Glute Guide: Everything You Need to Grow Your Glutes

Gluteus maximus, medius, and minimus. Together, your glutes are the largest and most powerful muscles in your body. Strong and well-developed glutes not only contribute to an aesthetically pleasing physique but also play a crucial role in functional movements like walking, running, and jumping. Whether your goal is to enhance athletic performance, improve posture, or sculpt a good-looking behind, this comprehensive glute guide will provide you with everything you need to know to effectively grow your glutes and strengthen your lower body.

Anatomy of the Glutes

First, it’s essential to understand the anatomy of the glute muscles. #knowledgeispower

The gluteus maximus is the largest of the three muscles and is primarily responsible for hip extension (moving the thigh backward), external rotation (turning the thigh outward), and hip abduction (moving the thigh away from the midline of the body). It’s also responsible for pulling it’s weight (pun intended) in stabilizing the pelvis and lower back during a variety of movements – including while standing!

Because of it’s respective size and position on the body, the gluteus maximus provides the strength and power needed to walk, run, jump, climb stairs, or squat to pick something up. It is especially important for generating power and propulsion during activities such as sprinting and jumping.

The gluteus medius and minimus are smaller muscles situated on the outer surface of the pelvis. They play a key role in hip abduction, internal rotation and stabilization of the pelvis during movement. These muscles are especially important for stabilizing the pelvis during activities such as walking, running, and standing on one leg. They also play a crucial role in controlling the tilt and movement of the pelvis during gait.

Together, the glute muscles work synergistically to provide stability, power, and mobility to the lower body.

Benefits of Strong Glutes

1. Improved Athletic Performance and Functional Movement: Strong glutes are essential for explosive movements inside and outside of the gym. Athletes in sports like track and field, soccer, and basketball rely on powerful glutes for speed, agility, and strength. And that power and strength translates to everyday life, especially if you aim to lead an active one.
   
2. Injury Prevention: Weak glutes can contribute to imbalances and compensations in the lower body, leading to issues like lower back pain, knee injuries, and poor posture. Strengthening the glutes can help prevent these problems by promoting proper alignment and stability.
   
3. Enhanced Aesthetics: Well-developed glutes are a hallmark of a sculpted physique. Whether your goal is to build a rounder, firmer behind or achieve a more balanced physique, targeted glute training can help you achieve your aesthetic goals.

Training Strategies to Grow Your Glutes

“Shift to a growth mindset”

@juliahalefitness

What it takes in the gym to strengthen and grow your glutes:

Start Your Workouts With Glute-Focused, Compound Exercises

To build a better butt you must focus on muscle growth in that specific region. Cardio – regardless of whether you carry extra, unwanted weight around your glutes – is not the most effective route. Instead, shift to a growth mindset: grow your glute muscles to create a healthier metabolism and shapely physique.

Luckily, the compound exercises that grow your glutes the best are difficult to perform and so naturally help boost your metabolism while building strength and muscle. Start your workout with 1-2 of these exercises, 2-3 sets, 6-12 reps.

• Barbell Hip Thrusts
• Barbell/Dumbbell Deadlifts
• Romanian Deadlifts
• Squats
• Bulgarian Split Squats
• Step Ups

*If you are not comfortable with these exercises, I recommend spending some weeks mastering the movement before adding the weight needed for significant growth.

*I provide sample weekly programs for full body, upper/lower, and body part splits later.

Use Isolation Exercises to Sculpt and “Feel” the Burn

When hitting these isolation-type exercise, aim to “feel the burn”. Aka: connect to the muscles doing the work and push lighter weights for higher reps. These exercises are more forgiving than compound, heavy movements.

• Leg Curls
• Single Leg Press
• Glute Kickbacks
• Band Walks
• Abductions
• Hyperextensions
• Single Leg Deadlifts
• Single Leg Glute Bridges

Progressive Overload for Glute Growth

Your body wants to be as efficient as possible to preserve energy. It won’t grow unless you provide a stimulus that is above and beyond what it is currently efficient at. Progressive overload provides that stimulus by gradually increasing the intensity of your workouts by adding weight, increasing repetitions, or adjusting the difficulty of the exercises. Progressive overload is key to stimulating muscle growth and adaptation.

