Purpose of Glute Pushdowns on The Assisted Chin-Up/Dip Machine
The glute pushdown using the assisted chin-up/dip machine is similar in nature to a single-leg press, and is done with the intention to strengthen and develop the glute muscles, one at a time as this exercise can only really performed uni-laterally, or one leg at a time.
Equipment Needed to Perform Glute Pushdowns on The Assisted Chin-Up/Dip Machine
As the name would suggest, the only equipment required to perform glute pushdowns on the assisted chin-up/dip machine would be the assisted machine itself.
Difficulty of Glute Pushdowns on The Assisted Chin-Up/Dip Machine
On a scale of 1 to 5, the glute pushdown on the assisted chin-up/dip machine would rank between a 1 and a 2 because it requires a fairly low skill level, but it does require the individual to focus on directing the tension onto the glute, which is generally a challenging task for a large percentage of people.
How To Do Glute Pushdowns on The Assisted Chin-Up/Dip Machine
To perform glute pushdowns on the assisted chin-up/dip machine you’re going to want to brace and secure your body with your arms by holding onto the chin-up handles, while standing on the foot platform with your non-working foot, and placing your working foot onto the assisting platform.
From this position you’re going to initiate the movement by pressing the platform down, driving through your heel, until fully extending your knee.
Squeeze your working glute hard at completion of the range of motion, and hold that position for 1-2 seconds before slowly allowing the platform to rise back up to the starting position.
Depending on the length of your leg in relation to the distance the platform is capable of traveling, you may want to allow the platform to come all the way back up to a dead stop, or prevent it from coming all the way up if it is going to force you to realign your body, and compromise your positioning. Pause at the top before transitioning into the next rep, and repeat for the desired number of reps.
Key Points When Performing Glute Pushdowns on The Assisted Chin-Up/Dip Machine
- Hold onto chin-up handles to stabilize body, while standing with the nonworking foot onto the foot platforms.
- Place working foot onto assisting platform, pressing down through the heel until the knee is extended.
- Pause at the bottom and squeeze working glute for 1-2 seconds before slowly allowing the platform to rise back up to the top position.
- Pause at the top, and repeat for the desired amount of reps before switching legs.
How Many Reps When Performing Glute Pushdowns on The Assisted Chin-Up/Dip Machine
The rep range for exercises designed to target the glutes is always going to vary because it comes down to how well the individual can intentionally recruit the glutes when targeting them – the greater an individual can recruit them, the less reps there will be required to exhaust the glutes, and the heavier you should go.
The glutes are very large, powerful muscles, and thus it is in your best interest to try to pile on the weight when the goal is to stimulate them, but if one simply cannot recruit them well, then it would be a waste of time to do that because all that will happen is other muscles will do the work.
For those who have a difficult time contracting their glutes, lower loads, for higher reps, while paying close attention to the “feeling” of the exercise would be a better bet.
In summary – if you can feel your glutes, aim for 6-8 reps, and adjust the weight accordingly so that you have a hard time meeting that rep goal.
If you have a hard time feeling your glutes, aim for 15-20 reps at a time, while adjusting the weight accordingly as well (you don’t use the same weight for both instances, but just do more, or less – the weight should be adjusted to “allow” more reps to be performed, or to promote reaching failure with less repetitions).
Common Mistakes When Performing Glute Pushdowns on The Assisted Chin-Up/Dip Machine
Some of the more common mistakes when performing glute pushdowns on the assisted chin-up/dip are:
- Using too much weight – this is very common because the “legs” as a whole are very strong, so what often happens is people who have a hard time contracting their glutes think they are capable of doing more just because they “can,” but the reason they can is because all the other muscles that are able to get involved, do.
- Failure to maintain the mind muscle connection – because the glutes require extra attention and focus, what often happens is people are just going through the motions, and not paying the attention needed to ensure the muscles they are trying to develop are actually doing the brunt of the work. More often than not, what happens is people basically end up performing a single-leg press, simply because they aren’t paying attention to what they’re doing.
- Not driving through the hells – you want to drive the weight down through your heel to fully activate the glutes. Driving through the toes puts greater emphasis on the quads.
Modifications to Glute Pushdowns on The Assisted Chin-Up/Dip Machine
There aren’t really any modifications that can be made – it is not practical whatsoever to try to perform this exercise with both legs at the same time.
When to do Glute Pushdowns on The Assisted Chin-Up/Dip Machine
Depending on your goals, this exercise can be used anywhere within your current leg routine. Doing it first can help with exercises that follow like squats, by pre-pumping the glutes, or it could be thrown in at the end to ensure full exhaustion of the glutes.
Alternatives to Glute Pushdowns on The Assisted Chin-Up/Dip Machine
While there are a ton of alternatives to glute pushdowns on the assisted chin-up/dip machine, one of the more common ones would be the cable kickback.
Glute Pushdowns on The Assisted Chin-Up/Dip Machine vs. One-Legged Cable Kickbacks
While these two exercises require completely different pieces of equipment, they both share one glaring similarity – which is that target the glutes on side at a time.
Aside from that, they both provide a nearly identical response, so it really comes down to who is doing it to determine which one may be better as some people may feel it more with the glute pushdowns on the assisted chin-up/dip machine, and others with the one-legged cable kickbacks.