Over the past several years, I’ve written about a lot of different things on this blog that pertain to strength training. However, the sole focus has always been on glute training. I write about how to get a better butt, how to strengthen the glutes, the best glute exercises to perform, training progressions that I use with my clients, and more. I find it very frustrating when I take all of this time to properly educate people, only to find misinformation being spread like crazy.
I used to blame the originators of the misinformation. Don’t get me wrong, companies like Brazilian Butt Lift and Women’s Health Magazine (as you’ll see below) should be ashamed of themselves (I’m assuming that there’s a smidgeon of morality left in the companies). However, I’ve come to realize that they’ll just keep on keepin’ on with their bullcrap, as long as the naive public tolerate it.
The onus has to be on you, the consumer. I therefore implore you to step it up. Step up your knowledge base so you can discern between good training information and poor training information. If you’ve arrived at this blog, then congratulations, you’ve taken a step in the right direction. I pride myself on utilizing sports science, evidence-based thinking, research, logic, and mathematics to form my opinions. My competition appears to rely mostly on marketing tactics to sucker in the clueless.
Case in Point #1 – Triangle Training Bullcrap by Brazilian Butt Lift
The image below must have recently gotten a zillion shares on Pinterest, Facebook, and the like. This picture doesn’t even properly represent human anatomy. Someone from Brazilian Butt Lift just fabricated gluteal anatomy and listed exercises based on this falsified anatomy.
Here’s another picture from Brazilian Butt Lift. Really? How is this even legal?
Real gluteal anatomy looks like this:
Gluteus Maximus, Gluteus Medius, Gluteus Minimus
The gluteus maximus weighs over twice that of the gluteus medius and minimus combined, and the gluteus minimus is positioned underneath the gluteus medius in the upper outer quadrants. It’s not positioned in the lower buttocks region.
And even if the picture was adequate, the best exercise that this person could come up with was jumping jacks? Really, jumping jacks? There are in fact exercises that activate the gluteus medius 10 times higher than jumping jacks! Even simple exercises like side planks, side lying clams, and side lying abductions will strengthen the glute medius to a much greater degree than jumping jacks – click HERE for some research to get you started on good basic glute exercises.
But even so, these exercises are only starting points to greater glutes and better butts. See the testimonials tab on this website? These glute transformations were done with heavy weight training.
Nevertheless, the triangle training concept is absurd – bodyweight lunges will hit the gluteus maximus, medius, and minimus harder than the bodyweight squat and jumping jack.
Why do people fall for this bull? Doesn’t this enrage the consumer?
Case in Point #2 – Spot Reduction Bullcrap by Women’s Health Magazine
A couple of weeks ago I notice the post below on my Facebook feed. Really? Glute bridge marches for a tight, toned tummy in just a few weeks?
What’s more, this got almost 200 likes in just 15 minutes. Sadly for the consumer, the glute bridge march barely activates the abdominals. It’s a glute exercise. The hammies and erectors get activated too, but it’s intended for the glutes.
Back in the day, fitness magazines used to seek out the most intelligent coaches, trainers, sports scientists, exercise physiologists, and biomechanists. But that’s a thing of the past. These days, they find people who can write well and are marketing-savvy, despite not having the slightest freaking clue about exercise biomechanics.
Even if you place a 405 lb barbell on your hips and do a full range hip thrust (think glute march on steroids), you still only get an average abdominal EMG activation of 24% (normalized to maximum voluntary contraction). Contrast that with an ab wheel rollout from the knees, which elicits an average of 103% abdominal activation.
But even if you perform exercises that elicit high abdominal activations, it doesn’t mean that it’ll give you a tight, toned tummy, especially in just a few weeks. Getting a tight, toned tummy typically requires months of eating properly and exercising intelligently. Genetics plays a large part, but suffice to say, light resistance training isn’t going to revamp your midsection in a few weeks. Spot reduction is a myth – click HERE to see evidence of this (training abs doesn’t melt the fat off of the ab region).
Again, why do people fall for this bull, and doesn’t this enrage the consumer when they find out the truth?
The Onus Falls on You!
I started this blog in 2009, after my clients urged me relentlessly to start popularizing and spreading my methods. I’ve made tremendous progress in this regard. But in order for me to do my job, I need the public to step up their game and start calling out the perpetrators of propagating bullcrap.
