Glute Training

I would like to start this article about the glutes with a picture and explanation about the pectoralis. Why, because most bodybuilders know more about their pecs then about their butt.

We are all born with a genitical determent body-type and all our muscles have a certain form. Of course we would all like to have the perfect form and body-type as well as a six-pack. Its only sad that most of us will have to work hard to get those hot desired full round muscles.

The chest is not just one muscle it’s a set of muscles that are surrounded by other muscles and you need to train all to make a beautiful symmetrical picture.

Bodybuilders and fitness enthusiast are all familiar with all kinds of training angles needed to create a full symmetrical chest. Most people have an overdeveloped lower pec and need more fullness in the upper-chest. That why many bodybuilders train on the 45 and 30 degree incline bench. Some of them in the squat-rack , just to pump up the upper muscles, most of them not succeeding and forced to use Synthol, but that a whole other story. Most of us are familiar with the dumbbell fly for the inner chest, the decline bench to lift the chest and I could go on and on. Why are most bodybuilders and fitness guys so obsessed with their chest? It’s simply because it’s an eye catcher. In a t-shirt, with full round chest and arms the guys will envy you and the girls will want you.

But what about your glutes, we all know that it’s a very important issue for the girls if a man has a hard round butt. And in fact all guys consider a hard round ass on a girl as extremely sexy. For competing girls in the fitness, figure and bikini class it’s one of their most important muscle-groups. What goes for the pectoralis also goes for the glutes. You are born with a genetically determent body-shape, which includes the shape of your glutes and hips. And as I described above the pectoralis, your glutes are not just one muscle-group, but different muscles. This means just as with the pectoralis you will have to train your glutes with different exercises and in different angles to get the best result.

Because the shape of your butt is also very dependent from your fat-percentage. Dieting is very important, girls should diet down until the transition from the back to the buttocks and the buttocks to the legs is in a symmetric integral with the hips. Of course hard core female bodybuilders diet down and dry much more, but luckily enough I have never seen a female bodybuilder with striations in her butt cheeks.

HEART-SHAPED
The heart- or A-shaped butt is typically considered the prettiest and most desirable shape. (Picture a heart upside down.) Because of the smaller waist and bigger hips, it comes closest to the universally ideal waist-to-hip ratio of 0.7.

ROUND
Although attractive, the round butt is second to the heart-shaped butt in popularity, according to plastic surgeons.

SQUARE
A square butt tends to look flat from the side, and almost a little masculine. Plastic surgeons find that this is the most commonly complained-about shape.

V-SHAPED
This is widely considered the least attractive butt shape, which gets its look from the presence of more fat in the waist and outer thighs. This is also the most challenging shape from a surgical perspective.

How different shaped butts look in comparison and how important they are is shown here:

Tips For a Rock-Hard Rear from Pauline Nordin

No ifs, ands, or butts about it: Even if you work your glutes regularly, what woman doesn’t want to make her rear view tighter, smaller, and sexier? Unfortunately, building the butt of your dreams is no easy task. Women often store fat in their lower body, which means it’s generally the last place we lose extra weight. We had a chance to chat with all-star trainer Pauline Nordin, creator of The Butt Bible e-book and DVD series. “The secret to a better butt is working hard and working for a long time,” she says.

Pauline Nordin (July 23, 1982) is an IFBB fitness competitor, Pro Figure athlete, fitness model, actress, fitness trainer and journalist. She was born in Ystad, Sweden and started training in 1999, and started with contests in 2002. She writes and is a fitness model in fitness magazines. Pauline was the Swedish trainer in the TV show Biggest Loser, her candidates won that season the program. Pauline is also a writer for Bodybuilding.com. She lives and trains in Venice Beach, California with her husband, the photographer Pavel Ythjall. They also run a gym together.

Q: What’s the biggest mistake women make when training their glutes?

A: Most women think they have to do 20–30 reps of each exercise to see results. But if your goal is to build more muscle, that’s the wrong approach. When you do those long sets, you’re building endurance fibers and not stimulating your muscles to grow. It’s better to go at a higher intensity and use a bigger weight but do only 8–15 reps. You can do tons of squats and lunges, but if you don’t increase your weight, you’ll plateau.

Q: Why is it important to have a strong butt?

A: Your glutes play a big role in posture and most basic movements. They take pressure off your back, too, so if you have back problems, it’s especially important to build strong glutes. Unfortunately, most people sit on their butts all day at work, not using their glutes at all, so make sure to incorporate moves into your strength workouts that target your glutes.

