"My athlete's glute keeps shutting off. We've tried every activation drill. What are we missing?"

We get some version of this question almost weekly. And honestly, a year ago I probably would have said "more RPR" or "check their hip extension pattern."

Then Cal told me a story that changed how I think about glutes entirely.

The Toe That Almost Broke Cal's Thumb

Cal was testing one of his most elite athletes — a guy with a 44-inch vertical (strict, hands on hips, not the internet kind). Cal put his thumb against the athlete's big toe to test strength and told him to squeeze.

"I felt the joint move in my thumb. Thought he dislocated my thumb."

That's how hard this guy's toe fired. And his glutes? Absolute cannons. Not a coincidence.

Here's the Part That Really Got Me Though

Cal started noticing something in his hockey players. A 90 mph puck breaks a toe — it happens. But what happens next is wild:

"Break a toe. The glute shrinks on that side."

Not weakens. Shrinks. The actual muscle gets smaller.

Why? Because they stop using their toe when they walk, and the glute loses its primary firing signal.

Cal calls it the "toe-glute reflex." The big toe squeezes first, then the glute fires to reverse the movement — whether that's an RDL, a bench press, or just walking down the street.

It Shows Up Everywhere

Cal's got video of a three-time Olympian bench pressing where you can actually see the sequence: toe squeeze, then the hips extend slightly, then the bar reverses. The bar should reverse about one to two hundredths of a second after the hips extend, but the toe fires first.

Same thing on a glute-ham hyper. The athlete goes down, the big toe grabs, then the glutes grab, then she reverses. Cal never coached that — it just happens once they get the timing. But if the foot is dysfunctional? That timing never shows up.

And if you're training yourself — same rules apply. Next time you're doing RDLs, actively squeeze that big toe at the bottom before you reverse. See what happens to your glute engagement. Send me a nice note here!

Your glutes aren't weak. Your feet just aren't telling them to fire.

The complete toe-glute reflex methodology — including the 3-Way Foot Integration and how to sequence the toe squeeze into every major lift — is laid out step by step in TP2.

​https://triphasic2.com << order here

All the best,
Mike and Cal

PS - Here is what an Amazon Customer had to say:

"Dr Mike and Cal do a great job working through the set up and execution of movements that directly connect to increases in performance markers for athletes. Coaching gold is buried throughout this book, highlighting one of my favorites — connecting foot position to strength, speed, and power for lifts. If you are training field, court, or ice athletes, this is a must have addition to your education arsenal."​
-- Amazon Customer (Verified Purchase)

​https://triphasic2.com << order here

Coach Cal Dietz, U of MN
Dr Mike T Nelson
Triphasic Training II: 14 High-Performance Methods to Unlock Elite Athletic Development - out NOW

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