Thread: HELP! build up my glutes

My wife had great results with. Deep legs press, deep squats (smith machine), lunges holding dumbells, butt blasters ( pushes back on leg curl machine). And she does her cardio with max incline on the treadmill.

Originally Posted by lymbo

K..after my 2nd child a year ago I lost quite a few pounds of lean muscle WT during my pregnancy and post recovery..I couldn't get back into it till 10 weeks after I gave birth because of a C section..I train leg's hard and eat more calories on that day..understand legs are the most abundant muscle group and stimulate the most recovery growth in the body...I have slight scoliosis...free dead lifts and squats kill me so I use machines...what other exercise have any of you had success with building up this area..I need butt..

I know you say that squats kill you, but deep, full ROM squats work your glutes like nothing else. My advice is to start light and get the form down, in order to take the pressure of your back, and move up gradually in weight while maintaining that form. Squats, if done properly, should not hurt your back.

Any kind of press with feet up high on the pad will balst the glutes.Also walking lunges are great also.I fill them more then anything for qlutes.I also like stiff leg deads they hit the hams hard and also the glutes.But they will hurt your back.

I would like to add that if you're looking to add mass in that area to focus on low reps and higher weights. If you start doing 12-20 reps of leg press and squats or lunges, you might actually lose size in that area.

I agree with GMO completely on the squats so ignore the high weights at first on the squats to get the form and the feel down. If you had an epidural durig either of you pregnancies you might feel some discomfort at first; my wife did but it's gone away for the most part now. It's been 10 years since she's been pregnant though so it may be tougher for you but you should be able to ease into it.

Just squat the bar for a few weeks at least one session a week and start adding weight once it feels comfortable. Get used to doing 4-8 reps only and not to failure obviously when you're just starting. Stay away from Smith machines as they are a false substitute for squat.

Do your "practice" squats first then move to the leg press and once again work heavy to add mass to your glutes (and quads as well; hope you don't mind additional mass there). This should just be a temporary accomodation though while you are working on getting your squat weights up over the next few months.

On the squat, focus on stopping for a second at the bottom, feel the tension in your glutes, then press out focusing on the contraction of the gluteal muscles. If you focus on this with light weights, your mind will start focusing there automatically so when your weights move higher you won't even have to think about it.

In short, don't give up on squats; instead, find a way to make them work for you. If you need to modify them, fine, (I for instance, cannot squat below parallel because of my body mechanics) but don't replace them with any kind of machine oryou will short sell your gains.

Pull-throughs

Reverse-Hypers

Cable kickbacks - about as close to isolation work as you can get.
Glute bridge - feet on the floor, shoulders on a bench, bar across your hips - 75% glutes
Reverse hypers - As heavy said above, however you will probably have to improvise, as I doubt your gym has a reverse hyper machine. Check out youtube for good examples.
Lunges, walking or standing, will work glutes to some degree.
Bulgarian split squats also work glutes.

The three in bold are your best bang for the buck for targeting glutes.

cool... I will try some of these i havent did before friday thanks ...rt now I am 122... my pre 2nd baby wt was 127 when I thought i looked my best...my sht joking friends got me those fake Booty undies...yes its funny ..the problem is they look real good on under my jeans... and that sucks

Congrats on new baby & getting back in shape so quickly! That's one less thing "weighing" on you going forward w/ the new munchkin!

One of my favorite ass-burning combos is weighted walking lunges + reverse hypers w/ a 1 ct hold at the top. I superset these things on ham day and I'm pretty much hobbling out of the gym.

Some alternatives to the deep leg exercises w/ heavy wt are things like:

- DB SLDLs - you dont' need to go heavy w/ the DBs but you get a full ROM if you go down to the tops of your shoes & even kick out a little further.
- ham-glute raise - if you have that machine or a stand / bench that goes high enough to allow it
- barbell SLDL but at a lighter weight and ROM mostly between above-knee to shin, lighter weight, high rep, tight form. IFBB Figure Pro Valerie Waugaman has a video somewhere of this, havent' been able to find it. This is another one you can do full ROM at lighter weight - I've found it requires being up on a bench or box to get better ROM and plate clearance, but lighter wt, high rep will make shit burn.

- OH squats w/ even just a PVC tube. These are just overall wonderful full-body, functionally correct exercises that engage everything for stability. Couple sets of those and you'll feel it.