When somebody completely fabricates glute anatomy, call B.S. on them. When somebody tells you that bodyweight squats alone are going to radically transform your glutes with their measly 20% glute activation, call B.S. on them. When somebody tells you that a glute bridge will transform the abdominals, call B.S. on them.
What do you think elicits higher tension and metabolic stress in the gluteus maximus (read THIS article to see why these are important for muscle hypertrophy), this type of training:
or this type of training?
Testimonials in the Past Couple Weeks Alone
I get emails from women and men every single day reporting excellent results once shifting to my methods. I decided to keep track of them over the past couple of weeks and ask the people sending me notes and pics if I could post them on my blog. Most of the people said yes. Here they are:
- I started the advanced a couple weeks before the second pic and saw results FAST – Shelley
- My glutes have went from flat and flabby to round and definitely more perky in just 6 months. I am super excited to see what other changes I will make in the next 6 months!! – Carisa
- Flexing is easier to see some improvement .. one day i will see this without it! Anyway i believe it is working – Barbara
- Bret, I started strength training about 1.5 yrs ago and worked my way up to “the big plates” with a 135# deadlift. I could only do one until I did your 30-day glute challenge… The other day I tried them again, and I did 3 sets of 3 at 135#! Thanks for the program! – Dawn
- Hip thrusts have completely cured my sciatica and piriformis syndrome by the way. I appreciate your work. – Patrick
-
After over one year of glute training following advice from Bret Contreras, my butt is a completely different shape! – Jacqi
- I wanted to say thank you for the Strong Curves book. I’m coming down to the last week of the Advanced section and have noticed a huge improvement in my strength for Tennis and as a bonus no lower back problems. – Melissa
- Added a hip thrust to workout mix for first time yesterday after reading your stuff/listening to podcast. Enjoyed it! Gotta admit. In terms of inducing a pump in the glutes… perhaps the best single lift I’ve done. – onawav
- Yesterday i discovered i LOVE sumo deadlifts, they do feel more comfortable for me and they hit the glutes! Also i didnt use to feel my glutes on squats and now i feel them all the time when i do them, i´ve also developed the capacity to go lower (at least parallel every time) ..i was cheating with squats before and now i understand why they are a “full body” challenge – Barbara
- My butt is defintely expanding, was flatter a year ago.. so that is good. Up to 230lbs deadlifts and barbell glute bridges. It is all thanks to the glute bridges LOL….it really is growing! It is amazing. – Ingrid
- Wanted to share this with you guys. I never thought i would have this body shape…ever. been lifting weight for almost a year. 5 weeks on SC, its leaning out my body in a good way. still very curvy but shapely. i never thought i can lose that belly pouch and gain a butt (Asian pancake butt is in my gene), buy I’m getting there slowly. – Cindy
- I had to get rid of my “skinny” jeans (as I cannot pull them up once they hit my bum) and I did 175lb hip thrusts yesterday 5x’s (I only weigh 112lbs) – Lexi
- In April, I made a goal to research as much as I could and was on a mission to grow my glutes by the summertime. I have ALWAYS had an issue growing my booty no matter how many traditional compound lower body exercises I did. I am quad dominant, and exercises such deadlifts would mostly engage my hams and back while leaving the glutes out. You mentioned in one of your articles about glutes becoming dormant (from sitting all day etc.) And also from very weak hip flexors. Which is 100% me. I also realized that I have quite an anterior pelvic tilt..which impedes maximal glute activation . This makes sense as I could never really feel my butt working or feel ”that burn” in the derrière people keep talking about…I have been extra mindful on my posture now when walking, sitting.. to improve on this.I’ve also incorporated much of what you recommend as pre workout exercises such as performing the clam and walking band abductors, a variety of hip stretches..More importantly, I learned how to really ACTIVATE the glutes, and increase my awareness during the exercise so that my butt is much more efficient and engaged when going through movements!Here is a little progress picture, I’m still a work in progress. However, I have been training for 6 years and this is the first time I can actually say I have a butt!! – Jessica
My local trainer friend Kelli Gubrud recently trained a female client using these same methods. Check out the transformation in just 8 weeks!
