Fitness & Exercise
Expert Training Techniques To Grow Your Glutes
Jul
The ultimate guide of tried-and-true, expert advice and training tips to grow your glutes.
The glute muscle are the largest muscle group in the body. Yet some people just have a tough time agreeing with that statement when they look in the mirror. Here’s everything you need to know to grow your glutes and appreciate your own backside.
The glutes are powerful, dynamic movers and stabilizers. Most of the movement that happens during daily life involves your glutes in some way. Every step. Every pivot. And they actually play a key role in overall strength and stability. But that’s not what most people reading this article are here for.
Most people are here because they want to pull on a pair of jeans and say, “damn girl, look at that butt”.
I get it. So I’ll stop wasting time and get right to the point. If you want to grow your glutes, these are the exercises, techniques and trainer tips to do it.
The Best Exercises to Grow Your Glutes
Forget the band kickbacks (for now). If you really intend to grow your glutes you want to build your workouts around the foundational lower body lifts of the fitness world: squats, deadlifts, lunges and hip thrusts. There is a reason that bodybuilders and athletes do these exercises over and over again. It’s because they work really well.
Squats
The squat and all of it’s glorious variations should be a staple in your workout routine. They’re not just a great way to grow your glutes. They also happen to be one of the most functionally relevant exercises around.
Start with bodyweight and band squats until you feel comfortable with your form and technique. As soon as you’re comfortable, start adding weight. These are my favorite squat variations for glute growth:
- Barbell Back Squats
- Barbell Front Squats
- Sumo Squats
- Deep Goblet Squats
Deadlifts
Deadlifts work the entire posterior chain, but they’re really elite when it comes to glute growth. In fact, I’d put deadlifts one step ahead of squats in the glute growth game for a couple of reasons: deads more readily target the hamstrings and glutes, while squats will definitely pull quads in a bit more. There’s a high level of muscle recruitment. You move through a wide range of motion. And, deadlifts tend to be easier to add weight to. Try these variations:
- Barbell Deadlifts
- Sumo Deadlifts
- Romanian Deadlifts
- Good Mornings
- Single Leg Deadlifts
Lunges
Lunges are challenging. Complete one rep and you’re challenging your glutes, quads, hamstrings, lower back, and core. Lunges are one of the best unilateral movements that I’ll mention below. It’s really important to nail your form on these – so watch some videos, ask for guidance and always check your own form in the mirror.
Hip Thrusts
I specifically like hip thrusts because they minimize movement outside of the single trajectory you’re looking for: the hip hinge. Hip hinge movements seriously engage the glutes (when done properly). Deadlifts use the hip hinge, too. But there’s more to think about with deads. Hip thrusts on the other hand? There’s only one way out of it.
You can (and should) start with bodyweight, bands and dumbbells but once you’ve gotten comfortable with form, I’m begging you to start adding weight to the bar! Squeeze your glutes and there’s no denying the connection.
Choosing the Right Weight (and Corresponding Rep Range) to Grow Your Glutes
Many women believe that lifting heavy weights = bulk, while lifting lighter weights for a ton of reps = tone.
First of all, this is a case of well-intended marketing gone wrong. Ladies, tone IS muscle. There is no possible way to get toned, or defined, or sculpted, without first creating some muscle!
(end rant)
Second, it’s true that heavier weights build muscle faster. But that’s what you want! Wouldn’t you rather go to the gym, lift some weights and see the results you want? Heavier lifting results in more, stronger, muscle fiber. That means you start to build those muscles (bigger butt, toned legs, sculpted calves) AND your metabolism gets a boost so you lose fat at the same time. The result? Fitter, stronger, leaner you.
Rep range
The best range for growth is within 6-12 reps. Any higher and you’re pushing endurance (slow twitch muscle fibers) which aren’t made to grow bigger. All that said, this suggested rep range is only going to produce results if you’re choosing the right weights.
Choosing a weight
How much weight should you be using for an exercise?
Simply put: you want to choose a weight with which you can complete the number of reps given within a set, with good form and technique, while challenging yourself to the point at which the last few reps feel difficult to complete. For example, when heading into the squat rack you want to load up with a weight that you can definitely rep for 6, but probably not do more than 11-12 reps.
