It’s not often you hear one of the guys say “Yeah bro, I’m training Glutes today”.
Whether through embarrassment, insecurities or a lack of understanding about the benefits, Glute training is often neglected by most guys at the gym.
But why?
Social media has given rise to an ever increasing number of female lifters, training their glutes and showcasing their amazing results.
Are all readily viewable if you spend more than a few minutes online.
This causes many guys to neglect their glute muscles as they think training them is too ‘feminine’ or that the specific isolation exercises are too ‘weak’ or ‘girly’.
Most guys are ill-informed and also think that squatting is enough to really train the glutes.
For the vast majority of you, squatting will not give you the desired improvements in the trunk that you want to see.
And here’s the dirty secret.
By neglecting to train your glutes and ONLY hitting them when squatting, you’re missing a trick and leaving huge gains in the gym.
Why Guys Should Train Their Glutes
Bodybuilders have long advocated training their glutes, the most powerful muscle in the body, to maximize their overall hypertrophy and really complete their physiques.
But training your glutes is about more than just stepping on stage.
Are just a few of the reasons why you should be training your glutes.
Stronger Squats and Deadlifts
The glutes are the most powerful muscles in the body and the driving force behind the big, powerful movements.
Whether Squatting or Deadlifting, the glutes play a big role in helping you to generate enough power to really lift some heavy weight.
By strengthening and building the glutes, you will be building a bigger and stronger base for your deadlifts and squats, giving you more strength to lift heavier.
As you start to focus on your glutes you will notice that your other lifts will improve too.
Reduce the Risk of Lower Back Pain
Imbalances in the body can often be traced back to weak glutes.
Strong glutes are vital for ensuring your lower body is aligned properly and If your glutes aren’t strong this can lead to Hip, Knee and Back pain, to name just a few of the problems you could be faced with.
These problems can cause you a multitude of issues, from weak lifts and poor technique to debilitating back pain which leaves you unable to complete the most basic of tasks.
Although glute training isn’t a miracle cure for all back pain, strengthening and developing the muscles can work wonders in preventing hip and back pain and in helping you to live a stronger, pain-free life.
Improved Strength and Athleticism
Whether you’re lifting weights, running track or hooping with some friends, strong glutes could be the key to unlocking that extra level of performance you’ve been searching for.
Any explosive, quick, athletic movements, which require a lot of force and power will be improved by training and strengthening the glutes.
Think of the best Sprinters or Football players in the world, they always have strong, well-developed glutes, which help them to take their athletic performance to the next level.
Even in sports such as Baseball or Golf, the improvements are noticeable as the glutes stabilize the core and hips and help to transfer force and power through the body.
Strong glutes provide the base for almost all athletic movements.
It doesn’t matter if you want to improve your sprint times, add distance to your drive or simply play better in your rec league, if you’re consistently training your glutes, you will see improvements to your performance.
Women Like It !
It’s common knowledge that a perky butt is a desirable trait and one of the physical attributes men find most attractive, therefore it should come as no shock that having a better butt yourself, will increase your sex appeal.
Seriously, how many times have you uttered the phrase “I get too much attention and should probably stop working out now”.
I’m guessing never.
You work out for a host of reasons and will see physical, emotional and psychological improvements, why not add increased sex appeal to that list too?
A fuller, shapely, more pert behind is something many people find attractive, and seeing you hold up a nice pair of jeans or suit pants is sure to get your admirers taking note.
How to Train the Glutes
How you decide on your training split is up to you, but the exercises you include when it comes to glutes are non-negotiable.
You should already be squatting as part of your routine and may already include exercises such as Walking Lunges, Romanian Deadlifts, and the dreaded Bulgarian Split Squat, if you’re not, take the hint and add them to your routine.
But to take your glute growth to the next level, you need to include the following exercises:
Hip thrusts alone have been shown time and time again to stimulate far greater gluteal muscle activation than other exercises and should always be involved in your routine and the others on this list will help you to hit the glutes from all angles.
Conclusion
Growing your glutes isn’t just for the ladies out there, EVERYONE should be prioritizing their glutes and including a range of exercises to target them.
Strong glutes provide you with a host of benefits, from moving and performing better to looking, feeling and actually being stronger.
Strong glutes will also help you to improve your other major lifts and can even help you to prevent muscular imbalances and reduce the risk of injury.
Athletes everywhere from 4x Mr. Olympia winner Jay Cutler, to Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson, train their glutes, so you should be no different.
There’s nothing girly about training your glutes and as your physique changes and your overall performance improves you will question why you didn’t start this earlier.