Here’s my other friend Katie Coles. Her butt is looking better than ever. She’s been training glutes 5 times per week, doing weighted hip abductions and weighted hip thrusts daily, focusing on form and feeling the glutes.
Conclusion
The methods that I espouse are based on the confluence of practical training and sports science. I scour the journals, conduct EMG experiments, test methods with clients, keep what works, drop what doesn’t work, and constantly tinker to optimize the methodology. I wrote Strong Curves with Kellie Davis and started up Get Glutes with Kellie and Marianne Kane in order to provide consumers with the best possible training methods to produce results. I teamed up with the two most knowledgeable ladies on glute training that I know, and because our audience and feedback are growing, our methods are constantly evolving.
If you would like to achieve your best body ever, I urge you to continue seeking out the best information pertaining to physical transformation. Brazilian Butt Lift and Women’s Health Magazine will cater to your fears and avoid mentioning heavy strength training. But remember one thing:
“Rare is the set of shapely glutes that was sculpted by wimpy exercise.”
The vast majority of people need heavy load or advanced body weight exercises in order to reshape their glutes. I’ve got the un-photoshopped pictures to prove it!
Great writeup, Bret. I’ve actually stopped reading mainstream fitness articles years ago. The BS was getting unbearable.
Anyway, I took up your advice and have been doing bodyweight exercises (glute bridge, clam shell, donkey kick and lying side abductions) daily as well as including barbell glute bridge on leg days.
I’ve only been doing this for the past couple of weeks and am already seeing positive changes. Excited to see the development in the coming months.
Thanks and keep up the good work!
That’s what I’m talkin’ bout Xan!
Many things in life are debatable. I like having reasonable discussions about such things.
However, many things are not debatable, like the glute anatomy misrepresentation. When I come across someone making claims about things that are not even remotely debatable, I have a hard time not insulting their intelligence and/or character.
What do you think should be done in such cases?
I wonder if someone could sue Beach Body for their gross misrepresentation of anatomy.
Trust me Neal, I’ve had my struggles with remaining professional in such circumstances, but whenever I lose my cool, I’m the one who looks bad. So I try to focus on the science and not resort to ad hominem or slanderous/libelous comments.
I was one of the suckers that bought the Brazilian butt lift. Class action law suit?
The anatomy photo was put on there from a young person that works social media I am sure. I too purchased Brazil Butt Lift and my glutes speak for themselves. I ALWAYS incorporate High & tight into my training.
Monica Parodi, you’re not correct about that. It’s the whole premise of the infomercial. See here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lQ0ag0IUIuM
What the heck is “high & tight?”
Hi, Bret. High & Tight is the name of one of the workouts. My favorite in the series.
Keep it up, I have 3 women I am working with & I have developed my system off of your work. They love it, they love me & the results there. Keep grindin!
Amen Anthony!!!
“Back in the day, fitness magazines used to seek out the most intelligent coaches, trainers, sports scientists, exercise physiologists, and biomechanists. But that’s a thing of the past. These days, they find people who can write well and are marketing-savvy, despite not having the slightest freaking clue about exercise biomechanics.”
Love it and couldn’t agree more! Thank you for this post and for saying what I have been frustrated by seeing over and over in all forms of media: Those who are market savvy are positioned as experts despite their obvious lack of knowledge.
Keep up the great, informational posts!
Thanks Terifitonline!
I must admit the Brazilian Butt Lift anatomical representation of the glutes is freaking awesome. It’s so ridiculous that that’s even a real thing, haha.
Anyway Bret, good job on exposing these silly methods. It’s inspiring to see how passionate you are about making sure people hear the right things. I too do my best every day to share quality information with others and to call out unrealistic claims. Developing a strong filter in this industry is so important!
Thanks for the awesome content man,
Steven
I agree – you almost have to admire their willingness to take broad leaps and bounds haha. But this is why I get so many emails everyday – people don’t know who to trust because they hear so many different things. If we were all on the same side (science), then we’d speak the same language and there wouldn’t be so much confusion out there.
It’s funny how everybody’s trying to get the ghetto butt look. I used to be jealous of people with big calfs. I have the stereotypical black guy body with skinny calves and a high ass so I have the other asset I guess.
