Get a good bike fit, ride a lot, sometimes ride hard.

Done, done, and done*

for someone who does tri as a lifestyle/hobby. Rides three times a week...interested in proper form and (hopefully) improvement in power/speed.

Ride more.

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Strava

Run more. You don't win races on the bike.

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Im with you. Never understood how I can squeeze the glutes.

Have you tried the exercises with bands to ACTIVATE the glutes?
Great add-on to cycling and running. Helped me a lot.

https://yurielkaim.com/...ctivation-exercises/

I’ve been doing a lot of big gear, low cadence work lately. I usually don’t get sore in my glutes from riding, but I have been lately after these sessions.

Sebastian Keinle would beg to differ!

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Speed kills unless you have speed skills!!!

You can literally grab your glute during the ride and feel if it is firing or not. That would be step one and conscious awareness goes a long way in muscle activation and thus muscle recruitment and development.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dVDomdV3YQA

Bike Fit Adviser - I find this guy to be excellent. Bike fitter. Physical Therapist. Maker of Youtube videos.

6 minute video - right at 2:18 - 2:30 is great video of hips too far forward which demands more of quads and hips back which demands more of glutes.

The entire video is excellent. I probably bought a bike one size too small so I have my seat back and added a longer stem. Still if I focus on my glutes during the ride rather than lifting the legs like I do while running, my av watts increase etc.

Using the glutes more this year is a focus for me too. I've really strained and overworked the quads and hip flexors the last few years and want some relief.

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Indoor Triathlete - I thought I was right, until I realized I was wrong.

I know a very good MTB rider that had this after injury. She ended up with someone putting tens electrodes on her butt and then timing the pulses to fire at right time as she pedalled at constant cadence on the trainer.

Was the only way she could get the 'feel' of what she should be doing.

Unless you are paralysed your glutes are activated. Activate your glutes is a buzz word.

We operate in patterns not isolation.

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Andrew Garwood
http://www.2xu.com
http://www.newtonrunning.com
http://www.ascendsport.com.au

For me, glute awareness came from doing clam shells properly. I really feel a burn back there. When I'm racing, I can feel that same sensation. I don't really feel it in training, maybe because I warm up properly? Or maybe I'm just not at race intensity long enough for me to feel it?

Take a Pilates Reformer class. You will learn more about your glutes than you want to.

Usually people are trying to move in the opposite direction; they come from riding more upright on a road bike or MTB where they use their glutes and hamstrings primarily. Using the glutes a lot will push you forward in the TT position, unless you have your saddle back, and then the hip angle gets tight, which makes you want to rotate your hips back, etc...

If you race on a TT bike, why do you want to train different muscles on the road bike?

I ride road and dabble in TT. This means you get it all at some point.

If you're worried about what you're doing, just be sure not to do all your intervals on the road bike sitting way up like you're spinning up a climb on the bar tops. Also don't do all your intervals tucked down like you're doing a Merckx TT either.

Then, you've got what you need when you need it.

I wouldn't try to isolate a muscle group like that. I'd just instead make sure you get enough sets in for all the bike positions you ride in.

I've had hip issues for years which screw with my glutes; primarily on the left side.

What help 'activate' it is unclipping while on the bike and moving the glute up and down, essentially like a glute press.

Swim more too; you don’t win races on the run. You win them by being the fastest at all triathlon disciplines.

I only ride road. Perhaps instead of a glute question, it's more hip related. Hmmm, I'll see if I can get a decent picture of me riding.

For the record (to all the comments), I understand to improve a lot of times means one needs to ride more/doing hard sets. Got it...what I want to make sure is that I'm using proper form and not over relying on my quads. There are so many articles/posts about swim form and running (well maybe not on slowtwitch) so I figure the same should be for bike form.

Interesting, I will have to try clam shells as that's a stretch/strength train move I may have done once before many years ago.

Check out the first four minutes of this video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yV3fWQzBZes.

I think she does a good job of describing how to get your glute firing. This video hits for me. When I'm inactive, my glute shuts down and my TFL takes over. When I start to train again my TFL gets mad because I'm overusing it. So I do exercises to strengthen and activate my glute, especially when returning to training after a layoff