Training Tips for Great Glutes

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    I am always asked what I do to get my glutes so round and developed. Since I have designed a very detailed leg/butt routine that consists of thirteen different exercises (doing 4 to 10 sets per exercise), I tell people that there is no brief answer to the question.

    However, if I had to choose the top three exercises (of the thirteen in my lower body routine) that really have developed my glutes, I would select the following:

    BACK EXTENSION: I always use a heavy medicine ball and perform my back extensions with very strict form: with a back that is straight as a board and working slowly both on the positive and negative phases of the contraction. Also, as you extend your back, really focus on initiating the movement using your glutes by contracting them as hard as you can, as opposed to swinging your torso up and down with no control.

    HIP EXTENSION: For this I use a cable hooked to a strap around my ankle. I stand with my base leg on a wooden bench that is just high enough to offer my working leg clearance so that my foot does not hit the floor with each extension.

    The main thing to consider with hip extension is maintaining a stable pelvic girdle so that the movement of the leg is generated by a deep contraction in the gluteus maximus, as opposed to flailing the leg back and forth using momentum.

    LUNGES: I start standing on a step (the height of the step needs to be in proportion to your leg length so the angle at the knee joint is no less than 90 degrees at the bottom of the lunge) holding a dumbbell in each hand. Alternating legs, I step back and off the step, lunging down, pressing up, lunging down, and then pressing my body back up onto the step, which completes one rep.

    Form is absolutely key here. If you keep your back absolutely straight and press up through the heel of the foot rather than the ball of the foot, you will activate the glutes to the maximum extent.  Shifting the upper body forward and using momentum to press your body up from a lunge defeats the purpose of the lunge and cheats your glutes out of a solid contraction.

    Well, there you go! Train hard, and stay committed!

    Live with Simplicity,

    TMS