NOTES:  Difficulty Level:  80%

Many people get the form wrong for this exercise. I have visited the gym and tried it myself, while observing others.  I guarantee that the form shown in the above image is the correct one.  Note the slightly bent front knee and the somewhat bent arms, gripping the vertical just below shoulder height.  Note the placement of the front foot directly below the hip joint.  Note the head position and direction of gaze: down to the floor, but a little out in front.  Note that the rear leg does not come up to the horizontal, but that the rear thigh stays aligned with the flatness of the neck and spine.  Fabulous pose!  At the forward position (not shown), the cabled foot moves forward just in front of the planted front foot, before smoothly swinging back again.  Throughout the exercise, you should maintain the position of the front leg without bending or moving the foot, knee, or ankle.  Try not to force anything apart from the rear leg, and focus on moving it by squeezing your Glutes.  Yes, it’s a little tricky to master, but getting it right yields enormous benefits.

The standard and traditional old-school way of working the Glutes was Squats.  Back in my day of rough and ready dockyard gyms full of beefcakes and ex-Royal Marines, male gym users would generally stop at the Squats and shy away from the more ‘girlie’ exercises, which many modern men are now happy (and wise) to include in their routines.

Various targeted Pilates moves are highly effective, but the Glute Kickback is arguably the most effective, not just for the Glutes, but for all the secondary body areas.  There are several ways to perform this exercise.  The best one by far is the Special Glutes Gym Machine, which is designed explicitly for glute kickbacks, featuring grab handles and possibly a fixed leg raise attachment.

Back in the day, it was all too common for UK footballers and ‘Arnie Wannabees’ not to spend enough time doing some essential exercises.  Invariably, that led to Hamstring, Back, Knee, or Calf injuries.  This might have been because they had a weak Core or because they created a musculoskeletal imbalance from prolonged poor exercise Form in the gym.  

Think about this for a moment.  The Glutes (Gluteus Maximus) are the most significant human muscle, and the Quads are a close second.  Together, they are capable of producing a massive, powerful force for activities like kicking or sprinting.  So, pretty much all serious athletes need to strength train them regularly.  But just this is nowhere near enough.  You need to balance out the body by teaching secondary and supporting muscles and tendons.  The most common footballer injuries are:  General Sprains & Strains,  Knee,  Hamstring,  Ligament, Shoulder,  Ankle,  and Achilles Tendon.

The risk of injury in all these areas can be significantly reduced by building a range of non-mainstream exercises into your workout routines.  For example:

Pilates and Stretch routines,  Squats, Leg Extensions, and Leg Press to bulletproof the Knees.  Leg Curls plus several key Pilates stretches to bulletproof the Hamstrings.  Mixing Pilates with low-weight / high-rep gym exercises serves to reinforce Ligaments and Tendons.  A mix of Back and Shoulder gym routines will bolster the Shoulders (see my great Shoulder workout routine – a part of the Mojoh Method).  Exercises like the Pilates 1 Session (part of the Mojoh Method) combined with Calf Raises will go a long way to reinforcing the relatively delicate Ankle Joints.  The Achilles Stretch (Part of the Mojoh Method Pilates 1 Session), along with Calf Raises, will significantly help to support the Achilles Tendon.

I am constantly in awe of the high athletic achievements of world-class footballers like Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, who often seem to create pure magic on the football pitch and execute seemingly impossible manoeuvres.  Do these guys do Pilates?  Of course they do!  I doubt that they use the Mojoh Method, but I guarantee they will be doing variations of all the components that make up the Mojoh Method.  They can’t leave anything out.  They won’t skip anything – because they always strive for perfection.

So, don’t anyone ever tell me that the Glute Cable Kickback (or any other exercise described by the Mojoh Method) is a girl’s exercise!  NO exercise on planet Earth was invented purely for the benefit of a male or a female.  If you are human, then you can do them all, and you should aim to try them all.