Quick Anatomy lesson!
The Glutes are made up of 3 major muscles. The Gluteus Minimus, Gluteus Medius and, Gluteus Maximus. The main muscles that should be focused on when growing your glutes are the Gluteus Medius and Maximus. The Gluteus Medius is pretty much where your upper butt is. It is important this muscle is tended to as this where the arch between your back and Glutes get created. The fun term to call it is a “shelf”. The Gluteus Maximus is layered on top of the Gluteus Medius, but located a little further down. This is where the magic happens to give your Glutes the fullness you want.
Now it is imperative that you know genetics play a part in the size of your glutes so let’s do our best to grow them!
1) Eat a High Protein, High Carb Diet.
Eating a High Protein diet is important for sustaining and building muscle tone during your fitness journey. Since the Glute is a muscle, it must be fed with good lean protein. This will uphold the muscle form. Introducing carbohydrates into the mix will enhance the muscle form through glycogen molecules. Glycogen molecules are carbohydrates stuffed with water. Typically, Glycogen molecules are responsible for excess fat, but for glute growth, this is what we want for fuller, more plump Glutes. Now I know what you may be thinking! “OH NO, if the carbs are going to make my glutes bigger, will I get bigger everywhere else? The answer is, YES, but with methodical dieting and workouts, your body will look better than ever.
2) Activate your Glutes Prior to Your Workout.
Strangely enough, I will usually see those who activate their glutes and don’t lift heavy or vice versa. You MUST do both if you want to achieve the best buns in town. Activating your glutes ALONE will not grow them and heavy weight training your glutes wont allow you to get the maximum benefit out of your glute training. Activation is a precursor to the REAL Glute workout. You can achieve this by doing light weight exercises like kickbacks, the peeing dog (yes, that’s the actual name), resistance band hip abduction and straight legged kickbacks. These will help intensity glute targeting for tip #3.
EX: Kickbacks EX: Peeing dog
3) Lift Heavy on your Glutes 3-4x a week.
The frequency in which you work your Glutes matter for your desired results. If you really want them to grow, you really need to train heavy at least 3-4x a week. This includes Hip thrusts, Deadlifts, Single Leg Romanian Deadlifts and Weighted Hip Abduction on the Hip Abduction machine. These workouts will target your Gluteus Medius and Maximus and give it a fuller look! Lifting “heavy” is subjective, so your physical strength will be the determinant of how much you feel the burn.
EX: Hip Thrust EX: Deadlift
4) Foam Roll Your Glutes.
Personally, this one hurts me, so I don’t do it often, but foam rolling is very beneficial for relieving muscle soreness and tightness. Since, I assume, you will be in crunch time mode to reach your goals, it is likely you will be sore more often. Glute muscle soreness is typically the tell-tale sign that your workouts are working! Every workout does not need to involve soreness and it won’t, however muscle soreness tells you the muscle has been pushed passed its normal limits and it’s time for growth. Scientifically speaking, the muscle soreness comes from lactic acid build up in the muscle and the foam roller helps to alleviate the inflammation. With the foam roller, you will be able to go to your next workout more comfortably.
Try doing these tips consistently for 1 month and you will start to see a difference!
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