Growing your glutes – it’s the goal of eight out of ten women on the gym floor and the topic of ultimate influence on social media. It seems that these days, every trainer has a “booty blasting” program that they’re selling and all it takes is a few interesting hip thrust variations to get your video to go viral.
Getting a bigger gluteus maximus, medius and minimus isn’t just about banded walks and squats though – it’s actually much more of a science than that.
If you’re trying to get bigger glutes and it’s so far been a fail, there’s a chance you’ve been making some mistakes. So, I’m here to help.
Below are some of the mistakes you might be making in your pursuit for peaches.
You aren’t eating enough
You can thrust, squat and dead lift as much as you like, if you aren’t eating in a calorie surplus I’m afraid you won’t be making any booty gains. Muscle growth requires you to eat more food than you’re burning each day. Therefore the key to a bigger booty is adequate protein and more carbs (this is not a joke, I hope I have just made your dreams come true).
Your glutes aren’t actually working
Many of us have glutes that don’t work all that well. Our quads love to do the work and due to their size, they often dominate movements that are meant to be a partnership. Pre-activation is a great way to ensure that you’re getting full contraction and more recruitment through the gluteus muscles. Banded crab walks, banded body weight hip thrusts and single leg glute bridges are fantastic activation exercises to do before squats and deadlifts.
Start experimenting
The Glute Guy, Bret Contreras is the man when it comes to booty development. Contreras loves to experiment with stance, knee placement and different exercises to see where the glutes get optimal contraction. Try going knees out with your hip thrusts, experiment with foot placement and hip tuck. Contreras has conducted research that has shown that a 90 degree knee angle at hip thrust lock out is generally optimal for gluteus maximus contraction.
Basically, find an exercise that really hits you in the glutes. If you’re feeling it there, it’s doing the right thing.
Up the volume
If you want a body part to grow, hit it with more volume, more often. Include high, moderate and low rep ranges. Use high loads and low loads. Hit the glutes from different angles, include abduction exercises, lying, standing and prone position exercises (like reverse hyperextensions).
Good luck with your booty mission, may the force be with you!