Great article Bret, just one question: how can one elicit over 100 % activation on any exercise? Keep dishing out the real deal!
You first flex a muscle as hard as you can voluntary from a static (isometric) position. This is what you use to normalize the other data to. It’s called MVC, or sometimes MVIC – maximum voluntary isometric contraction. When you perform a good resistance training exercise or an explosive movement, you typically exceed the MVC position (especially peak EMG activity). Some studies show over 200% gluteus maximus activation (the Stu McGill strongman study comes to mind with the Atlas stone lift). Hope that helps!
Thank you for writing this! First of all, I have started using your glute exercises in my routines and the results were beyond what I expected. I have always been “teased” by my friends about my little butt, but I have recently had them all wondering what I have been doing to grow one! I actually can’t even wear two of my tight dresses anymore! I work in a salon FULL of women. Women who sadly feed off all these fitness magazines and people like Dr. Oz. Besides having to hear these women on no carb diets, and amino acid diets where they eat 400 calories a day with no carbs/fats (and they are thrilled when they lose weight… yeah you are starving yourself). I get questions like “Should I do the squat challenge? I heard it will really make my butt look amazing!” Apparently it just requires like 50 bodyweight squats a day, or something. I of course also get the “What should I do for my butt and legs? I don’t want to use any weight though because I don’t want to make my legs bigger.” Sadly I have almost given up commenting on these subjects with them. These magazines/fad diets need to stop. They are actually giving women MORE self esteem issues than they already have!
Melissa I feel the same way – I get questions from friends all the time about how many crunches to do to get a flat stomach. And YES the stupid freaking squat challenge was all over Facebook and Instagram, made me sick. This is such a good article and I’m planning on sharing it with EVERYONE I know. Also how about that Dr. Oz, hey?? He had his “trainer” on his show last year showing women with diastasis recti how to do sit-ups to flatten their stomachs. And now the YouTube clip has had thousands and thousands of views. Makes me want to scream. (PS – I’m not a trainer, I’m just super fortunate to have amazing science-based sports medicine people in my life!!)
Awesome Melissa! Trust me, I can relate. Sometimes you want to sprint headfirst straight into a wall 😉
Great article. I love your work. I’ve been implementing a lot of your methods into my workouts and my back/hip pain doesn’t bother me as much as it used to. My back is also getting less fatigued when I’m at work (I’m on my feet 8-10 hours a day)..all thanks to a stronger butt!
Your sir, are the god of glutes.
It’s all about the booty Lindsay 🙂 Thanks!
Thank you for all you do. you taking the time to filter out the BS and informing us clearly, succinctly, zccurately and with such a flexible, do-able program saves us a lot of time.
one of the things I really appreciate about your book is that there are bodyweight exercises, bands, machines, and free weights. I have routines that I can do at the gym but I also have routines I can do here at home with my own basic equipment or while I’m traveling. So helpful. Thank you.
I appreciate the kind words Charlotte 🙂
Hey Bret,
Which of your books would you recommend if I wanted to get just one?
Strong Curves. You’ll love it.
I bought the Strong Curves ebook and loved it so much, I bought the printed book to use as an easy reference.
I should add that I do basic barbell training and am pretty happy with the results I’ve gotten, I’m a minimalist, so I like to have just the essentials, but I want to grow my butt more, what do you suggest? I’d like to have whatever is the best program and progressions. Thanks!
Strong Curves!!! Buy the printed book as you’ll want it for future reference.
The best part of being involved in Strong Curves and GetGlutes is the transformations– both inside and out. The stories we receive are so motivating and the ones you shared don’t even begin to show the whole picture. It’s only a tiny piece of what we get to witness everyday.
I can attest that we must stand up and demand better information as consumers. And not just from the women’s magazines and products. I don’t subscribe to any health and fitness magazines, but read some that my husband subscribes to. I am astounded at what is recommended sometimes.
I think there is a disconnect between writers and experts in mainstream media. As a writer, I strongly believe we should keep writers employed in magazines. Trainers should not be doing the jobs of writers and vice versa. Writers are not trainers/scientists and should be doing a better job at pulling the best resources to provide the best content. Fact checking is as important for fitness as it is with any other type of literature and should extend beyond a quick phone call or a journal article abstract.
I agree but the trainers/scientists should be compensated for their contributions.
