Other than the obvious aesthetic benefits, strong glutes come with plenty of real positive training effects that will improve your health and performance both in and out of the gym.
Your back will hurt (a lot) less. Your posture will improve. You’ll run faster and jump higher.
Your gym crush will check you out, ask you out for dinner, and you’ll have babies together.
So, why doesn’t everyone train their glutes since all this magical shit is supposed to happen? Well, most people do train their glutes (or at least think they are), but fail to notice any substantial progress due to a couple of contributing factors.
Let’s pretend you’re someone who isn’t seeing the kind of booty progress you want for a second (just so I have an excuse to yell at you and get my point across).
- You’re doing the same shit every time you’re in the gym. You need variety. You need to make your body do shit it hasn’t done before if you want it to look or feel any different. Get out of the same old bullshit routine you’ve been following and do something else.
- You’re not lifting heavy enough. “But I don’t want to bulk up.” Calm down. The chances of you “bulking up” from lifting heavy weights (yes, that’s you ladies) are about as good as me turning into Einstein after reading a book on physics. It ain’t happenin.
- You’re lifting too heavy. Confusing eh? On the other side of the spectrum, it’s possible you’re lifting weights that are beyond what you’re currently capable of performing. So you end up compensating your form and neglecting the glutes altogether.
- You’re using too much quads/hamstrings. We tend to favour the muscles that are strongest. And if you’re like most people, you’ll favour your quads and/or hamstrings over your glutes during exercises like squats, deadlifts, lunges, and hip thrusts.
- You’re using improper technique. This is a very common mistake when it comes to the classic hip bridge and hip thrust exercises. Watch the video below for a detailed explanation.
4 EXERCISES FOR BIGGER GLUTES
Squat bigger, jump higher, and get checked out by your gym crush (hell, you’ll be checking yourself out too) with these four butt-building exercises.
1. BARBELL HIP BRIDGE
A common issue is pushing with the quads during bridges, which tends to be a result of flat feet.
By flexing your feet as shown above, your glutes act as the primary hip extensor instead.
2. BANDED FROG PUMP
If you don’t have one already, get a Hip Circle. I don’t make money off it. They’re just damn fucking good. Especially if you want to build that big ol’ butt of yours.
Not much to say about this one other than the fact that you’ll wake up muscles in your ass you didn’t even know existed. Enjoy.
3. FROG PUMP (FEET ELEVATED)
Another favourite. Again, not much to say here. Just do it. Trust me.
4. BANDED PULSING HIP THRUST
These pulsing banded thrusts are amazing since your glutes contract maximally as your hips reach full extension.
The band tension increases as you extend your hips, and the pulse adds some time under tension within the full extension range of the exercise.
Super effective.
If you have any questions or comments about these exercises, let me know in the comments!