If you’re a beginner: start with simple bodyweight exercises like squats, glute bridges, static lunges, single leg supported deadlifts, kickbacks and side lying clams. Once your form is perfect, you feel in control of the movement and you feel the exercises working the right muscles (mind-muscle connection), you can increase the challenge. Start by adding more difficult variations of movements you know: bodyweight walking lunges, Bulgarian split squats, dumbbell glute bridges, and sumo squats. Once you master those, you can move on to weighted movements and more advanced variations.

If you’re an intermediate/advanced lifter: if you’ve already mastered the movements, you can dive right into a glute-focused training protocol. See below.

Training Frequency for Glute Growth

For ideal growth, train glutes 2-3 times per week. You can get away with 1, or work your way up to 4-5 days a week if you really want to. As long as you are a) recovering between workouts and b) working at maximum capacity/intensity, you’ll see results.

Glute Growth Training Schedules

Everyone has a training preference. Some prefer full body training, others like body part splits, and still others are more excited about athletic performance (but still want a nice butt). There’s a plan for everyone.

Regardless, any time you work your glutes you want to include:

• abduction/rotation exercises to connect to the muscles
• quad-dominant hip extension exercises with a full range of motion
• hip-dominant hip extension exercises
• bent-leg hip extension exercises

You also want to prime your body/glute muscles with a simple and to-the-point warm up:

• connection breathing
• foam rolling
• joint mobility drills
• dynamic movement
• core/glute priming

Full Body Training for Glutes

If you train 3 days per week, hitting each muscle group in every workout:

Day 1:

Band Lateral Walks 2 x 20 steps each leg
Barbell Hip Thrust 3 x 10-12 reps
Full Range Goblet Squat 3 x 12 superset with…
Dumbbell Incline Press 3 x 10-12 reps
Double Dumbbell Deadlift 2 x 15 superset with…
Lat Pulldowns 2 x 10-12
Stability Ball Hyperextensions 2 x 20 superset with…
Band Seated Hip Abduction 2 x 20

Day 2:

Band Standing Abductions 2 x 20 steps each leg
Barbell Sumo Squat 3 x 10-12 reps
Single Leg Kettlebell Deadlifts 3 x 12-15 superset with…
Pushups 3 x max reps
Heels Up Glute Bridge 2 x 15-20 superset with…
Dumbbell Push Press 2 x 12-15
Leg Curls 2 x 20 superset with…
Band Clamshells 2 x 20

Day 3:

Band Single Leg Glute Bridges 2 x 20 steps each leg
Barbell Deadlifts 3 x 10-12 reps
Bulgarian Split Squats 3 x 12-15 superset with…
Single Arm Rows 3 x 10-12 reps
Single Leg Press 2 x 15-20 superset with…
Dumbbell Bench Press 2 x 12-15
Weighted Kickbacks 2 x 20 superset with…
Bench Dips 2 x 20

Upper/Lower Training for Glutes

If you train 4 days per week, hitting upper body twice and lower body twice:

Day 1: Upper – Push

Dumbbell/Barbell Bench Press 3 x 10-12 reps
Pushups 3 x max reps
Dumbbell/Barbell Shoulder Press 3 x 10-12 reps
Cable Flyes 3 x 12-15 superset with…
Bench Dips 3 x 15-20 reps
Tricep Pressdown 3 x 10-12 reps
Cobra Pushups 2 x max reps

Day 2: Lower

Barbell Hip Thrust 3 x 10-12 reps
Full Range Goblet Squat 3 x 12 superset with…
Heavy Dumbbell Deadlifts 3 x 10-12 reps
Bulgarian Split Squats 3 x 12-15 superset with…
Reverse Hyperextensions 2 x 15-20
Stability Ball Hyperextensions 2 x 20 superset with…
Band Seated Hip Abduction 2 x 20

Day 3: Upper – Pull

Barbell Rows 3 x 10-12 reps
Lat Pulldowns 3 x 10-12 reps
Single Arm Rows 3 x 10-12 superset with…
Alternating Bicep Curls 3 x 12-15
Inverted Row 3 x 15-20 superset with…
Seated Incline Curls 3 x 10-12

Day 4: Lower

Band Lateral Walks 2 x 20 steps each leg
Barbell Deadlifts 3 x 10-12 reps
Single Leg Dumbbell Glute Bridges 3 x 12-15 each superset with…
Single Leg Press 3 x 10-12 reps
Donkey Kickbacks 2 x 15-20 superset with…
Wall Sit Abductions 2 x 15-20
Leg Curls 2 x 20 superset with…
Band Clamshells 2 x 20