Yay I made the blog!! 😉
Well, hopefully one day we get a before/after pic to share 😉
For sure!!
YOU HAVE TO ADMIRE THE BRAZILIAN BUTT LIFTERS’ COMMITMENT TO BEING WRONG.
THEY MADE AN ACTIVE DECISION TO BLEND FACTS AND MAGIC TO CREATE THEIR IMAGINATIVE HAUNCH, RATHER THAN TAKE THE EASY WAY OUT WITH 30 SECONDS OF GOOGLE RESEARCH.
Hahaha! Capslock hustla? Hilarious. And I agree, you almost have to admire their innovation.
Great article! I was wondering what you think about using Yoga to specifically develop glutes? Many postures involve using body weight exercises to balance strictly on one leg, along with hip extension and hip lateral flexion both in isotonic and isometric exercises, so do you think someone could build a nice set of glutes sticking to a strictly rigorous practice without using free-weights?
Scott, I wrote my thoughts on yoga here: http://bretcontreras.com/how-yoga-can-compliment-weight-training/
I think yoga lays an excellent base for glute building by ensuring glute activation and hip mobility, etc. But you need high activations with heavy barbell hip thrusts and the like to really build the glutes – for some with poor genetics, it’s their only hope.
Okay, I have to laugh. That Woman’s Health glute march pic is at least 5-6 years old … maybe even older. I know, because I ripped it out of a Woman’s Health Magazine that long ago and it’s in my basement home gym now. On the other side was a HIIT workout and the glute march was the “resistance” portion of the program. The workout also includes front and side planks as well as twisting lunges and walking lunges. Actually, there is a beginner’s and advanced workout and I think the glute bridge/marches were part of the advanced workout. I also own Brazil Butt Lift and have gained improvements in strength with use of resistance bands and ankle weights. However, I didn’t stick with it, so can’t say if it would have shown results. That being said, I started the At-Home Bodyweight program 3 weeks, 1 day ago and I can feel glute activation that I did not feel with Brazil Butt Lift. So, I’m putting my glutes … figuratively … in your hands Bret … LOL!! My “bum bum” has always been my problem area even when I competed for 2 short years in amateur bodybuilding in my mid-20s (I’m 41 now). I do not suffer from the lack of volume or roundness … but definitely struggle with lift and firmness. So, excited to see the results with consistency. Thanks!!
Correction: Started week 4 of At-Home bodyweight program yesterday.
Great to hear hairscapades! Glad you’ve stumbled upon my blog and enjoy my programming. Keep it up.
As always, stick to ’em Bret!!!! Keep calling out the BS that is out there. Glute marches for abs? Ha! We do these as part of our warm up in my group training classes…..to get the glutes going. After our glute bridges and before our clams. 😉
I am glad you posted this because thanks to Strong Curves, I have included A LOT more glute work into my programming for my clients. From X-band walks to hip thrusts, barbell glute bridges, single leg glute bridges. Now, mind you, I have been incorporating these all along but now they show up a lot more frequently and you can see the difference in my client’s strength and in their glutes. 😉 Practically all of my women do barbell glute bridges….with a few working up to 225.
It’s good to have a good, strong, functional ass. And it only comes from real work. Not BS.
Rock on Bret.
thanks for all the info you share here, bret. i’ve learned a lot and really enjoy reading your posts. my training has improved immensely because of you. thanks!
here’s a recent article with a great line:
As men age, they tend to lose fat from their buttocks, faces and hands, while gaining it in stomachs and chests, Dr. Mendieta said. Weight lifting yields only modest results for the posterior.
“The only way to pump up your derrière,” he said, “is with your wallet.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/25/fashion/for-men-a-gluteus-more-maximus.html?smid=tw-share&_r=2&
I kept reading and wondering when you were going to start talking about step ups from the title. lol.
Bret, thank you for this post. I am happy to say, I found you and Marianne before succumbing to half-assed information. This week, as a birthday gift, I received an olympic bar and some plate weights. I already own your book and I will be pouring over it and learning some new moves. Get Glutes is in my near future! I appreciate seeing ‘regular ol’ booty’ pictures on your blog and reading testimonials.
