Here are links to studies, articles, podcasts, YouTube videos, and Instagram posts that I’ve been involved with (or ones that I thought were interesting) in the past month. I hope you enjoy them.
Differential effects of attentional focus strategies during long-term resistance training
I was very happy to be involved in this study. It the first training experiment to examine the effects of focusing on the muscle while lifting vs focusing on the environment. Bodybuilders have long touted the benefits of the mind-muscle connection, and we finally have evidence supporting its efficacy. Well, for the biceps but not for the quads (strange). My buddy Brad Schoenfeld did a write-up about the study on his blog which you can access HERE, and you can download the study HERE.
Hip thrust for a stronger squat
THIS article discusses a recent study that showed huge transfer between the hip thrust and squat.
20 reps for killer glutes
THIS article showcases one of my favorite glute exercises and includes Glute Squad member Brianna.
EMG differences between the deadlift, hex bar deadlift, and barbell hip thrust
THIS article discusses a recent study that examined the EMG activity between the 3 popular glute exercises, specifically looking at 1RMs.
Zydrunas Savickas starts doing hip thrusts, says his squat and deadlift feel even stronger
Former world champion strongman Big Z loves his hip thrusts. This is what he had to say about them in THIS article.
Mind Muscle Project podcast: How to be more scientific in your strength training with Bret Contreras
THIS podcast is one of my favorite and one of the most unique I’ve had the pleasure of doing. The guys asked me some excellent questions and I think you’ll love the recording.
Strong Life Podcast: Bret Contreras & The Art of (STRENGTH) Coaching
My buddy Zach Even-Esh asked me some badass in THIS podcast. Former gym owners always do (I hope you listened to the podcast I did with Joe DeFranco and Jason Ferruggia last year).
Glute Lab Promo Video
Below is a really cool video I had made to promote my gym.
This is Glute Lab!
In the video below, I show off all of the equipment and goodies I have at my gym. It’s nearly 30 minutes long, but I think you’ll appreciate the attention to quality and detail.
When You Just Want to Work the Booty
Here’s a humorous video I made to mock my fellow glute-obsessed compadres.
Rapping Fast in a Hotel Room
I made it into a rap song! Mac Lethal gave me a shoutout at 1:48. So cool!
Building a Booty: Explained by Bret Contreras
Below is a Q&A video I made with Hanna Oberg on common glute training questions.
How to Train Glutes During Pregnancy
I’ve never seen anyone do this topic justice, so I took a stab at it. This videos shows you how you can train glutes while pregnant.
Rule of Thirds
This is one of my most popular posts of all time on IG
Men and women both make numerous mistakes in pursuit of their fitness goals, but the mistakes are somewhat gender specific. I have a men post in the works, but here is the women’s post.
Here’s an infographic I made that listed my thoughts pertaining to succeeding in our field. I recommend doing more stuff on the left and less stuff on the right.
I tried walking lunges with dumbbells the other day and boy did I feel them the day after!!!
However, I’m not sure how to incorporate them into a well rounded routine.I know I need to regularly be doing some: thrusts, back extensions, squats and deadlift exercises. I’m just unsure which catagory this exercise would best fit into. I already enjoy doing Leg Elevated Bulgarian Split Squats, Back extensions, RDLs and Hip Thrusts!
(As Bret has written elsewhere, lunges involve a strong eccentric contraction in the glutes while they’re elongated; these compound to produce a lot of muscle soreness, so you have to be careful not to get too much unproductive muscle damage.)
Bret,
I tried walking lunges with dumbbells the other day and boy did I feel them the day after!!!
However, I’m not sure how to incorporate them into a well rounded routine.I know I need to regularly be doing some: thrusts, back extensions, squats and deadlift exercises. I’m just unsure which catagory this exercise would best fit into. I already enjoy doing Leg Elevated Bulgarian Split Squats, Back extensions, RDLs and Hip Thrusts!
Back extensions and deadlifts are both more of a hip hinge than the lunge, which is vaguely similar to a one-legged squat. That said, I’ve sometimes people enumerate the “basic movement patterns” and include lunge separately from squat, hinge, push, pull (and sometimes carry) – for example https://www.t-nation.com/training/the-6-foundational-movement-patterns or cf. Dan John who doesn’t list them https://www.otpbooks.com/exercise-program-design-fundamentals-part-2/ .
(As Bret has written elsewhere, lunges involve a strong eccentric contraction in the glutes while they’re elongated; these compound to produce a lot of muscle soreness, so you have to be careful not to get too much unproductive muscle damage.)