Body Part Split Training for Glutes

Day 1: Glutes

Barbell Hip Thrust 3 x 8-12 reps
Cable Glute Kickbacks 3 x 12-15 reps
Reverse Hyperextension 3 x 15-20 reps
Lateral Band Walk 3 x 10-20 reps
Seated Band Hip Abduction 3 x 15-20 reps

Day 2: Chest, Shoulders and Triceps

Dumbbell Incline Chest Press 3 x 6-8 reps
Seated Shoulder Press 3 x 8-12 reps
Pushups 3 x max reps
Dumbbell Lateral Raises 3 x 10-12 reps
Cable Tricep Extensions 3 x 10-12 reps

Day 3: Full Legs

Barbell Back Squats 3 x 6-8 reps
Single Leg Press 3 x 10-12 reps
Dumbbell Walking Lunge 3 x 10 reps each leg
Seated Leg Extensions: 3 x 15-20 reps
Stability Ball Crunch 2 x 20 reps superset with…
Hanging Leg Raise 2 x 10 reps

Day 4: Back, Shoulders, Biceps

Lat pulldown 3 x 6-8 reps
T-Bar Row 3 x 8-12 reps
Single Arm Row 3 x 10-12 reps
Bent Over Rear Delt Raise 3 x 10-12 reps
EZ Bar Curl 3 x 10-12 reps

Day 5: Hamstrings and Glutes

Romanian Deadlifts 3 x 6-8 reps
Step Ups 3 x 10 reps each
Stability Ball Curls 3 x 15-20 reps
Standing Abductions 3 x 15-20 reps superset with…
Wall Sit Abductions 3 x 20-30 reps

Nutrition Strategies to Grow Your Glutes

To effectively build and strengthen these muscles, you need to provide your body with the right nutrients to support muscle growth and recovery. Here are some nutrition strategies to help you grow your glutes:

1. Adequate Protein Intake: Protein is essential for muscle repair and growth. Aim to consume a sufficient amount of high-quality protein sources such as lean meats, poultry, fish, eggs, dairy products, legumes, and plant-based protein sources like tofu and tempeh. I recommend 0.8-1 gram of protein per pound of body weight per day for muscle growth.
   
2. Balanced Diet: While protein is important, don’t neglect other macronutrients like carbohydrates and fats. Carbohydrates provide energy for your workouts, while healthy fats support hormone production and overall health. Opt for complex carbohydrates like whole grains, fruits, and vegetables, and include sources of healthy fats such as avocados, nuts, seeds, and olive oil in your diet.
   
3. Pre- and Post-Workout Nutrition: Fueling your body before and after your workouts is crucial for optimal performance and recovery. Prior to your workout, consume a balanced meal or snack that includes carbohydrates for energy and a moderate amount of protein to support muscle function. After your workout, focus on replenishing glycogen stores with carbohydrates and providing your muscles with protein for repair and growth. This could be a protein shake, a meal with lean protein and complex carbohydrates, or a snack like Greek yogurt with fruit.
   
4. Hydration: Staying hydrated is essential for overall health and optimal muscle function. Aim to drink plenty of water throughout the day, especially before, during, and after your workouts. Dehydration can impair muscle function and recovery, so make sure you’re drinking enough fluids to support your training.
   
5. Supplements: While whole foods should be your primary source of nutrients, certain supplements can support your muscle-building goals. Whey protein powder can be convenient for meeting your protein needs, especially after workouts. Creatine monohydrate is another supplement that has been shown to support muscle growth and strength when combined with resistance training.
   
6. Consistent Eating Habits: Consistency is key when it comes to nutrition. Aim to eat regular meals and snacks throughout the day to provide your body with a steady supply of nutrients. Avoid skipping meals, especially breakfast, as this can negatively impact your energy levels and muscle recovery.

Conclusion

Now, you’re fully up to speed on what it takes to grow your glutes. You should also feel armed and ready with a workout that suits your training style.

As you can see, glute is not just about kickbacks and squats. It takes consistency, adequate challenge and getting your nutrition on point to grow your glutes.

If that all sounds good, you’re ready to get to work!

If you need some help, get in touch with me here: Julia Hale Fitness Strategy Call.