The 4 Best Ways to Grow your Glutes

The 4 Best Ways to Grow your Glutes

Glute growth is something that has become more popular in recent years. The classic curvy Kim Kardashian body is the ultimate trend at the moment, and many people are after the round hips and big bum type of look. In terms of aesthetic goals, this is what I started off wanting as well. I had always been very slim my whole life, and my body didn’t have a lot of shape or definition. Therefore, glute growth was one of my main targets at the beginning, and still is to an extent. Since becoming a PT, and even before I qualified, I did tones of research on the optimal ways to grow my glutes, and through trial and error, I have narrowed down what I think are the most important and effective ways to achieve glute growth. Bret Contreras’ Rule of Thirds There is a lot of science at this point to illustrate the optimal way to grow your glutes. Bret Contreras has put forward a piece of research which is what I have personally followed to grow my glutes, known as the rule of thirds. Without getting too technical, there are three areas to be considered in terms of glute training: vectors, load and effort. Using this rule will ensure you are hitting your glutes from all angles and not leaving anything out.  Vectors 
  • you want a third of your training to fall in the horizontal vector, meaning exercises like hip thrusts, kick-backs and bridges
  • a third of your training should come from the vertical vector, so exercises such as deadlifts, squats or lunges.
  • A third of your training should incorporate lateral/ rotary vector, so movements such as lateral band walks or seated abductions. 
Load Use a variety of loads and rep ranges in your training. Unless you absolutely hate a certain type of load (for example light high rep work) you don’t have to do it, but for optimal glute growth this research shows incorporating all loads and rep ranges works best.
  • Heavy load 1-5 reps
  • Medium 8-12 reps
  • Light 20+ reps
This should again be split into thirds within your programme. Incorporating all loads and rep ranges will ensure you are putting the muscle under a variety of stress points, rather than limiting it to just one. Most research shows that the sweet spot of muscle growth in general is in the 8-12 rep range, however including other ranges as well as this one is advisable according to Bret Contreras.  Effort Your effort can be measured by how many reps in reserve you have after a set. In other words, how far to failure have you gone with any given set? The rule of thirds suggests you should 
  • Have a third of your training at failure, meaning you are completely depleted and would not be able to perform another rep, even with a gun to your head. 
  • A third of your training should be 2-3 reps shy of failure, meaning you could still do a couple more at the end of a set but you’re still pretty exhausted
  • A third nowhere near failure, meaning you could still pump out 10 more reps if you had to. This area should consist of the more accessory work such as abductions and donkey kicks. 
This means you are covering all rates of exertion and hitting the muscle at all angles within your programme. Please bear in mind that this is my way of simplifying the research, but there a lot more to it than this, The best way to incorporate this science within your training programme would be to get yourself a trainer who has experience using this particular method. At PureGym London Finchley, every glute focussed programme I write for my clients is based on this particular science, including my own. There are many ways you can include this research within a programme. Therefore, I know how to incorporate this research optimally for the best results.  This brings me onto my next tip.  Keep to a Programme You want to go into each session with a well thought out gym programme that targets your specific goals. For glute growth (or any muscle growth for that matter), you want a clear-cut programme to follow. This means doing the same range of movements and exercises over a period of weeks or even months. If you go into the gym and preform random movements and exercises will-nilly, doing different things each time you go, this is not an optimal way to train. You won’t have any sort of structure or pattern this way, and this makes it difficult for your muscles to get used to any one movement.  Having a programme to stick to for a period of weeks or months will help you develop consistency on the lifts you are working on, and also will help you achieve progressive overload, which in turn, will grow your glutes. I personally have written myself a glute programme which I have been following for over 12 weeks. I very much enjoy the programme and therefore do not feel the need to change it at the moment. However, I always offer to switch up a client’s programme after they have been following it for a while, as some people might get bored with what they’re doing, or might have been following the same programme for a long time so switching it up eventually is good to avoid a plateau in progress. You want to switch your programme up eventually, but not every session.  