5 min

Gluteal tendinopathy – Can I still walk, run, swim, and cycle?

Learn how to decide if you can run with gluteal tendinopathy.

Maryke Louw

Oct 11, 2024

Medically reviewed by

With gluteal tendinopathy, pain can often limit your exercise options. Use these guidelines to decide what exercise you can continue, must adapt or stop.

Research shows that relative rest, where you remain active but adapt exercise and activities to a level that doesn't aggravate your hip pain, leads to better recovery from gluteal tendinopathy.

Prolonged periods of complete rest aren't helpful because, despite calming your pain, it may cause your tendons to lose more strength.

Ignoring your pain and trying to carry on as normal usually also makes things worse.

Mastering relative rest – General guidelines for all types of exercise

These guidelines will help you tweak your exercise and other activities to find the perfect level that matches your hip's current tolerance.

As you recover, your gluteal tendons will become more robust, and you can increase your exercise.

Steps to figure out how much exercise you can do

These guidelines apply to any activity you do.

Establish your baseline

While recovering, you can expect to experience some discomfort and stiffness. You'll likely also notice a fluctuation in the intensity of these symptoms throughout the day. These "normal" levels of pain and stiffness are called your baseline. Monitoring your baseline will help you correctly pitch the intensity of your rehab workouts or cross-training activities.

Monitor your baseline

To know if an activity is OK, you want to observe how it affects your "normal" baseline pain levels during and in the 24 hours after a workout.

Test a short, easy session first

Gluteal tendinopathy can be very easy to irritate and flare up. You can reduce your risk of painful flare-ups by testing a very short session, checking how it tolerates it, and then using that as your baseline to build on.

It is OK...

...to experience slight discomfort while you exercise, but it should not increase above 1/10 intensity and should settle down quickly after you stop your activity.

It is NOT OK...

...if your symptoms increase significantly during or 24 hours after your session, it's a sign that you worked too hard - in that case, you may need to choose a different activity or test if a lighter session helps.

If you're usually very active

It can be hard to judge what an easy session is when you're usually very fit and active. You may think a 3-mile run is nothing, but even a mile of continuous running may be a bit much when your gluteal tendons are injured. It's best to err on the side of caution and make your test sessions super easy, then build from there.

If you do experience a flare-up, this article can help you deal with it quickly and effectively.

Walking with gluteal tendinopathy

During the early stages of your recovery, your hip may not tolerate much walking.

But as you recover, walking can become a helpful tool to build your gluteal tendons' tolerance to weight-bearing and prepare them for a return to running.

Walking can help prepare your gluteal tendons for getting back to running.

We suggest you:

Only start walking for exercise once it feels comfortable to do so.
Wear supportive shoes - no flip-flops or sandals.
Keep your pace slow to begin because the faster you walk, the harder your whole body has to work - avoid power walking.
Take shorter steps - this reduces the forces on your hip.
Keep to even ground - your hip has to work harder when you walk on uneven ground, especially on uphills.
Start with very short walks and slowly increase the distance as your hip gets used to it.
Monitor your 24-hour pain and stiffness response to decide if you're pitching your walking distance, speed, and terrain at the correct level.

Evidence-based rehab plans for Gluteal Tendinopathy

Get the Exakt Health app

Male runner using the Exakt Health app to recover from gluteal tendinopathy.

Can I continue running with gluteal tendinopathy?

It's often best to temporarily stop all running activities and first focus on strengthening your tendons.

However, we are all different; some people can continue running without worsening their gluteal tendinopathy.

If you don't want to stop running, you must reduce your running frequency, volume, and intensity to a level that doesn't increase your symptoms in the 24 hours after your run.

You may be able to continue running while recovering from gluteal tendinopathy if you can adjust your training so it doesn't aggravate your symptoms.

It's usually best to:

Only run 2 to 3 times per week and never on consecutive days – recovery is often slower when injured.
Reduce the distance of your runs so you can complete them pain-free.
Consider doing run-walk sessions instead of continuous running – this is often better tolerated.
Avoid all fast and hilly runs.
Focus on having good running form and not overstriding.

The gluteal tendinopathy rehab plan in the Exakt Health app offers personalized exercise guidance and evidence-based tips for smoothly and effectively managing your recovery. It includes a walk-and-run plan that helps you safely ease back into running.

Start your Gluteal Tendinopathy rehab today!

Get the Exakt Health app

Female runner using the exercises in the Exakt Health app to recover from gluteal tendinopathy.

Can I cycle with gluteal tendinopathy?

Cycling is a low-impact activity for the gluteal muscles. So, in theory, it should be OK.

However, the cyclical action can sometimes irritate outer hip pain.

If you are keen to cycle while recovering from gluteal tendinopathy, we suggest you first test a very gentle and short session.

Cycling can be a good cross-training option for gluteal tendinopathy.

Swimming with gluteal tendinopathy

Swimming is excellent for maintaining cardiovascular fitness, but the circular leg motions used in breaststroke or forceful kicking can sometimes irritate the gluteal tendons.

If that's the case, squeezing a pool float/buoy between your legs and swimming using only your arms may help.

Final thoughts

Being injured is always frustrating, especially if it stops you from running. We hope these guidelines can help you find other activities to keep you active, fill the gap, and keep you motivated.

If you want more help with your rehab, check out the gluteal tendinopathy rehab plan in the Exakt Health app.

The app, designed with expert physical therapists, offers personalized exercises and robust monitoring tools that help you determine your gluteal tendons' load tolerance, safely progress your rehab, and track your recovery progress.

Start your Gluteal Tendinopathy rehab today!

Get the Exakt Health app

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