Bret,
I applaud your for trying to “fix the world” one glute at a time, but you worry me when you write stuff like this. You are obviously very passionate but focus that passion on collating well thought out and progressive research/articles (which you do exceptionally well). It’s like your grill the guru stuff, and the slip of words in your podcasts (I.e. you mentioned in your rippletoe podcast that the intelligent big guns of the industry personally commend you for your blog but don’t comment on your site as they have better things to do than write mindless responses to what you write – I know you didn’t mean it but you’ve done pretty well at belittling those that do post). There’s people out there that already monitor false product claims and the rest (look at current vibram class action, or the reebok shape ups and their out of court settlement). All I am saying is stick with what you do so well, and leave this petty shit to consumer watch dogs to write. Or contact women’s health and offer to write an article on glute strength yourself (btw you’ve prob ruined you chances on that one). I am sorry to be so critical but it’s a recurrent theme of late and I am sure I am not the only one who has mentioned it to you
Steve, I don’t think this is ‘petty shit’. Bret just came out with a book specifically for women, where he explains weight training for desired results; a cinched waist, a shapely butt, beautiful legs and arms. Women face and confront consumer information pertaining to body image that is false and misleading, and there is great pressure to conform to an ideal, that, with bad information, they will never get. I think Bret is standing up for what he believes and is trying to offer women the ability to discern, logically, with solid information. I don’t fault Bret for standing up for his beliefs, hard work and good results. I think we women need more men like Bret, who are in a position to call foul and do so without reservation. I just hope that Bret is using the tag function in his blogging software so that when delusioned women look up, Brazilian Butt Workout, they are able to call up Bret’s blog and read what he has to say.
Hi! I love your blog and have been recommending it to all of my fitness classes. I have a couple of questions- using a heavy enough bar to do hip thrusts on a bench, I’ve almost gotten stuck a course of times- if I don’t have a spotter how to I get the heavy bar up and onto my lap from a seated position? Also, I’m suffering from some combination of piraformis syndrome/it band syndrome and have been reading that I need to strengthen glute medius, which I’ve been working one side lying lifts, and clams at least a couple times a week, but they feel even tighter. Isit possible to cause these problems by overtraining those muscles, or do you think they still might be weak? Thanks for what you do…
You would be best to be assessed in person by someone who knows what they are doing. Neither Bret nor anyone else for that matter could give you answers on this with out seeing you first hand or generating additional information through video and pics.
From what you have mentioned I would focus heavily on first ensuring you have the mobility in your hips to perform the exercises mentioned with the correct pelvic alignment. If the front of your hips are tight and you don’t have enough stability in your core it’s likely you’ll be performing the exercises in an anterior pelvic tilt. Doing so would ensure the movement is driven mainly by the TFL and anterior gluteus medius (different to posterior fibres gluteus medius) and the piriformis……hence your complaint of increased tightness. Foam roll your hip flexors, adductors and glutes followed by some mobility work at the hip then perform the exercises. A trick with the clam shell is to distract or drive the knee of your working leg away from your hip joint when performing the exercise http://youtu.be/zA-0qiNgcpk
As for the side lying straight leg raise ensure you have adequate tension in your core and ensure the moving leg raise in a posterior (behind) and upward motion I.e. don’t let the foot of the working leg move in front of the hip it must stay behind. Really squeeze your butt and again ensure the core is engaged. Stay within a small range of motion to start with and as the weeks progress and you feel more control increase the range of motion. The emphasis should be on ensuring your are not using your lower back, but rather your butt to raise your leg.
Do all this as a “warm up” before you do your hip thrust. I’d prob even suggest that you’d be better regressing to a glute bride from the floor based on your comment, but Bret would be far better equipped to answer that and it is his blog after all.
Good luck I hope I have helped
Thank you Christian! I’ve been seeing a few PTs and they’ve told me less than you did. For reals. I do find that I have a hard time really getting my glutes to fire hard. I’ll get sore hamstrings and crazy tight hip flexors but I can’t seem to get a good sore butt. I did 80 lb hip thrusters today and felt my glutes , but very low, almost at hamstring attachment area. Hmmm. I need an expert. Know anyone in Austin, TX?
