Powerful Tips, Tricks and Techniques For Building Larger,
Firmer, Rounder Glutes
Do your thighs get more work than your glutes when you're doing
glute exercises? This information is going to change the way
you train your glutes forever.
It's a common problem that many people run into when they're
trying to build and work the glutes: the thighs take over the
exercises and the glutes get left out in the cold.
One of the major reasons this happens is that some of the most
effective glute-building exercises are also among the most
effective thigh-building exercises, e.g. squats, lunges, leg
press, etc.
And, quite often, a person who has smaller glutes and whose
goal is to build their glutes already has muscle attachments
and leverage issues that favor thigh development over glute
development. This can set them back right from the start.
If this sounds like you, read on, because the information you
get today is going to change the way you approach your glute
training forever.
Let me put it this way...if your glutes already have a hard
time getting involved in exercises, performing more exercises
won't solve the problem! You've got to properly target your
training to make sure the glutes get worked more than the thighs
or you simply WILL NOT be able to maximize your glute
development.
Today, you're going to learn a number of training techniques
that can help build those large, round firm glutes you've been
looking for! They will help you to overcome any physical and
anatomical limitations your glutes may have.
Techniques:
1. Consciously squeeze your glutes HARD while doing your exercises
Are you sitting in a chair? Clench your glutes as hard as you
can. Feel the squeeze? This is what you need to strive for
while doing glute exercises.
When you do a lunge, squeeze the glute hard while you're
pushing up. This will help to activate the glute muscle. It's
all about getting your mind into the muscle and forcing it to
contract rather than just going through the motions of an
exercise. By concentrating on squeezing the glutes hard during
your sets (of whatever exercise you're doing), you'll be
activating the muscle fibers of the glutes and increasing the
amount of work they do.
If you don't believe this technique can work, try this: go for
a walk up and down some hills squeezing your glutes hard as you
push yourself forward with each step you take. The following
day, sitting down will take on a whole new challenge.
2. Push with your heels
The transmission of force and tension from your foot through
your leg and glute can be altered by where you put the tension
on your foot. If you push with the balls of your feet (the
forefoot area), more tension will be placed on the frontal
thigh (the quadriceps). If you focus on pushing more with your
heels, more tension will go through the back of the thighs
and to your glutes.
By pushing with your heels, you can take FULL advantage of
this force/tension relationship. For example, when you're doing
lunges, try to raise the toes of your front foot off the ground.
This removes tension from the front and focuses more on the
heel. This will, in turn, send more tension to the glutes,
making them work harder.
There are several practical techniques you can use to really
force the heel push. For example, on lunges, do them with your
heel on the edge of a stair or Step platform. Place ONLY your
heel on the surface and do the lunge from there (be careful of
your balance on this, however, as your base of support is
decreased with this technique).
If you're doing the leg press, you can focus on the glutes by
placing your heels on the top edge of the foot plate (the rest
of your feet surface will be off the top and not pushing on
anything). When doing squats, simply raise your toes up in
your shoes to achieve a similar effect.
3. Visualize "sitting back" when you're doing your glute exercises
This idea is similar to the concept of pushing with your
heels above. When you "sit back," more tension will be sent
through the back of the thighs and the glutes. If you lean
forward (the opposite of the "sitting back"), you will tend
to throw more tension on the quadriceps (the front of the
thighs).
We can use both the squat and the lunge as examples of this.
When doing the lunge, don't let your torso angle forward while
you're performing the movement. This will throw more tension
on the quads. Visualize yourself "sitting back" into the
movement. Your body won't let you lean back far enough to fall
over but this "lean-back" will put more tension on the glutes
immediately. This is something you can try at home right now
and feel the difference right away.
If, when you're doing squats, you don't normally feel the
glutes working very strongly, you could very well be leaning
too far forward as you squat. This throws more tension onto
the quads and lower back. This problem is often caused by a
lack of flexibility in the calves. To fix this, stretch the
calves for at least 5 minutes before doing any squat exercise.
You will soon find you're able to sit back more and maintain
a better body position (more upright torso). This will turn
the squat into a great glute-builder for you.
IMPORTANT: If you do Smith Machine squats, specifically with
the feet placed a little forward of the bar while you sit
backwards into the bar as you do the movement, beware! This
variation of the squat places a TREMENDOUS shearing force on
your knees.
Unfortunately, the knee joint simply wasn't designed to push
backwards against resistance in this fashion and long-term use
of this squat variation can lead to knee injury (basically,
every time you do this exercise, you're grinding the connective
tissue down a little more - not a good situation). Don't worry,
though. Squats themselves, when done properly, are an excellent
exercise.
4. Pre-Exhaust Training
Pre-Exhaust Training is one of the single most effective
techniques for FORCING reluctant muscles to respond to training.
The idea behind this technique is simple: first, use an exercise
that works ONLY the target muscle. Then, immediately follow that
with an exercise that works the target muscle AND several other
muscles in addition. You essentially exhaust the target muscle
first (with an isolation exercise that works only that single
muscle) then use an exercise that utilizes other muscles (a
compound exercise) to help push that already pre-exhausted
target muscle harder.
The two isolation (single-muscle) exercises that I recommend
for the glutes are low pulley glute extensions and glute
push-ups. Low pulley glute extensions are done by attaching an
ankle harness to your leg, standing facing the pulley machine
and extending your leg straight back behind you. Glute push-ups
are done by laying flat on your back with your knees bent 90
degrees and feet flat on the floor. From this position, push
your hips up towards the ceiling, squeezing your glutes hard.
This exercise can also be done one leg at a time (just cross
the non-working leg over the other).
Do as many reps of this exercise as it takes to reach muscular
fatigue (it could be 8, 15 or even more, depending on the
resistance and your strength). The real muscle-building work
gets done on the second exercise.
When you've completed your set, immediately (and I mean
IMMEDIATELY - no rest periods here) move into the compound
exercise for the glutes. Compound exercises for the glutes
include squats, lunges, leg press, and (my personal favorite
glute-builder) the one-legged bench step squat.
Use a fairly heavy resistance for the compound exercise...as
I mentioned above, this is where the muscle-building work
gets done. Use a resistance that will allow you get about 8
to 12 reps per set. This is the most effective rep range for
muscle building.
In my experience, the best pre-exhaust approach is to focus
on one leg at a time rather than doing both. It may take a
little longer but the glutes get worked more thoroughly and
your results will most likely be better. For example, do One-
Legged Glute Push-Ups with your left leg then immediately do
Bench Step One-Legged Squats on your left leg. Take a rest then
do a set for your right leg.
Conclusion:
Regularly using the four training techniques I've described
above can have a HUGE impact on your glute-building progress.
It's all about properly targeting your training to FORCE the
glutes to take the lead in the exercise. With these tips, you
will build larger, firmer, rounder glutes.
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