Glute Growth 101

I know all of my gen x mommas out there are shaking reading that title but thanks to the Kardashian’s it is OK to take up space!

Glute growth is one of the most sought-after accomplishments for women in the gym, and it is often time the only factor that is enticing enough to get women into weightlifting and resistance training. and that is GREAT!

There are multiple factors that go into muscle growth such as sleep, diet, exercise choice, exercise order, and much more.

The two main factors that will determine glute growth in particular is your choice of movements and the order you perform these movements in.

Also understanding the anatomy of the glute muscle,

There are three main muscles that combine to make up the glute, so targeting each will contribute to a fuller effect.

There is the glute minimus, the glute medius, and the glute maximus.

The glute maximus is the large muscle at the bottom and is the most dominant muscle in the glute. The medius and minimus are smaller muscles that attach to the hip and make up the top part of the glute. Focusing on targeting these muscles will give a “shelf-like” appearance to the glute

Choosing your movements and order

I am a firm believer that any movement is better than no movement but when you set goals and want to see visible progress there are a few things that make that process a lot smoother.

For my glute focused days I like to choose 4-5 movements and stick with these same movements for about 6-8 weeks before deciding to switch it up. This is because…

GROWING MUSCLE TAKES TIME

This can seem very upsetting at first because you do one or two hard leg days and expect to see major changes because you sure are feeling sore. But that is just not how it works

(and this is also a great thing because since it takes so long to develop visible muscle, it takes just as long to loose it)

You want to start every workout with some sort of warmup. This can be the stairs, walking, biking, dynamic stretching, just something to get your legs warm

The first movement is going to be your big one. The one that takes the most muscles working and takes the most energy out of you. This is because you have the most energy at the beginning of your lift.

The First Movement

HIP THRUST!

The hip thrust movement trains your glutes in the shortened position, as well as targeting the glute maximus

Ques for the movement:

• Feet shoulder widtch apart
• Chin down
• Neutral/ straight spine

You can do this movement in many different ways. You can perform a barbell hip thrust which requires a good amount of set up, or a smith machine hip thrust which requires less set up.

If both of these options are too much for you, that is totally ok! You can grab a dumbbell and place that on your hips instead

Regardless of what variation you choose, these should be brought to, or close to, failure. Meaning without sacrificing form, you should not be able to do any more reps.

I like to choose a weight that is challenging enough for me to hit this mark of failure between 8-10 reps.

This “till failure” training style should be implemented on every movement of your glute day if growth is your goal.

The Second Movement

The second movement is going to be an RDL variation

Ques for this movement:

• Think about pushing your butt back, don’t just drop your chest down
• Hold the weight as close to your legs all the way down the movement
• Stop going down once your hips are as far back as they will go
• Think about pulling the weight back up with your glutes

An RDL, or a Romanian deadlift, targets the glutes in their lengthen position by focusing on the hip hinge movement, and yes you need to have both if you want your glutes to grow.

Similar to the hip thrust, you can perform this movement with a barbell, a smith machine, dumbbells, or even kettlebells

The Third Movement

Third is going to be a single leg movement

Unbalances in legs is inevitable but can lead to injuries and uneven physiques so in order to ensure both legs are being trained at the same intensity it is important to train them separately. This makes sure one leg is not taking over for the entirety of the workout.

My favorite single leg exercises for glutes growth are Bulgarian split squats, single leg press, and step ups

The reason all of these different movements fall under the same category is because inherently the movement is the same, just with different weights.

Ques of this movement

• Focus of hip flexion and not knee flexion
• control the weight, focusing on the mind-muscle connection to the glute (not letting your quad take over)

The bulgarian:

With an elevated back leg, I like to use one heavy dumbbell on the opposite side of my working leg

but you can use two lighter dumbbells, kettlebells, or even on a smith machine

Anyway you choose, focus on bringing the weight down and back while hinging at the hip, like an escalator, instead of up and down while bending the knee, because up and down will engage your quad more than your glute.

The Single leg press:

This is a great variation for a bit less balance and more focus on the weight of the movement.

The key to biasing the glute is to place your feet higher on the platform and focus on the connection of pushing with the glute.

The Step Up:

Step ups are my personal hardest movement because the focus on balance and form is important.

Performing these with a lighter weight and something in front of you to grab onto is most beneficial

Focus on leaning into the movement and keeping the direction of the movement at an angle, not up and down

The Forth Movement:

The final movement in this workout is an isolation movement.

These can be cable kickbacks, hip abductions, or back extensions

All of these movements target the glutes with minimal engagement of other muscle groups like the quads

These will focus on the glute minimus and medius

This grows the top part of the glute to give it the “shelf-like” effect

After it all:

Now that you have a blueprint for a successful glute growth program,

the rest is up to you. You have to choose the movements that feel good to your body and you will be consistent in progressing.

Consistency is Key!!!

Food is Fuel!!!

And Rest is Necessary!!!

Go Grow!!!