I mean, it no secret that almost every woman out there desires to grow either a bigger or rounder booty! I would say at least 95% of my clients that I currently work with have listed booty gains as one of their main goals to achieve when signing up for a custom program with me! So, I decided to make a blog to help you guys understand the science behind booty building and what it takes to grow those mucsles!

 

The gluteal muscles are a group of three muscles which make up the butt: the gluteus maximus, gluteus medius and gluteus minimus. ALL 3 of these groups need to be worked!

 

Let’s start out by talking about the MAXIMUS. Highlighted in green.

This muscle is the largest and most powerful of the glute muscles and significantly impacts the shape of ya booty! The maximus is best activated by moves that require your hip to move backwards. Exercises that best target the maximus are donkey kicks, cable kickbacks, planks with leg lifts. Squats, dead-lifts, adduction and abduction and hip thrusts are also great ways to activate and train your maximus. (Pro tip: doing standing abductors are the bomb when trying to grow the booty.)

 

Next, the Medius. Highlighted in green.

The gluteus medius is sometimes referred to as you “upper glutes.” The gluteus maximus gets all the attention, but the medius does just as important a job.

This muscle sits as a deeper layer of muscle beneath the gluteus maximus. Gluteus medius is responsible for the main abduction and rotation of the hip. Too help you remember the difference between abduction and adduction just remember that to ADDuct you are ADDING your legs together! Good exercises to train your medius are abductors (do them seated and standing for best results), seating clams with resistance band, lateral leg raise (this can be done with cables for extra resistance), and lateral band hip walks.

 

Last but(t) not least, lets not forget the minimums. Highlighted in red.

 

Oh the minimus, the poor forgotten muscle of the glute family! However, it still plays an important role in the appearance of the butt. It is located even deeper and directly beneath the gluteus medius. Single leg deads and single leg squats are a great way to active and work this little muscle!

 

So, just to recap we have the maximus, medius, and minimus. Now let’s talk about glute activation and why is important,

 

This is something that I honestly didn’t figure out for my first few years of weight training but when I did and started applying the knowledge, it was a total game changer! Glute activation are exercises you do before a workout to engage your glute muscles. Even though the some on the glute muscles are some of the strongest muscles in the body they are often lazy and become inactive. This means, even if you bust out an insane leg workout but your glutes were never fully engaged/activated, you will not maximize your results!

As we discussed a little bit before, a few of the most effective glute activation exercises are clam shells (hip abductors), donkey kicks (Quadruped Hip Extension), and glute bridges! My recommendation is to try to preform these with no weight and the add in weight based on your current strength. Personally, to warm up and activate my glutes a use no weight and/ or a light resistance band!

 

I know, I know! SO much to know about the gainz! Here’s to building the booty! I’d love to hear from you if you loved this blog and want more like this!

Please feel free to reach out to me if you have any questions! Hope it can help you begin the journey to the perfect booty gains!!!

 

L