And as mentioned, buttblaster, cable kickbacks, etc.

Deep, long, pushing movements are what you need... Lol, looks dirty but squats,hack machine squats,leg press and stiff leg deads are what you need.

As your doin any of the movements don't worry about the weight just that your greetin as deep as you can, and feelin for the glute to activate... After a fue workout when you can feel what you are after then start uppin the weight little by little and you will start to feel the glute getting tight wicth means your hittin it correct. First time or 2 if your not sure your hitting the glute do 3-4 extra light sets and the next day see how it feels. Use the doms as your guide.

But seriously, on another note, isn't this one of the often time misconstrued "typical" female type of questions? How much "ass" building can you do? i think people get a very bad misunderstanding about these exercises and trying to build an ass kinda thing. I say do real work and your ass will end up where it needs to be. Squats, split squats(what I do in lieu of lunges) I don't mean to be a debbie downer but how many women do a shit load of ass exercises and end up not seeing the forest for the trees? I mean I just don't see building much of a glute presence without doing some serious heavy shit.

And I have scoliosis and some missing cartilage in my left knee. I still don't touch smith machine squats. If anything, it will make you unnaturally load the back since you probably won't be rotating properly through the lift. I tell people the smith is for very advanced lifters. But oh well, no need to get off into that subject again.

I would love some before pics, and then some after pics, or progress pics...(shut up guys, I know we all would!)...but seriously, BUTT seriously.... I have this conversation with women almost weekly. They want to "work on their ass" And I have to have this disappointing conversation with them. Does anyone have any stories of seeing ass "development" that didn't come from cutting fat? How much ass can you build even on a small "yea I just want to shape my ass" level, without eating and bulking?

Running definitely made my ass hard as rock

Any kind of press with feet up high on the pad will balst the glutes.

heavy a2g squats + some extra cals should build it. And yes, if you build it, they will come

Originally Posted by Merkaba

But seriously, on another note, isn't this one of the often time misconstrued "typical" female type of questions? How much "ass" building can you do? i think people get a very bad misunderstanding about these exercises and trying to build an ass kinda thing. I say do real work and your ass will end up where it needs to be. Squats, split squats(what I do in lieu of lunges) I don't mean to be a debbie downer but how many women do a shit load of ass exercises and end up not seeing the forest for the trees? I mean I just don't see building much of a glute presence without doing some serious heavy shit.

And I have scoliosis and some missing cartilage in my left knee. I still don't touch smith machine squats. If anything, it will make you unnaturally load the back since you probably won't be rotating properly through the lift. I tell people the smith is for very advanced lifters. But oh well, no need to get off into that subject again.

I would love some before pics, and then some after pics, or progress pics...(shut up guys, I know we all would!)...but seriously, BUTT seriously.... I have this conversation with women almost weekly. They want to "work on their ass" And I have to have this disappointing conversation with them. Does anyone have any stories of seeing ass "development" that didn't come from cutting fat? How much ass can you build even on a small "yea I just want to shape my ass" level, without eating and bulking?

Dude she as pics in her profile and I'd say she's doing fine already. Toatally agree with you on the "working the ass" points you made. reps.

If your gym has a glute/ham machine that'll be great. Also, one legged deadlifts.

Originally Posted by sassy69

Congrats on new baby & getting back in shape so quickly! That's one less thing "weighing" on you going forward w/ the new munchkin!

One of my favorite ass-burning combos is weighted walking lunges + reverse hypers w/ a 1 ct hold at the top. I superset these things on ham day and I'm pretty much hobbling out of the gym.

Some alternatives to the deep leg exercises w/ heavy wt are things like:

- DB SLDLs - you dont' need to go heavy w/ the DBs but you get a full ROM if you go down to the tops of your shoes & even kick out a little further.
- ham-glute raise - if you have that machine or a stand / bench that goes high enough to allow it
- barbell SLDL but at a lighter weight and ROM mostly between above-knee to shin, lighter weight, high rep, tight form. IFBB Figure Pro Valerie Waugaman has a video somewhere of this, havent' been able to find it. This is another one you can do full ROM at lighter weight - I've found it requires being up on a bench or box to get better ROM and plate clearance, but lighter wt, high rep will make shit burn.

- OH squats w/ even just a PVC tube. These are just overall wonderful full-body, functionally correct exercises that engage everything for stability. Couple sets of those and you'll feel it.

