting that, while more targeted than squats and lunges, comes with its own set of problems. Straight bars loaded with plates are hard to maneuver into position, and it’s difficult for the user to find effective bracing to support themselves during the exercise. What’s more, straight bars loaded with plates are extremely unstable when perched atop the hips. While this can lead to embarrassing and dangerous plate spills and bruised hips, the chance for user injury caused by this unbalanced state is even more concerning.
CHALLENGES & OPPORTUNITIES
Though others might see these issues as challenges when it comes to innovating glute training, Matrix chose to see them as opportunities. We knew from the start of the project we wanted to provide results just as targeted and effective as hip thrusting, minus the hassles and hazards. That meant we had to contain the action of the exercise in a new kind of machine, and so our industrial designers and engineers put their heads together. Drawing on ideas from different areas of expertise, we created a variety of prototype glute trainers for testing. Taking them from the model shop to the real world, we worked with 12 professional trainers and over 100 club members of different sizes, ages and ability levels to get firsthand feedback on the feel and function of our prototypes. We quickly learned important lessons with regards to what’s comfortable for different length torsos, what makes a user feel secure as they prepare to do the exercise, what gives a user a feeling of stability and much more. We also learned what not to do, which is perhaps just as important.
PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER
Confident in the breadth and depth of our data, we returned to the lab to put it all together. To design the definitive glute trainer, we leveraged extensive biomechanical research and EMG movement studies to determine several critical points in space and enter them into a 3D model. These points can’t be changed, as their juxtaposition makes the hip-bridge motion possible and places the user in the ideal position to maximize the activation of the glutes and hamstrings. However, every element around those critical points was ours to experiment with. The features and refinements flowed naturally from our user feedback into an inviting walkthrough design. We created a floating hip pad that adjusts to users of different sizes comfortably and pivots out of the way for easy entry and exit. We added an oversized, angled foot platform with a non-slip surface for stability. We designed a padded ledge for a secure feeling before starting a set. We sculpted ergonomically angled handles for a comfortable grip during the most intense workouts. Before long, these small, innovative details and many more combined to create a superior user experience. Since we wanted our new glute trainer to be accessible to clubs and training facilities of all kinds, we also made our machine plate-loaded. Removing so much steel and many mechanical parts made our glute trainer far more economical, while giving it the added advantage of an unmatched weight capacity of 500 lbs. / 227 kg. To make sure we could push even the most powerful athletes to their limits, we even incorporated dual-sided band hooks into the design. By adding elastic resistance options to our Glute Trainer, athletes could now take on explosiveness training with greater movement variety.
REDEFINING GLUTES & GLUTE TRAINING
In the end, the design and engineering of our new Glute Trainer traveled in a surprisingly straight line from the exercise enthusiast’s need to a complete solution that works for virtually everybody and any body. With a perfect mix of affordability, dynamic performance and premium-quality manufacturing, traditional clubs and athletic training facilities can set themselves apart with something that lets users pursue an old goal in a comfortable, amazingly effective new way.