Q: How often should you include glute exercises in your strength-training routine?

A: Once or twice a week. There’s no reason to do them every day. You have to let your muscles recover in order for them to grow. Women are scared of growing their muscles, thinking it will make them look bulky, but since muscle takes up less space than fat, the more you have, the tighter (and smaller) your butt will be.

Q: Can strength training minimize cellulite?

A: Fat cells on thighs and glutes don’t disappear easily. But if you’re untrained, with little muscle, building more muscle may stretch the skin over cellulite, possibly reducing its appearance. But strength training alone won’t get rid of it. Because cellulite may be caused by genetics and hormones, heavy workouts and a healthy diet probably won’t make it totally disappear.

Q: What moves should always be included in your butt workout?

A: All kinds of squats: wide-stance squats, sumo squats—everything. They are the best way to target your glutes. I’ve never done a lower-body workout that didn’t involve squats. If you’re not doing them, then you’re probably doing a sissy workout.

Q: What’s the best cardio to do for your butt?

A: Let’s say you want to get the fat off your butt. If you have less muscle and more fat, then doing a lot of cardio will help you lose the fat, but you’ll be left with a flat butt. You need to focus on building muscle while you’re burning fat. That means you should avoid cardio that keeps a steady pace and opt for cardio workouts that alternate high-intensity intervals with recovery periods. Do cardio training like you do weight training, one minute fast and one minute slow. It increases your fat-burning rate. But it’s important to have a strong strength-training routine in place so you first build muscle and then do cardio to take off the fat.

Vince Gironda

One of the things that really stood out as I was reading the book is that Vince Gironda HATED doing regular barbell squats the way most bodybuilders and powerlifters do them. In his opinion, squats overdeveloped the hips and glutes and ruined your symmetry. Now I personally DO NOT think squats are a useless exercise like he did, I certainly feel that squats have an important part in any muscle building program, but I can see where he was coming from in his point of view. After all regular back squats do heavily work the hips, glutes, and hamstrings. However, just because Vince didn’t do back squats didn’t mean he never trained legs hard. In fact, one of his favorite leg moves was his “Special Gironda Front Squat Variation”.

I think Vince was right, also because today the bodybuilder has an extensive range of chemical tools and peptides at his disposal, and supplementation with insulin, interleukins and growth factors etc, gives him the opportunity to become a super human. But should he really want to do this?

Don’t we deviate too far from our initial goal. Namely the creation of a healthy, aesthetic and symmetrical body in the right proportions. Until recently the bodybuilders resembled ancient Greek statues, today it seems that they look more and more as an anatomical doll.

We see more and more completely dried out bodybuilders with a paper thin skin, full of veins and striations in all muscle groups. Who wants to fuck see striations in someone's ass? I believe that men’s bodybuilding goes the same way as women's bodybuilding, they dispose of their audience. The IFBB is lost IMHO.

On the picture Shawn Rhoden and Ronny Coleman.

Young bodybuilders always had role-models. A champion they wanted to resemble. Arnold Schwarzenegger inspired many people, but who wants to look these guys, completely over the top. Aesthetical?.....just ask your girlfriend. Many people don´t like to see bodybuilders in a g-string either.

There are many shortcuts, everyone knows the Brazilian butt lift, the synthol we mentioned before, the implants, the liposuctions and yes even underwear with fillings..

Example Exercises:

Exercise 1 Pressing a pulley
  A pulley is a good machine to work with different resistances. The weight must be light enough to allow you to make 3 sets 15-20 reps

Exercise 2 The most direct footed deadlift

I just find this an amazing exercise especially for the buttocks. You can make the motion with either dumbbells or a bar. Keep the weight in the right position. If you are in the lower position, the hamstrings / buttock are stretched in the right way. Keep your back straight, to put all pressure on the buttocks.

The weights move all the time close to the thighs. Do 3 sets of10-12 reps

Exercise 3 Walking the stair climber

Again push your heels down. Get a firm upper body position and push your buttocks backward, so that you can maximize the movement. Do 3 sets 3 of 12-15 reps.

Exercise 4 Buttock-pumping on the floor
  Either with ankle-weights or without. You can change the position of the foot, or the hook of the leg until you have the right position and feel your muscles burning.

Exercise 5 Hack-squat done the wrong way

Push your buttocks properly back then clamp it tight up. You can try to do just a small movement of the knee flexion and pump while you push your buttocks back as far as possible. Do 3 sets of 12-15 reps

Model: Maikku Hiljanen
  Maikku is part of Minna Pajulahti’s Pro Elite Team from Finland