5 Gluteal exercises + effective program

Posted on: 01/27/2021

The way to get there isn't via the treadmill or elliptical. Instead, start by training your gluteal muscles with loads.

To build and shape your buttocks, you need to train your legs with difficulty and diligence to get results. As with any other muscle, if you stop every time it gets difficult or burns, chances are you'll be disappointed. Avoid "light" weights to build muscle. Like other muscles, your buttocks will "grow" as you get stronger. The aim is therefore to seek muscle hypertrophy, using weights that limit you to 8/12 repetitions per set, and a little more on the last exercises to maximize the destruction of muscle fibers

Here are 5 excellent exercises for building up your glutes:

1. The squat

The squat is known as the king of lower-body exercises. It works just about every muscle in your legs, while strengthening your core, hips and lower back. Make sure you get the most out of the movement. A basic squat, stopping when your thighs are parallel to the ground, or even a little lower, puts the emphasis on your quadriceps, leaving your glutes less engaged.

Squatting until you're below parallel, the lower the better, puts the emphasis on your hamstrings and glutes. The "tighter" your position, the more you engage your quadriceps.

2. Forward lunges

Front lunges raise your heart rate, and you're bound to be sore the next day or two. With your arms at your sides and a dumbbell in each hand, or a bar resting on your trapezius, move forward, alternating legs.

Make sure your knee doesn't go beyond your toes, and that the knee behind you descends vertically, close to the ground.

3. Pelvic raise with barbell

The thrust of your hips activates and strengthens the upper glutes to a much greater extent than squats, and even to a greater extent than deadlifts.

Sit on the floor with your back firmly planted on a bench, feet planted firmly in front of you and a bar with padding on your hips, and push your hips upwards.

Raise your buttocks slowly until your body is in line with your shoulders, then pause slightly, voluntarily contracting your buttocks.

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4. Straight-leg deadlift

To execute the movement correctly and emphasize your lower back and hamstrings/glutes, push your hips back as far as possible so that you feel a good stretch in your hamstrings. We advise you to keep your feet positioned more or less close together, but you can also use a sumo position, i.e. wider than shoulder-width apart, with your toes turned slightly outwards.

Keep the bar as close to your legs as possible, and keep your back straight or slightly arched (but never round your back). Lower as low as you can while feeling a deep stretch, then return to the top position, all the while keeping a slight bend in the knee joints.

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5. Bulgarian squat

The Bulgarian Squat, also known as the Split Squat on a bench or the " Squat with rear foot raised " is, from a purely technical point of view, a normal squat. However, it is performed unilaterally, i.e. with one of your legs placed on a bench behind you and the other firmly anchored in the ground in front of you.

With this squat variation, as with most exercises, positioning is key ! The main muscles targeted in the Bulgarian squat are the upper quadriceps and the glutes.

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The gluteal program

SQUAT: Sets: 4, repetitions: 8-12, recovery between sets: 1'30
FORWARD SLINT: Sets: 4, repetitions: 8-12, recovery between sets: 1'30
HIP THRUST: Sets: 4, repetitions: 8-12, recovery between sets: 1'30
BULGARIAN SQUAT - Oneleg after the other : series: 2, repetitions: 10-15
EARTH LIFT TENCED LEGS: Sets: 2, reps: 10-15

The following exercises are to be performed in supersets (start with exercise 4 and continue without rest with 5, take 1 minute to recover and repeat)