For The Ladies – How to Develop a Nice Set of Glutes
Ok…. Lets make sure we are all on the same page (please watch these two corny videos below…lol)
LMAO….Ok so i hope we are in agreement!
Men (and women) love big butts, it’s like having a big chest or big arms for guys!
Indeed, having a round, “toned” butt that pushes jeans to the absolute limit is one of the most beautiful sites on the face of the earth. Achieving this look is the goal for women of all shapes and sizes, whether they are gym junkiez or just wanting to get in shape. I am going to tell you, achieving this ideal gluteus maximus is much-much harder for those women who are scared to go in the weight room. You must overcome your fear, because you will have to lift moderately heavy weights get that Beyonce.
But first, before we begin this conversation,remember that if you want to achieve any of your fitness goals, you will need to have the right nutrition plan. That coupled with the glute building workout outlined below, you will obtain effective results in a short period of time.
Now lets dispel a few myths that most (I say most NOT all… some of you get it!) women REFUSE to let go of………
The Butt is a group of Muscles Surrounded by Fat, Not the other way around.
There are 3 main aspects that form the appearance of your butt. In this order, they are:
- Muscles
- Subcutaneous Fat
- Skin
Muscles, along with fat, make up the main bulk and shape of the buttocks. There are many muscles in the buttocks region, but the main ones that contribute to the shape of the buttocks are;
- Gluteus Maximus
- Gluteus Medius
- Gluteus Minimus
Understanding where and how to activate these muscles is important if you want to influence the shape of your buttocks.
Muscle can be trained through exercise to become bigger. Since the gluteal muscles are close to the outer layer of skin, changes in the size of these muscles will be visible beneath the skin.
Unfortunately, the glutes are a funny muscle group – while they are incredibly powerful, they also can be extremely lazy. Many people have inactive glutes, where their muscles simply have forgotten how to function correctly. Guess what this leads to? A flat ass, and bad posture.
Learning where these muscles are and how to activate them can restore glute function in a short amount of time. So let’s find out exactly which muscles do what.
Gluteus Maximus
The largest muscle in your body, and arguably the most powerful, the gluteus maximus makes up most of the muscle bulk in your backside, and is shown below in green.
Training this muscle will do wonders for the way your butt looks. Stronger muscles naturally have to be larger, and a larger gluteus maximus will give you a rounder and more shapely butt. A well-toned gluteus maximus also prevents saggy butt syndrome.
The gluteus maximus is responsible for extension of the hip in a backwards manner – think swinging your leg back behind your torso, as in plank leg lifts, donkey kicks, or even when walking (though inactive glutes in many people cause other muscles to take over this motion). Gluteus maximus activation also occurs strongly during moves like squats, deadlifts, and hip thrusts.
That’s not all folks. Good old Maximus is a master of many moves and also plays a role in abduction and adduction of the leg (this means sideways motion away from, and towards, the centerline of the body) as well as hip rotation.
Gluteus Medius
The gluteus medius muscle sits as a deeper layer of muscle beneath the gluteus maximus and is also sometimes referred to as your upper glutes.
Gluteus medius is responsible for abduction and rotation of the hip. What does this mean? Abduction occurs when you move your leg out sideways away from your body – in side leg raises, for example. Lateral rotation (towards the outside of the body) of the thigh uses gluteus medius and you can feel this by trying a few clamshell exercises.
Training the upper glutes can help to balance out butt shape and round out the overall buttocks appearance.
Gluteus Minimus
The gluteus minimus is the smallest of the three gluteal muscles, but it still plays an important role in the appearance of the butt. It is located even deeper and directly beneath the gluteus medius, as seen highlighted in the cutaway image below:
The gluteus minimus largely works together with the gluteus medius to perform abduction of the leg. It also is responsible for medial rotation (towards the body centerline) of the thigh.
By now Im sure you are asking what all of this means…
Well, Muscles have to be trained for growth. You have to understand how the muscles work in order to learn how to train them. You train right and eat right to build muscle and lose fat and, eventually, arrive at the booty you want.
You cannot just walk your way to a shapely butt! Which brings me to the next misconception.
You won’t get an amazing butt by obsessing over cardio.
You know those individuals grinding away on the Stepmill or incline treadmill every damn time you go to the gym?
Have you noticed that not much seems to change no matter how much time they spend doing cardio or many steps they log?
Well, that’s because they think they can get a J-lo like butt with cardio that purportedly “targets” the butt…and they’re wrong.
Unfortunately for these incline addicts, targeted fat loss is more or a less a myth.