Get a trainer that provides personalised training programmes Training programmes can be found anywhere, and you can even do some research and write them yourself. However, I would recommend getting yourself a personal trainer who is actually qualified in writing programmes and will write the best one for you to achieve optimal results. The general ones you find online will not be specific to you and your goals, and you will not achieve ultimate progress using a generalised plan. With my client’s at PureGym, I know exactly what their goals are and can therefore incorporate them into a specific programme made entirely for that individual. I can also incorporate science and knowledge I believe works best for glute growth as I am familiar with the topic. Progressive Overload Gradually lift heavier One of the most important ways to ensure glute growth (or any muscle growth for that matter), is to incorporate progressive overload into your training sessions. Progressive overload simply means to do more over time. This could mean lifting more weight, doing more reps or sets, slowing your movement down, or increasing your range of motion. The easiest and most common way people incorporate progressive overload is through lifting heavier over time. This is the best and easiest way to measure your strength and clearest way to see it improving.  Progressive Overload is not always consistent! It is important to note that progressive overload is not linear, and therefore there is no right amount of weight to increase your lifts by. In beginner lifters, progress and strength tends to build quickly, and you might find that you can add between 2.5kg and 5kg to your lifts each week. However, when you become a more regular and experienced lifter, your progress will slow right down, and you might go weeks without being able to add any weight onto the bar. However, you should always aim to progressively overload in one way or another during your sessions, as this shows you are always achieving that little bit more and encouraging that muscle growth.  A good trainer will ensure your safety The safest way to employ progressive overload especially if you are a beginner is to get yourself a personal trainer who can keep track of what you are lifting, and measure when it is suitable to add weight or reps in your sessions (however you choose to do it). At PureGym in Finchley, we as PTs are constantly form checking our clients and keeping a close eye on how they are preforming their lifts. This way we always know when it is suitable to add more weight onto the bar, thus helping the client progressively overload and build muscle!  Eat enough food! Calorie Surplus This tip is not do to with training, but what to do outside of your time at the gym. You want to make sure you are fuelling your body with enough energy in order for your muscles to grow. Being in a slight calorie surplus is optimal if you want to achieve muscle growth, as muscles need fuel and energy in order to repair themselves and grow bigger and stronger. A calorie surplus is simply when you eat more than you burn. The amount of surplus you will be in will depend on your goals, but if you are just wanting to grow some muscle, a surplus of about 200-300 calories is what I recommend for my clients. This means you are eating 200-300 calories above maintenance. In order to know how many calories to eat, you need to work out your maintenance calories, which are the amount of calories you need to maintain your current weight. You will not lose or gain at maintenance. There are many ways to calculate your maintenance calories. I use the Schofield Equation to calculate my client’s maintenance calories as this is the one that I was taught to use when I was training to be a PT. Once you know your maintenance, simply add an extra 200-300 calories on top of that and you will be in a small surplus.  Tracking your calories It can be tricky to know exactly how many calories you are consuming, so many people like to track their calories using apps such as MyFitnessPal. Tracking can be a bit of a nuisance as first but normally is fairly easy once you get used to it. However, some people dislike tracking because it causes them to become a bit obsessive with the amount they are eating and creates a negative relationship with food. Therefore, it is up to you whether you want to track or not.  Eating intuitively The option is to eat intuitively, meaning just eat when you’re hungry. This is a more straight forward process. The thing is, when you’re following a programme and are consistent with your training, you will be exerting a lot of energy and will most likely feel the need to eat more anyway. Therefore, a lot of people will naturally put themselves into a surplus without having to track.  Choose the way that’ll suit you best! I always say to clients, if you are wanting to be extremely accurate about your calories, then tracking is the way to go. However, if you are not too bothered and just want to see how you go without it, that’s fine too! As long as you are eating enough, this will help you grow your glutes. I personally do not track my calories but I have noticed a lot of progress in my glute growth. Please remember… Ultimately, everyone is different. There are endless factors that will impact how your muscle grows, what rate it grows at and how it’ll look on your particular frame. Never compare yourself to others, because their genetics are different to yours and this affects everything. However, the points discussed above are what I believe are the most important when addressing glute growth, and if you stick with these, you’re off to a really good start.