”How do I grow my glutes?” Is probably the most common question I get asked, and understandably so! Building a peachy, feminine butt requires that you build strong glutes, and what’s lesser known is your glutes play the most crucial role in overall body strength – protecting your knees, lower back, hips, and ankles. But, how do you build them up!?

As much as this answer may bore you, glute muscles grow in the same way every other muscle grows – with good, consistent strength training, and progressive overload (increasing stress on the glutes over time).

✔️ WHAT IS ESSENTIAL: Good blood flow and nerve supply, correct pelvic position, adequate calories, and good strength training technique and programming.

✖️ WHAT IS NOT ESSENTIAL: A heavy emphasis on bodyweight exercises, booty bands, and cardio.

Don’t get me wrong, there is a place for bodyweight exercises and booty bands, but what I see so often are entire training programs built around them. Experiences trainers use bands not to ‘grow’ the glutes directly, but to help to get the supporting muscles firing. This prepares your hips to perform weighted, compound leg exercises, with good pelvic position and technique.

This is one of my clients Sinda – a transformation that took around 18 months. She does not take drugs, and trains legs twice per week, focussing on compound lifts like squats, deadlifts and lunges. In her sessions we ensure she performs these exercises correctly, ensuring glute growth.

So the three tips are;

1. To build strong glutes, you need to train them twice per week.

Training legs twice per week is enough if you train them properly, and if you could train them more, I would say you’re probably not training hard enough. Don’t be afraid of squats, deadlifts, and other weighted leg exercises. Progressive overload in compound and hip-hinge movements are your best bet to great glutes.

With my clients, I program one leg day to focus on strength, and the second day to focus on conditioning – so higher rep ranges which limits the amount of weight they can lift (if you lift heavy too often, this will over-work your nervous system and make recovery pretty impossible) .

2. To build strong glutes, you need to make sure they’re actually working.

Glutes that don’t work will not grow, and for many women, their glute muscle ‘switched off’ a long time ago. Those athletes and PT’s who have not experienced this will tell you it’s not possible or true, but I can assure you it is. If your hip muscles are too tight, they will restrict your body’s ability to use the glutes to perform these exercises correctly.

So take the time to build your glutes up by loosening your hips in the beginning. You will find a complete guide on how to do that by purchasing my eBook, Build Amazing Glutes (as it’s hard to help you fix your glutes in a short blog post).

Or, by watching this video below;

3. You need to eat enough food, for your muscle to grow in general.

If you don’t eat enough food, you will now build muscle past a certain point. The first few months you might, but know that muscle building is not your body’s priority, so if there isn’t enough protein (muscle building block) or calories available in your diet, your body won’t have the fuel to build muscle.

Don’t don’t be afraid to eat!

So those are my tips on how to build strong glutes, and especially for women!

STRENGTH TRAINING FOR WOMEN

If you’re interested in correcting all of your training technique and achieving strength goals quickly, check out my program The Female Training Blueprint.

I hope this has been supportive of your goals! Know that you’re only a couple of tight muscles away from building the booty of your dreams!

Jen X