My pleasure Jen. I’d love to help you more but I am actually posting from Australia (Bret has some far reaching wisdom hey). I’m sorry to hear of your struggle with this. Obviously I can’t recommend anyone for you to see. I believe BC is from your area (I could be completely wrong with this) so he may feel this is something he can address personally or has a network of people that may be able to assist. All that said I am a firm believer of empowering yourself, if only to better understand the premise behind different treatments available and provided to you. You may find overtime there’s certain things you can do yourself to help the cause. Great minds to follow on top of BC (he is a very wise guy as you have already noted) is the like of Mike Reinold, Mike Robertson, Eric Cressey, Dean Sommerset, Bill Hartman, Tony Gentilcore. They all have free newsletters via email with some really useful and easy to read info.
I wish you the best and hope you can get on top of things soon and BC I apologise for bombarding you comment wall, as always great read and appreciate the time you put into helping/ teaching others.
People aren’t outraged because they don’t have time to learn the truth (not exactly true but most people live pretty demanding lives and will pay to be spoon fed – it’s just that they pick the easiest spoon…). I’m helping spread the truth by directing clients to your site.
PS It is kind of shameful that you got into this business just to get pretty women to send you “butt pics”! 😉
These guys are obviously scammers, but there would be no scammers if there were no suckers. People need to challenge information they are given before they accept it. If they blow their money on stupid programs without doing any research, then they will continue to get scammed.
Unfortunately, the industry is full of either blatantly false information or misappropriated information. If people want to get something genuine, they have to take the initiative to sift through the junk to find it. If they don’t, they’ll get scammed, over and over.
Hi Bret, Just got Strong Curves, and am really excited flipping through it. I mainly do low bar back squats a la starting strength, but I noticed the book seems to feature other varieties more-so. I was asking because I go deeper than 90 but there does seem to be a limit to how deep you can go with low bar squats and still keep the bar over mid-foot. Do you have a favorite squat for the glutes or a favorite squat in general? Surely all of them are good but I like to keep my program simple so I’d love to hear a comparison! Thanks.
Bret, what’s the heaviest hip thruster you’ve seen? I performed a 650lb hip thruster for 1 last night. Of course I didn’t film it, but next glute day I’ll be sure to record it. GLUTES ALL DAY!
Hi Bret,
Thank you! I am a firm believer that heavy weights are not just a man’s but a woman’s best friend. I will admit that back then, I did purchase a couple of beachbody programs. Boy did I learn the hard way! But at least it made me more determined to search for something that does work. The only home workout program I ever took seriously was Cathe Friedrich’s, because she’s one of the few that encourages women to lift heavy weights. In fact, it’s thanks to her that I learned about you!
I’ve trained for years on and off (had 2 kids) and have always been pretty slim, but it’s so freaking hard to really target my glutes! I have pretty good genes and don’t necessarily have a flat bum- and although I can develop my legs, it’s so hard to develop a strong, round, athletic butt. Sure I get sore in the beginning of a program but it seems like I hit a plateau pretty quickly. I think this is partly due to the fact that I’m a bit apprehensive about using heavier weights because of my scoliosis. I still go heavy but know I can go heavier.
I just purchased your book, but are there any specific suggestions about this? Also, are there exercises that can be substituted with resistance bands or tubing?
Thanks
Hi Bret,
Thanks for posting about this! I needed to read this today!
Yesterday I saw something similar that made me blind with rage: a pill that ‘could eventually replace exercise’! Needless to say even after reading the article, it saddened me that even if only one woman (the article was in a women’s lifestyle mag) sees this and believes it, then that woman will believe a pill will give them a body like whatever ‘celebrity’ they dream of looking like etc….
It was just another pharmaceutical company ensuring more and more women spend their money on becoming unhealthier and addicted to popping pills rather than being active, eating real food and getting enough sleep.
I’m currently studying for my PT qualification (I’m in the UK) and I only wish we had teachers of your calibre. They’re still churning out the same rubbish about cardio/weights and try to discourage free-thinking and challenges to the status quo.
I’ve been encouraging one my friends to lift heavy for over a year and when she took the plunge this January, her results have been astounding! She’s leaner than she ever was doing long sessions of cardio and her definition is off the charts! Her booty is particular lovely! You’d be so proud! LOL
I love Strong Curves and have recommended it on my reading list for my ladies! We all share information and challenge things that sound like BS when it comes to female training. Thanks for sharing!
