How to grow your glutes
First, we need to understand the muscles involved. Those that give us that nice, curvy bottom include the gluteus maximus, gluteus medius, and gluteus minimus.
The secret is to target each of the glute muscles and progressively overload them with high intensity.
People say can I just squat! Squats, deadlifts, and lunges hit the glutes, but they also target a lot of other muscles, like the quads, hamstrings, abs, and others.
Although some people may build a bigger butt from just squatting, deadlifting, and lunging, one size does not fit all and this approach may not work for everyone. For those who need a little extra help, or don’t want to spend all their time in the squat rack, hit those glutes directly.
If you want to build an awesome booty, you need to hit it with exercises that cause the highest percentage of muscle activation from the three gluteal muscles.
The glutes are most activated when you achieve near-full hip extension. So, focus on exercises that target the glutes and achieve this full range of motion through the hips.
What exactly are the best exercises for seeing growth in the glute muscle group?
- Side plank abductions
- Single leg squats
- Hip bridges
- Kettlebell swings
- Hip external rotations
- Single-leg elevated hip thrust
Most of these exercises achieve a 70% or greater maximal voluntary muscle contraction. The higher that percentage, the more you’re working those glutes and the faster you’re moving toward bigger muscles.
Side plank abductions come out on top with 103% and single leg squats are the next best with 82%
From my personal experience, I have seen the greatest results in glute muscle development when I added, a glute-intensive workout day. But, I also include my legs because they are all related.
- Heavy barbell squats
- Split lunges
- Hamstring curls
- Leg extensions
Think of the progressive overload principle, which is the “gradual increase of stress placed upon the body during exercise training.”
This is the most important principle in strength training, and it gives you the best results in muscle growth and strength.
This is because our muscles increase in strength and size when they are forced to contract at tensions closest to their maximum.
To achieve this you can either Perform more reps with the same amount of weight.
Increase the resistance load and perform the same amount of reps.
Add more sets of “work” to a specific muscle group.
The takeaway lesson here is that squats and deadlifts are not a guarantee of a firm and curvy
backside. You cannot simply squat and deadlift your way to bigger, stronger glutes. So, if your client wants to build bigger, stronger glutes, train the heck out of the glutes, not just the other surrounding muscles in the legs.