Let's talk booty building for a minute, shall we?
To begin, I'll ask you: Do you know if you’re training your glutes properly for optimal booty growth? Are you including exercises to target each of the THREE different glute muscles into your workouts?
Three? There’s three? Yes, THREE! And if you aren’t training all three then chances are your booty progress isn’t where it could be... #pancakebutt
The three glute muscles are the gluteus maximus, gluteus medius, and the gluteus minimus. Each one of these glute muscles are responsible for different functional movements and grow from different movements as well. When you’re building your glute workout make sure to incorporate exercises from each muscle group so that each part of your glute is being trained.
To hit the glute maximus, you must include exercises in the sagittal plane of motion, the gluteus medius in the frontal plane of motion, and the glutus minimus in the vertical plane of motion. By incorporating all of these planes of motion in your workout, you will build a lifted, sculpted, and firm booty! Key exercises to include:
Gluteus Maximus, Sagittal Plane:
Deep Stationary Lunges
Walking Lunges
Split Squats
Glute Kickbacks
Gluteus Medius, Frontal Plane:
Hip Abduction
Side Lunges
Lateral Tube Walking with Resistance Band
Single-Leg Laying Leg Press on Side
Gluteus Minimus, Vertical Plane:
Squat Variations
Deadlift Variations
Glute Bridges
*Note: I do not recommend doing ALL of the above exercises in one single workout. Splitting the exercises up into two glute training days will prevent overtraining and excessive immobility during your recovery.
In addition, glute activation is key to seeing your results. What is glute activation? Well, to put it simply: Glute activation is directly focusing on the muscle you want to train while performing each repetition.
So, if you’re performing cable kickbacks it would be imperative to focus solely on the glute maximus and the top shelf of the glutes. If you start to feel the contractions a lot in your lower back or hamstring, chances are the weight is a little too heavy and your body is going into what is called synergistic dominance (this is when assisting muscle groups take over the function of the prime mover).
You want to make sure you have the ability to develop a mind-muscle connection with the muscle you are training without allowing your assisting muscles control the movement. It’s kinda like living next to an overly assertive neighbor that never minds their own business. They want to help, but in the end they do more harm than good.
Being consistent with your glute training is also very important. You can't train your glutes once and expect a huge improvement. Good things take time, and so does building a booty.
So with all that said, I wish you love, happiness, and lots of booty growth in the future.
xo,
Liz