And as mentioned, buttblaster, cable kickbacks, etc.

thank you...I do alot of that stuff..we have a great kickback machine i like ..I hold every rep for few seconds and add more wt each set....i dont do cardio on leg day an have a good (taste like sht) post work out shake and eat big that day...i warm up bike 15 min... PS I two little girls 3 n 1 year old....who ever says you cant get it back because of having kid's is just plain lazy...more rep's for U this week thanks

1 leg lunges on the smith smachine always made me walk like I had something stuck up my you know what, ha ha! I set up and lean into the machine going with the up and down motion of the cage, so when I look down, my feet are in front of me if that makes sense. Not much, but a little. Then on the down movement, kick the unfocused leg back as far as you can, and then do a knee up or tap it at the starting position and repeat for desired reps. Your quad will burn during, but your butt will be on fire afterwards, right around the cheek crease is where it gets me at least...

Originally Posted by Ezskanken

1 leg lunges on the smith smachine always made me walk like I had something stuck up my you know what, ha ha! I set up and lean into the machine going with the up and down motion of the cage, so when I look down, my feet are in front of me if that makes sense. Not much, but a little. Then on the down movement, kick the unfocused leg back as far as you can, and then do a knee up or tap it at the starting position and repeat for desired reps. Your quad will burn during, but your butt will be on fire afterwards, right around the cheek crease is where it gets me at least...

thanks..Im on it

I don't even use weight honestly, the most I put on was 10's on each side, ha ha!

Stairstepper!

deep leg presses seem to work well. also weighted step ups on something high

Keep us posted. I just don't get it. I think people just like talking about exercises they do. Looking at your gallery, I don't see much happening without some kind of eating and lifting protocol and not just doing lunges or ass work. You're already pretty lean. What are you planning on doing without gaining say a pound of ass meat or ass fat? And we all know how you do either one of those. The shape will be what it ends up at and it's not much you can do about it barring surgery. Am I missing something here? I'd be interested to see what you results are long term.

Good post, I'm one who thinks heavy = growth...but not always.

Originally Posted by Merkaba

Keep us posted. I just don't get it. I think people just like talking about exercises they do. Looking at your gallery, I don't see much happening without some kind of eating and lifting protocol and not just doing lunges or ass work. You're already pretty lean. What are you planning on doing without gaining say a pound of ass meat or ass fat? And we all know how you do either one of those. The shape will be what it ends up at and it's not much you can do about it barring surgery. Am I missing something here? I'd be interested to see what you results are long term.

I have added more calories and do have a good lifting protocol for legs..I was just looking for some different exercises and got them

Originally Posted by Merkaba

But seriously, on another note, isn't this one of the often time misconstrued "typical" female type of questions? How much "ass" building can you do? i think people get a very bad misunderstanding about these exercises and trying to build an ass kinda thing. I say do real work and your ass will end up where it needs to be. Squats, split squats(what I do in lieu of lunges) I don't mean to be a debbie downer but how many women do a shit load of ass exercises and end up not seeing the forest for the trees? I mean I just don't see building much of a glute presence without doing some serious heavy shit.

And I have scoliosis and some missing cartilage in my left knee. I still don't touch smith machine squats. If anything, it will make you unnaturally load the back since you probably won't be rotating properly through the lift. I tell people the smith is for very advanced lifters. But oh well, no need to get off into that subject again.

I would love some before pics, and then some after pics, or progress pics...(shut up guys, I know we all would!)...but seriously, BUTT seriously.... I have this conversation with women almost weekly. They want to "work on their ass" And I have to have this disappointing conversation with them. Does anyone have any stories of seeing ass "development" that didn't come from cutting fat? How much ass can you build even on a small "yea I just want to shape my ass" level, without eating and bulking?

I'm just going to say that in my personal experience. Once I started squatting above 275lbs nice and deep, my ass couldn't help but start getting big and muscular. My girlfriend loves it. And that is really the only ass exercise that I do, deep heavy squats.

Originally Posted by lymbo

I have added more calories and do have a good lifting protocol for legs..I was just looking for some different exercises and got them

PS: I really appreciate you trying to represent the nice booty. I personally find nothing more attractive than a nice butt and a cute face.

My friend is always telling me it's all about the "tiny" girls. But tiny girls don't have NO BUTT.