I remember a time when glutes were just two chunks of muscle (in some athletes) with relevant factors to increase performance and athleticism and not just mere pieces of flesh, with a protein shake attached to their ‘carrying-body’ to be showed on social media … (BOOO !! get the hell out here hater!) But you know I’m right.
Glutes are still being used for performance and many daily tasks (no doubt about it). Nevertheless thanks to Fitness Instagramers, and protein advertisers, these amazing set of muscles are taking more consideration than ever. If not, tell me when was the last time you were at the gym, and you DIDN’T saw people trying to pass unnoticed. Looking suspiciously themselves on the mirror, in order to check if their ass/butt grew any inch after the first set of reps?
I consider the musculature of our butt the MVP1 of our body’s anatomy. As the greatest muscles in our body, glutes help to correct posture, they contribute to athletic performance (power, strength, balance … to name a few), rehabilitation of low back, hip and knee.
But the best thing amongst these? … When they are nicely developed, they are sexy as F*&!, either on males or females (you are welcome for the pictures :))
Let’s learn some basic gluteal anatomy and function. Since I don’t want to sound too scientific stating all the gluteal anatomy and most of you have a pretty busy schedule, I’ll do my best keeping it simple. The Gluteus are compound by 3 pairs of muscley “spartan brothers”.
Big bro Maximus main’s role is to extend, laterally rotate and assists abduction and adduction of the hip. The upper fibres can abduct the hip while the lower ones can adduct it. The glutes also can raise a flexed trunk to an upright position with reversed origin/insertion.
The Medius and Minimus ‘bros’ abduct and medially rotate the hip, as well as balance the pelvis. Perhaps you are thinking, ”hey man, you forget about all that synergist muscles; hamstrings, abductors, adductors, … isometrics, eccentrics, fibre type, etc ”. But the “family” is too long and the “cousins” will be mentioned in next series.
Variety is the spice of life In order to train them properly, we must perform a wide variety of exercises to target the entire family. When I say variety of exercises is because people often forget about all the planes of motion where they can move in. Over the years working either at gyms or rehab clinics, and even chatting at friends meetings (yeah, talking about butt’s). Many of them thought that in order train their glutes, all what they need were just; squats, lunges or the ones with more training knowledge, dead-lifts.
Ok, now show me how to fill my expensive jeans
To create a resistance training program, it’s essential to keep in mind certain factors such as; analysis needs, exercise selection and order, frequency, load and repetitions volume, and rest periods (strength coaches or those who work on the sports field will be familiar with this). However as you are expecting the “money” (workout) I’ll leave the ‘details’ on performance for that section.
Quality over quantity
Be efficient and do not waste sets (your time)at the gym. Remember it’s not about training as much as you can, but being efficient and effective spreading the sets out during the week. Muscles require to recover and regenerate, and this can be done only by selecting appropriate exercises (and food obviously :)).
Selection and type of exercise will influence your recovery and how your muscles adapt to the new stimulus.
- Greater fibre recruitment (produced by some exercises) will equal greater Recovery time.
- Exercises with large ROM = enough R time.
- Eccentrics produce more damage than concentrics and … guess what? again = R time.
(e.g. Squats more eccentrics that hip thrusts). But frequency also will depend on your training status, remember “back down the inspiration and build the foundations”.
Now, the recipe for success. (if you have ended up reading all the article, congrats)
I put much importance on recovery time cause (periodization) and SAS …
Taking into account the factors stated above and assuming that you don’t want be aching every day since is a PAIN IN THE ASS … literally! (bad joke). This template will help you to establish or work around different approaches doing your own “ass workout”. You can also add on different upper body exercises to complete the templates.
Example of 4 days for glute development
Front or Goblet Squat 3x8-12 Single leg deadlifts 3x8-12/side Lateral monster walks 2x20 Hip thrusts 3x8-12 Superclams or banded hip abductions 2x15-20 Back Extensions 2x15-20 Back Squats 3x8-12 Stiffed-leg Deadlifts 3x8-12 Frog pumps 2x15-20 Single leg squat or step-ups 3x8-12 Banded hip thrust 2x15-20 Zig-Zag Skate jumps 2x15-20
Example of 3 days for glute development
Kettlebell Swings 3x8-10 Squat Jumps 3x4-6 Hip Thrusts 3x6-8 Front Squat 3x6-8 Single Leg Squat 3x8-10 Single Leg Deadlift 3x8-10 Lateral Lunges 3x8-10 Back Extensions 2x8 Modified Clams 2x15 Side Lying Hip Abduction 3x8-10 Single Leg Hip Thrust 3x8-10 Pull Throughs 3x8-10 Stiffed Leg Deadlifts 3x8-10
Remember this article is just to work more efficiently on your glutes and complete your own workouts. If you want to improve performance other articles will be post up shortly. For those who are experiencing low back pain, reduced range of motion on hips, … before doing any type of workout, exercise modification … look for a proper professional (Exercise Physiologist, Personal trainer, Physiotherapist, Sport Therapist, Strength Coach, Biomechanist, etc).
Be tuned in for next posts.