It may take you a few sessions to figure out. Keep track of what you do – this is key for growth! Because even as you figure this weight out for your first session…you’re not going to stay there.
Progressing the weight
To keep building muscle, you must keep providing the stimulus needed to trigger change. That means that no matter what weight you start out lifting for a specific number of reps, your muscles will adapt only until they can lift that weight with no added effort or energy. Simply: they’ll stop growing.
Which means it’s time to hit ’em with a new challenge. One of the best ways to do this, if your goal is to grow your glutes, is to add weight.
Here’s the step-by-step plan:
- Find a weight that you can lift for say, 6-8 reps, but no more without losing form.
- Work those weights until you can hit 12 reps.
- Increase the weight by 5-10% and drop your reps back down to 6-8.
- Lift that weight until you can perform 12 reps again with good form.
- Increase the weight by 5-10%.
- Repeat cycle.
(Remember when I said tracking would be key???)
How Often to Work Your Glutes
When you strength train properly you cause small amounts of damage to the muscle fibers you work. Post workout, when you replenish energy stores and provide your body with the nutrients it needs to recover and rebuild, your body adapts. It adapts by building stronger muscles and more muscle so that next time, when faced with that same load/intensity (more on that to come), it can handle the stress more efficiently (aka waste less energy).
This is where frequency comes into play. That adaptation process lasts about 48 hours. And then the adaptation process not only slows to a stop, it actually reverses!
Here’s what that means for you and you grow the glutes training schedule:
Instead of training glutes just once a week on leg day, train them 3 days a week. You don’t have to go nuts on volume each time. You want just enough volume and intensity to stimulate adaptation, but not so much overload that you’re super sore everyday (that’s counter productive in regard to performance). Ideally, you’re targeting your glute muscles with 1-2 of the exercises listed above, 3 days a week for 4-5 sets each.
Perfecting Your Form
Have you ever done deadlifts and woken up the next day with a crazy sore back, but no inclination whatsoever from your glutes that you just did leg day? Frustrating, to say the least. Just because the motion of a deadlift is happening, doesn’t necessarily mean the glutes are engaging the way you want them to.
The issue in cases like this is poor recruitment patterns and the inability to engage the proper muscles/muscle groups. If you’re reading this article to gain some insight in regard to growing your glutes, but you have no issues growing your quads or hamstrings, what that likely means is that your body has adapted over time to make more use of the latter muscles.
The good news: this is fixable!
First things first: fixing muscle imbalances
With a muscle imbalance, the overused muscle becomes tight or inflamed as the underused muscle weakens. This can change the joint’s regular movement pattern, limit mobility, and cause injuries. Everything from your job, to your genes, to a past injury, to your exercise routine can cause muscle imbalances (and subsequent movement patterns that are causing recruitment issues).
This takes time and it’s usually pretty specific. If you think you have a serious imbalance, I highly recommend addressing it first, before turning your focus to muscle growth. Imbalances benefit from stretching the tight muscles and strengthen the weaker muscles. Incorporating some unilateral movement exercises can help, as well. These are single sided exercises that allow you to work one side/muscle at a time (i.e. single leg step ups or deadlifts).
Next: prime your glutes
Priming is movement and activity that gets your body ready to properly handle the work you’re about to put it through. The goal with priming is two-fold: get your muscles and joints ready to rock, and fire up your central nervous system purposefully so that it sends the signal to engage to the right muscles/muscle groups. Think of priming as levelled up warm up sets.
Priming/warm up should take about 10-15 minutes. Here’s my flow:
- Connection breathing aka belly breathing: 2 minutes deep breathing to connect to the core, pelvic floor and lower back to the glutes.
- Foam rolling: 2-3 minutes to reduce stiffness and muscle tightness
- Dynamic movement: 5 minutes of mobility and movement preparation.
- Warm up sets: no weight/light weight repetitions of movements that mimic the big lifts and/or isolate the muscles you want to engage. In this case we’re talking about slow band squats, glute bridges with a hold at the top, glute kickbacks with a purposeful squeeze.