Your audience demands more before/after photos from your female clientele.
Another great article, Bret.
We too have loads of junk fitness mags etc here in the UK and so many people and clients are asking me about all these amazing new exercises shown…to which I struggle to not bash my head against the wall over and over.
Not just women, but guys too.
Being a guy who appreciates an epic female butt, it’s sad to see so many buttless women around.
Hi Bret my name is Gigi. I have already saved your 30 days better butt challenge to my phone to start. My question is I already have a big butt I don’t want it any bigger I just want it more lifted firm and toned. So for some women this will help them get a bigger toned butt. For me if I have the butt will it just firm and tone it.? I don’t want it any bigger. Sorry if it is a silly question. Thanks
I would love to know this too. I have a medium sized bum and I’m at my personal ideal weight (56-58kg/123-128lbs at 5’6″. I’d love to see posts on people who solely want a LIFT. I’m confused about whether to add more weights on my glute bridges (currently using 35 kg /70 lbs which is really the max I can do at home) or whether to simply do activation exercises, which target the upper glutes? For me, I have a nice ‘w’ shape or teardrops which looks nice in French knickers, but I’d love more shape at the top for umph. To me, my back goes straight into my bum.
will a barbell glute bridge work on the butt as much as a hip thrust? I do not have a bench at home so i can not do hip thrust. I want to get a bigger/more musculare butt. Oh, thanks Bret for revealing those false claims by Butt Lift. I only lift a 59.2 barbell with butt bridge butt i will get more weights soon because my glutes are starting to get use to the weight. My goal is 200 or more. I will try to lift everyday till failure for 2 weeks and see the results. Is this a good idea to maximize my glute muscules? Can Bret or anyone else with barbell experience answer these questions?
Well, Im Brazilian myself, and I know for sure (for many years) that most woman, or at least 85% goes to the gym and do workout that way, and it does help A LOT ON THE BUTT!! I don’t live in Brazil anymore, but my mum and friends since many years ago used to workout doing similar butt lift workout at the gymg like 40-30 years ago (I remember watching them when I was 6 years only, am now 36) and till today, thats what most Brazilian woman does at the gym day for 45mins or so and it works!! I’m also a fitness coach myself for 10 years now, I coach fitness competitors, Im a natural world champion in fitness and bikini division and also a dancer from 30 years now. I do use heavy weights training to most clients but some I only use the Brazilian Butt lift style classes USED IN BRAZIL (not the ones from he program but it’s quite similar) and it works!!! So once again, this is opinions, and everyone has the rights to have them whether it’s based on science, common sense or their own experiences in life! And based on my experience it works!!! And you also are promoting you style of work in here, which you have all the rights too, so good on you!!
First of all let me say Strong Curves is hands down amazing! You’re amazing, my butt is forever in your debt! People have noticed and mentioned a huge difference in only two months, more importanatly I notice a difference :D. I went up a pants size (but in a good way haha). You are WONDERFUL!
Brett, have you thought about making an app with the Strong Curves program? Like a package deal? Maybe a free version with a few basic workouts and pro version with all the workouts? Yeah, I’m lazy and I like things easy. This would be great for someone like me who wants to have the plan on my phone to take into the gym and track my workouts.
Hey Bret,
I am a 53 year old female that used to have a nice butt, but i lost alot of weight after mu divorce and it seems like half of my butt went with it! I have always been really active, and do alot of exercise that should help get my butt back. Things like swimming with a kickboard, climbing mountains etc… Nothing is helping. Am i too old to build muscle there? Should i keep trying? Thanks, Marsha
Wow thank you so much Bret! I’ve went for so long buying programs that catered to a few squats some exercises and nothing has happened but I’ve been dedicated to hitting the gym five out do seven days of the week and although I’d like to see progress faster I know it takes time. Shaping my gluteus has probably been the hardest area for me besides my stomach and I’m not sure where to go from here. Do you have any advice?
I know this is an old post, but I need help. I just completed my 3rd week of Booty-full Beginnings. I noticed my glutes don’t feel like they’re activated when I’m doing elevated single leg glute bridges, and glute marches from the bench. After i complete week 4, should I stay with these exercises or continue on to week 5 exercises?