If you experience lingering back pain following a squat workout, see a physician. Residual soreness remains part of training, and will go away with a proper diet and adequate rest. Sharp pain in your back lets you know that something is wrong -- and it may be something that you did.

The vertical jump is a test that directly measures power output by seeing how high you can leap in one explosive movement. It is an important assessment for sports such as basketball, volleyball and even football. Getting started on the vertical jump test at a young age helps aspiring athletes track their progress.

Piriformis syndrome is a condition in which you suffer severe pain starting in the center of your buttocks and, often, radiating down the back of your leg.

Regularly riding a stationary bicycle offers the same benefits as any cardiovascular exercise. It can help you lose or maintain weight, improve circulation, elevate energy levels and reduce risk for several conditions and diseases.

The muscles of your butt include the gluteus maximus, gluteus minimus and gluteus medius. As a group, these muscles allow for extension and rotation of your hip joints. They also are engaged when you abduct your hip, which means to lift your leg sideways away from your body.

The muscles of hip extension, which include the gluteus maximus and the hamstring muscles, are involved in standing, walking, running, jumping, swimming and many other activities.

Having a higher vertical leap is an asset in nearly every sport. The ability to jump higher will help you catch more passes in football, get more rebounds in basketball, jump above the crowd in soccer for a header and help you make a leaping catch over the outfield fence in baseball.

Sports, such as basketball, require the ability to jump vertically. Vertical jumping requires powerful contraction and extension of all the leg muscles and the back muscles.

Hip abduction is when the upper-leg bone, the femur, is moved out to the side and away from the body. Hip abduction exercises are important because they strengthen the muscles that stabilize the femur into the hip joint. To work the hip abductor muscles, perform the hip abduction exercises one to three times a week.

The hip abductors are located on the outer portion of the hips and they lift your legs away from your mid-line. The abductors, in conjunction with the glutes, support the pelvis.

While heavy barbell squats are, arguably, the single best way to build dense, hard leg muscles, not everyone has ready access to a gym or weightlifting equipment. Fortunately, generations of military personnel have proven that it’s possible to build muscular legs without the use of weights.

Performing countless squats and lunges in a group fitness class may not be enough stimulation to produce massive gluteal muscles. While you may not want the monster pecs or thighs of a bodybuilder, you must build big glutes to fill out the back of your jeans and shorts.