Training a muscle does increase blood flow in the area, burn calories, and contribute to muscle growth, and all of this can help you lose fat…but none of it is enough to selectively lean out your derriere.
The reality is fat loss is a whole-body affair. You have absolutely zero control over where fat reduces itself from on your body. (The ONLY way you can is through surgery! If you want to go that route, more power to you.)
When you maintain a calorie deficit, your body reduces fat levels everywhere in your whole body (with some areas losing fat more quickly than others, but that’s another conversation for another post).
This means you could do a million crunches without getting even close to a six pack unless you also reduce your overall body fat percentage.
Sprints aren’t that great at defining the glutes either.
It’s easy to see why people might think that sprinting is the key to an ass that “breaks the Internet”:
Most sprinters have great butts. While this is true, it is important to note that most sprinters lift weights to develop their strength in addition to running. Strength training leads to hypertrophy, which explains why so many of them are very muscular.
Furthermore, anyone that has run a sprint can immediately tell that it trains the glutes, but that doesn’t mean it’s going to “tone” your booty.
Remember: only a proper diet can do that.
And because sprinting is one of the most demanding forms of cardio you can do, it also comes with a heightened risk of injury and over-training.
While high-intensity interval training is an extremely effective form of exercise, when the goal is glutes, there’s no reason to put your body at risk when there are more effective exercises for getting there.
“Fancy” exercises aren’t necessary for a perfect butt.
You’ve probably heard that if you do the same exercises too frequently, your body will eventually fail to respond to them.
Thus, you’re told, if you want to build a great physique, then you need to switch up your workout routine on a regular basis.
This simply isn’t true.
“Muscle confusion” is a myth and constantly changing your workouts is probably more harmful than helpful.
This is true for any workout, by the way, not just your butt training.
The key to muscle development isn’t variety of exercises but progressive overload.
(Lactic Acid Training is also good for muscular development, if you want to know more about it leave comments below and I will write a post)
OK…OK I will not bore you with any longer information or explanations. I will make this quick and easy for you. Below I will list a few different options for you ladies that should accommodate whichever lifestyle you have. Without Further ado….
The Ultimate Butt Workout
Training 2 X Per Week
This is for the ladies who have limited time to spend in the gym each week or want to spend a few days each week on upper body workouts, too.
In any case, rest 2 days in between each of these workouts.
Workout A
Squat
Warm up and then 3 sets of 6 to 8 reps
Rest 3 minutes in between these sets.
Hip Thrust
3 sets of 8 to 10 reps
Rest 2 minutes in between these sets.
Bulgarian Split Squat
3 sets of 8 to 10 reps
Rest 2 minutes in between these sets.
Romanian Deadlift
3 sets of 15 to 20 reps
Rest 1 minute in between these sets.
Workout B
Deadlift
Warm up and 3 sets of 4 to 6 reps
Rest 3 minutes in between these sets.
Barbell Lunge
3 sets of 8 to 10 reps
Rest 2 minutes in between these sets.
Hip Thrust
3 sets of 15 to 20 reps
Rest 2 minutes in between these sets.
Butt Blaster
3 sets of 15 to 20 reps
Rest 1 minute in between these sets.
Butt Workout Routine #2
Training 3 X Per Week
This is for people whose main focus in the gym is developing their lower body.
Rest 1 day in between each of these workouts.
Workout A
Squat
Warm up and then 3 sets of 4 to 6 reps
Rest 3 minutes in between these sets.
Hip Thrust
3 sets of 8 to 10 reps
Rest 2 minutes in between these sets.
Romanian Deadlift
3 sets of 15 to 20 reps
Rest 1 minute in between these sets.
Workout B
Deadlift
Warm up and 3 sets of 4 to 6 reps
Rest 3 minutes in between these sets.
Barbell Lunge
3 sets of 8 to 10 reps
Rest 2 minutes in between these sets.
Hip Thrust
3 sets of 15 to 20 reps
Rest 1 minute in between these sets.
Workout C
Hip Thrust
Warm up and 3 sets of 4 to 6 reps
Rest 3 minutes in between these sets.
Bulgarian Split Squat
3 sets of 8 to 10 reps
Rest 2 minutes in between these sets.
Butt Blaster
3 sets of 15 to 20 reps
Rest 1 minute in between these sets.
That’s it. Simple, Easy to remember, Effective. Trust me–it’s harder than it looks.
Do these workouts consistently, train hard and push for progression, eat right, and I promise you will develop a nice set of glutes that is sure to turn heads!
